Interview with Charlotte Martin
by Jessica Netishen

I had the pleasure of making Charlotte Martin’s acquaintance in May, at the Sondre Lerche show where she was the opening act.  Martin is a very entertaining performer, has a beautiful voice, and is releasing her major label LP, On Your Shores, in August.  She was also gracious enough to accept my offer of an interview with AvoidPeril, and I am very excited to present the debut of  “8 Questions with AvoidPeril,” featuring Charlotte Martin.

Your sound has echoes of Tori Amos and Joni Mitchell, among others.  Have they heavily influenced your music? Who are some of the artists who have had the most impact on your music?

I’m a very big fan of Tori Amos and Joni Mitchell. I am a hardcore Kate Bush follower as well as Peter Gabriel and The Cure. My upcoming album, On Your Shore is very much influenced by Peter’s Security and Kate’s Hounds of Love. I also love bands like Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins...my new favorite band right now is Snow Patrol.
 
I love Liz Phair -- are you totally excited to be touring with her?  In a perfect world (even if time wasn't a factor), who would you want to tour with?

I love Liz. She rocks me. I’m honored to be on tour with her. Other than Liz, I would love to tour with The Cure, but I don’t know if that would work out well since I have been such a hardcore fan for so long...I might throw up if I ever met Robert Smith in person. He’s my hero. I would also love to tour with Peter Gabriel. I auditioned to be his piano player a while back. I obviously didn’t get the gig or I wouldn’t be here making my own records. But it was pretty exciting for about a week. I sent him recordings of me playing keys on “In Your Eyes” and “Digging in the Dirt”. I am a big Cardigans fan, and they are going to be out on tour with Liz and I this summer as well.

Who are some of your favorite new artists?  What CDs are on rotation in your tour bus?

Snow Patrol- Final Straw. That is hands down my favorite record right now. It’s sooooo good. If you’re a My Bloody Valentine fan I would recommend it. It’s different yes, but has reminiscent moments. I love the lyrics and the songs. I love Notwist (thanks Geoff)-Neon Golden. It’s just amazing. I love his voice as well. I also love Autolux. The only thing I have is their EP, Demonstration. Mellowdrone's Mellowdrone EP, Elefant - Sunshine Makes Me Paranoid.  I’m now just making a long list cause I’m on a roll.
 
How would you describe your upcoming album?  Is it an extension of the In Parenthesis EP, or are you experimenting with new sounds and ideas?

On Your Shore is nothing like In Parentheses. The only similarities are my voice, writing and keys. The album is a very very classical record. 4 songs have orchestra. 1 song has brass. The guts of the record were recorded live by myself with percussion and bass. Technically it’s the most challenging thing I’ve ever done. ‘Something like a Hero’ has 40 background vocals and a percussion outro that has so many different instruments we stopped counting after number 10. Joey Waronker played drums and percussion. Justin Meldal-Johnsen was on bass guitars and other odd noises. All of the vocal overdubs were recorded with many bottles of wine and lots of stuffed animals in my home studio. The content of the album is very personal. My guts are on this album. I mean, they are on the EP as well, just not in the same way. I presented this as intense as I could. And there was no method to that. The songs that are supposed to be on the album, made it. I lived every lyric, every melody, every idea. It’s 100 percent Char.

I co-produced it with my boyfriend Ken Andrews. Making the record was hard on us, because he was hearing me in an uncomfortably vulnerable place every time we worked. I think it was painful for him to know how miserable I was when I wrote the record...which was a lot of the last 2 years. Who am I kidding, I’ve been through a lot in the last 7 years. I mean, everyone goes through miserable times, pain, and tragedy. I just wrote about mine cause I needed a vein to tell myself everything was going to be okay. My songs are my lessons to myself and teach me how to heal if that’s possible. Lucky for me though, life has a way of peaking and then hitting bottom. Just when I’m happy and all is right with my world, the floor falls out from under my feet and I’m face down on the floor with my heart kind of smashed beside me. This is the place I start writing songs from. There’s no where to go but up. But I start when I’m so far down, I only have my conscious, music and my praying mom to get me up again.

 I know that a lot of your songs are heavily influenced by your own life experiences. Do you ever try to write from another perspective -- a different person, or even a fictional character?  Do you ever make up situations, and try to write songs from the protagonist's perspective?

All of my songs I have lived. On this album, it’s very much my diary. I tried to make my diary as universal as possible. I mean, were all different, but we all feel the same things and experience emotions. Everyone handles and deals with them differently or expresses them differently. I will change my stories as I grow as a writer. The second album is already written and it is not entirely autobiographical. I have a couple fantasies and stories I haven’t lived but they were certainly very real in my Imagination. :)

Do you get a lot of ideas for new material while you're on tour?

I am always writing 'cause I’m always feeling. It will be that way until I die. I never get afraid of writer’s block or anything like that. The vein is tapped and it’s been flowing out since college. I have too much to say. That is my problem.

What has been the highlight of your career so far? Have you been able to meet any of your favorite performers?

The highlight of my tour has been the wonderful people I have met and who I’ve developed relationships with. They make touring magical for me. I have been very fortunate to meet Carole King, Richard Butler, Ron Sexmith, Damien Rice, Howie Day...all very talented and interesting people and I adore their music.

I think that everyone who plays the piano should like Tom Waits.  Do you?  (If yes, what's your favorite album?)

Everything Tom Waits does is incredible. I can’t pick out an album. His entire catalogue is awesome.

Bonus Question! : Since you're such a huge fan of The Cure, what's your favorite album of theirs?  What album would you recommend to someone who doesn't own any of their records?

Again, I can’t pick a favorite. It’s too difficult. I can tell you my favorites so far this week...  The Top, Wish, Japanese Whispers...and yes Wild Mood Swings. I am having a little affair with that record.
 

**On Your Shores will be released by RCA in August 2004.