Martha (band)

Martha
Background information
Origin County Durham, England
Genres Indie pop, pop punk, power pop
Labels Fortuna Pop!
Odd Box
Discount Horse
Salinas Records
Dirtnap Records
Associated acts
Members JC Cairns
Daniel Ellis
Naomi Griffin
Nathan Stephens-Griffin

Martha are a four-piece DIY indie/punk band from Pity Me, a village in County Durham in the North East of England.[1] After singles on their own Discount Horse label and Odd Box Records,[2] their debut album Courting Strong, was released on Fortuna Pop! and Salinas Records in 2014.[3][4][5][6][7]

They have described themselves as queer, straight edge, vegan and anarchist.[1] They have no designated frontperson and all contribute vocals.[1] Two members of Martha previously founded (and still play in) the band ONSIND, and another leads the band No Ditching.[8][9]

They have variously cited The Housemartins, Motown, Billy Bragg, The Thermals, Ted Leo, Power pop, The Replacements, Heart, The Marked Men, Big Star, Masshysteri, and The Exploding Hearts as influences.[1][10][11] As well as expressed intent in being "a pop group".[10]

History

Martha formed in the village of Pity Me, a suburb of Durham in the North East of England. Formed by J.C. Cairns (guitar/vocals), Daniel Ellis (guitar/vocals), Naomi Griffin (bass/vocals), and Nathan Stephens-Griffin (drums/vocals) in the early 2010s, they released their self-titled debut EP in February of 2012.[12]

A year later they released the "Sycamore"/"Lost Without You" single on their own Discount Horse label. The band played Indietracks festival for the first time in 2013. After releasing a split single with American artist Spoonboy (David Combs of The Max Levine Ensemble) Martha headed to the studio with MJ of Hookworms to record their first album.[12]

Courting Strong was released by Fortuna Pop! in the U.K. and Salinas Records in the U.S. They followed it with more split singles with American bands Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez and Radiator Hospital, a repeat visit to Indietracks and an appearance at Glastonbury Festival.[12]

Their next album Blisters in the Pit of My Heart, also produced by MJ, was issued in mid-2016 by Dirtnap Records in the U.S. and Fortuna Pop! once again in the U.K.[12]

They toured the UK with Radiator Hospital[13] in late 2015, and played a tour of the UK and Ireland with Joyce Manor in July 2017.[14]

In mid to late April and early May 2018 they, along with Bad Moves of Washington, D.C., supported Jeff Rosenstock for the Northeastern and Midwestern leg of his US tour.

On 17 April 2018 Martha, filling in last minute for Yo La Tengo, were the guest band on an episode of The Chris Gethard Show on truTV.[15]

Discography

Albums

Extended Plays

Singles

  • "Sycamore"/"Lost Without You" - Discount Horse Records, 7", MP3 (2013)[16]
  • "The Winter Fuel Allowance Ineligibility Blues"/"Fix My Brain" (The Marked Men cover) - Fortuna Pop!, 7", MP3 (2017)

Split Releases

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Hart, Otis (9 October 2014). "The Pop-Punks Of Anarchy". NPR. National Public Radio, Inc. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  2. ↑ Clark, Peter (28 January 2011). "Bearded Label Love: Discount Horse". Bearded Magazine.
  3. ↑ Thomas, Fred. "Courting Strong - Martha - Reviews". Allmusic. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  4. ↑ Brown, Paul (20 November 2014). "Album Review: Martha - Courting Strong". Drowned in Sound.
  5. ↑ Clarke, Helen (26 May 2014). "Martha - Courting Strong - Albums - musicOMH". musicomh.com.
  6. ↑ Girling, Damien (6 June 2014). "Courting Strong by Martha (Album)". Songwriting Magazine.
  7. ↑ http://thefourohfive.com. "Martha - Courting Strong".
  8. ↑ "Indietracks interview #13: ONSIND".
  9. ↑ "Premiere: No Ditching - "Dickhead"". Noisey.
  10. 1 2 "Martha: Pop is Important. We Love it". 28 October 2015.
  11. ↑ "Martha: Blisters In The Pit Of My Heart - Fortuna POP! - 8 July". Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Sendra, Tim. "Martha Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  13. ↑ Baines, Huw (20 August 2015). "Martha And Radiator Hospital To Combine For UK Tour". Stereoboard. Eyedigit Limited. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  14. ↑ "Joyce Manor and Martha are touring the UK and Ireland together!". DIY. DIY Magazine. 12 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  15. ↑ Chris Gethard [@ChrisGethard] (17 April 2018). "Yo La Tengo can't do The @GethardShow tonight. Luckily DIY heroes @MarthaDIY are scrambling up from Washington DC to play our show on last minute notice. They're saving our asses. AND their album is one of my favorites. Good, kind, talented people I'm excited for you to hear" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 April 2018 – via Twitter.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "Martha Discogs Artist Page".
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