Interview with Charlotte Martin With a lengthy world tour, the release of two new EPs, and her writing debut for AvoidPeril, 2005 marked yet another busy year for Charlotte Martin; and with a new DVD and album on the way, the coming months have plenty more to look ahead to. AvoidPeril’s Steve Pfau spoke with Martin during her break from touring last month for her third interview with AP, where Martin divulged her love for Destiny’s Child, the married life, and the joys of (gasp!) Myspace. SP: Your latest release, Veins, showed a much more electronic and experimental side of your music. What inspired you to go in that direction? CM: At the time, I was listening to a lot of electronic music like Dead Can Dance and had just gotten a new synth. After all the orchestration on On Your Shore, I was craving something with a more electronic sound. SP: You’ve said that your upcoming record, Stromata, is your most experimental yet. Do you think it will be close to either of your last two EPs, or something completely different? CM: Stromata is definitely very close to the first four tracks on Veins. It’s also more electronic, and a lot of that is captured on Something Like A DVD. The DVD is part documentary and part live recordings, and on a lot of the live performances I started using some new synths as well as piano with the rest of the band. SP: In your AvoidPeril article, “Under Your Bones,” you mentioned music that’s had an impact on your life. Any artists that have always been especially influential to you? CM: Well, I’ve always loved Peter Gabriel, The Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, of course, Nick Drake, and I also used to obsess over My Bloody Valentine. I like some classical stuff, too, like Benjamin Britten’s choral work. His music’s very layered, which influenced a lot of the arrangements in my recording. SP: Since you’ve mentioned some music that you’ve found influential, do you also have any guilty-pleasure songs? CM: Ooh, guilty-pleasure songs? Well, I love “Lose My Breath” by Destiny’s Child. We play it at the end of some of our meet-and-greets, it’s a great song to just shake your ass to. There’s another song in the movie Ocean’s Twelve I really like, it’s by some French band I don’t know the name of, but I guess it doesn’t count as a guilty-pleasure song since it’s actually pretty cool. SP: What have been some of the highlights of being on the road while touring? CM: I think the recording of the DVD in Los Angeles has sort of been the pinnacle of touring for me. It was my first big audience that really knew all the songs, and it was a chance to have a longer performance with more encores, too. SP: What has touring abroad been like for you? CM: I’ve really liked touring abroad, actually. Being at home isn’t always normal for me, it’s kind of more comfortable for me to be in a different place every day. You know, you actually get to have fresh fries from McDonald’s, and you’ve got conditioner and coffee in your hotel room, and you get your own iPod on the tour bus and everything. SP: What has switching to the indie label Test-Drive Records been like? Has there been a big shift in your audience? CM: Well, so far I’ve only really used Test-Drive for smaller releases like Darkest Hour and Veins, but my husband and I are currently working on our own label, Dinosaur Fight Records…“rawr.” SP: I’ve heard that you and your co-producer, Ken Andrews, were recently married, congratulations! Do you think he will have a big impact on your songwriting? CM: Well, not really. [laughs] His production had an influence on On Your Shore and some on Veins, but we usually work in our own separate studios at my house. I usually just email him some songs when I’m recording. It’s like we have a more healthy relationship now that we don’t have to see each other all the time! [laughs] SP: While looking through your press kit, I couldn’t help but notice you have a Myspace profile. What’s your opinion on this fad? CM: Oh, I absolutely love it. It’s a great place to find new music and people you used to know. I haven’t found any ex-boyfriends yet, but I’ve still found out what a small world it really is. It’s wonderful. SP: Well in that case, I am definitely friend-requesting you. CM: Yes, let’s be Myspace friends forever! [laughs]
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