Scott Martin – Scott Martin & The Grand Disaster

By starrymag | August 17, 2023

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

A) I’d say modern day pop rock, with a lot of classic influences. I grew up loving Tom Petty, R.E.M, The Beatles, U2, etc. – all that good stuff. But I think that production wise, myself and my producer (Michael Wuerth, Long Island Sound Studios) lean towards somewhat more modern/polished, slick sounding recordings.

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

A) Certainly, those mentioned above, and I mean many, many more. The Rolling Stones (specifically Keith Richards), Prince (one of the best guitarists to have ever existed on the planet), The Eagles, Matchbox Twenty, Brand New, Keith Urban…the list really goes on and through all genres. They say what goes in comes out, so if I had a period of listening heavily to something or someone, it definitely comes through.

Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Head Over Heels.”

A) Well, it was influenced by someone I was kinda seeing – I had this song idea and then after a particular date we’d been on, I went home and started filling in the lyrical blanks with actual circumstances and paraphrases from that particular evening, which was pretty cool. So, in a way, the song pretty much wrote itself in about twenty-four hours.

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

A) I think it’s the vibe – I just set out to write something upbeat and fun and I think that really shone through when Mike and I began to cut the track. We were like, “Ok, this has a cool hook, now let’s figure out how we can elevate that with the orchestration here.” I think we did a pretty good job – it’s a cool song when you strip it down to acoustic, which is how I wrote it. But the full production is, in my opinion, a helluva lot better and a real good time.

Q) How does the video for the track play into the message behind it?

A) You know, I can’t say that it particularly does. I did shoot the music video in the basement venue at my local music shop (Main Drag Music in Williamsburg, Brooklyn) and I definitely was hanging out there a bunch when I was writing this record. But the truth is we played there one night for a release show and *loved* the vibe. So, we asked them if we could shoot a video in the space and give a shoutout to the neighborhood and my love of Brooklyn. A lot of good things have happened to me here in Brooklyn…including falling “head over heels.”

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?

A) What will usually happen is that I get a nugget of something. More often times than not, I’ll “hear” a hook or an idea in my head, and I’ll reach for a guitar to work it out. Most of the time, it’ll be a lyrical phrase where I think, “Ah, that’d be a good idea to center a song around,” and then work it out as the words come to me…but I usually have a guitar in hand – they kind of work in tandem. Sometimes you get the words/melody and music pouring out together so quickly it’s hard to write them down, so you run a recorder. Usually after the song has taken shape, I’ll go back in and edit things with attention to very small details, like syllables and particular words. It’s a pretty fun process and I really enjoy it just as much as playing those songs later.

Q) How much of hand do you have in the production of your music?

A) It depends on the song. Usually, I’ll go into the studio with an acoustic idea, and my aforementioned producer Mike will work with me to craft something I hear in my head – he’s a genius at knowing where you want a song to go, and his production skills are pretty wizard-esque. We did the majority of the album this way, and it was always fun because I’d just be hanging out in the studio with one of my oldest and best friends. However, COVID came around right in the middle of all of this, and I had to learn to self-produce at home, so I took some time and taught myself. So, quite a few tracks on this record (the back half, specifically) were done with a little more reliance on my own hand, particularly “Places,” which I did entirely from my home studio here in Brooklyn. The only thing we really did to it was to go and record live drums back on top of what I had sampled while at home.

Q) The concept for your new album Scott Martin & The Grand Disaster seems very relatable. What are some themes you explore on it?

A) So, if you listen to the album in order, it’s chronological – each one of these songs is on there in the order in which it was written/conceived. So, it’s like taking a walk through my life for the last few years and, unsurprisingly, it’s been a bit of a grand disaster, you know? So, just as a quick sort of thematic guide: You fall in love, you fall out of love and you write about that. You find yourself playing guitar in a burlesque act in an NYC strip club and write “Crazy Little Love Machine” (what is it about this city that the craziest stories seem to happen here?). You have nostalgia for the past, whether it’s a past version of yourself/something you lost, whatever – and so you write “Bringing Hollywood Back to Life” as a reflection on that. You get the urge to drop everything and move to Mexico. You reflect on what might be your “Jet Black Heart” because you’ve found yourself in a very cold, selfish place and it’s a little worrisome. The COVID pandemic comes to town and destroys and uproots everything and everyone you’ve spent years and years with in New York, and you reflect on “what if this is it, what if this is the end, what if we can never get back?” Someone you love deeply disappears for a couple years and all you can do is write a song about them to commemorate your feelings. You finally decide to get up and leave the ghost of New York City to ride out COVID. You go to the Caribbean and have an otherworldly adventure for a while. You go to Mexico City and do the same. The world is different when you finally come back to it. So are you.

Q) Of the nine tracks on the album, which one(s) holds a special significance for you?

A) I think “Places” – as mentioned earlier. It’s the first I entirely self-produced, and so it was a bit of a landmark achievement for me personally. Also, I really love the message and the vibe of the track – very chill, uplifting, and hopeful.

Q) What song on the album challenged you the most creatively?

A) “Jet Black Heart” – while it was easy to write, it took a long time to get it right in the studio with the proper orchestration and instrumentation. We finished that one last because it just wasn’t hitting for a while, probably nearly a year. And then one night last Autumn I was in my studio and decided to plug in my old telecaster into a Watkins Copi-cat delay. Suddenly inspiration came at me like a wave, and I was hitting upon guitar parts that really took that song to the next level – I suppose, like wine, sometimes you need to let a song age and/or breathe a bit.

Q) What is it that you hope lingers with audiences that explore as a whole?

A) I hope it gives them a dose of good music, of course, but I also hope that each song paints a picture for the individual listener, and they can be transported into their own little universe of what each song means to them. I always enjoyed that when I listened to records as a kid. And I hope that by the time the rollercoaster reaches the end, when the record signs off with the phrase “All the places you will go…,” that they are hit with a certain kind of energy and joie de vivre.

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?

A) I love Arlene’s Grocery on the Lower East Side. I feel like it’s one of the last real rock n’ roll clubs, you know? A true institution and we always have a great show there. I’ll go there just to hang from time to time, too.

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

A) I would absolutely love to work with Butch Walker.

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them?

A) Skeletons by Brothers Osborne. What an incredible duo, country with a big dose of rock n’ roll, killer guitar playing. I dig most of their records, and this one’s relatively new and simply excellent.

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

A) I’ve found that it helps people get a window into the artist and who they are, and I think being genuinely yourself in presentation creates a fanbase who really enjoys what you do with passion because they have a glimpse of you. And they may just like who you are in addition to your art and that creates a pretty strong relationship. And this can happen with people from literally all across the world! For me, as an artist, that was astounding to suddenly one day be sitting there talking to say a bunch of wonderful folks from Brazil, who I don’t think I ever would have reached otherwise. It’s a joy.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) Thanks for coming along with me on the journey – it’s been quite the ride, and the support means the world and is such an amazing thing. There are some days where you’re not sure what you’re doing or just don’t feel great about it, but knowing there are (and hearing from!) folks out there who believe in you and can’t wait to hear your next creation or see your next show, that picks you right up and gets you back to where you need to be. I’m so very, very thankful for you all.