From a young age I have always been interested in writing, whether that be poetry or fiction. I remember having a poem published in a collected works book when at school. To this day as a teacher (the day job!), I am still passionate about students’ writing that inspires me. I feel that it is simply the power and emotion in language that enables us to connect with our own emotions and those of others that I find so special, and allows us to identify in a song a lyric that instantly reflects our own feelings, situations and relationships. It is also the power of metaphor that gives us the freedom to choose our own interpretation of a song’s meaning and appreciate the subtleties and nuances in the words themselves and what they might convey. What did the artist mean when they wrote that song?!
When I started dabbling in synthesizers in the mid-late 1980s, completely caught up in the electronic, new wave music of the time, I discovered that I could also write my own songs and music and like all of us it has been a great source of liberation. There is a beauty in being able to express oneself through music. My biggest claim to fame at this time was being shortlisted to replace Holly Johnson when he left Frankie Goes To Hollywood but not quite getting it and having one of the band ring my house and speak to my mum about it! Oh, and also getting my photo in Just Seventeen magazine!
Over the years since, it has simply been a question of trying to get my music out there, a frustrating process as all songwriters know! But, I have held onto my battered old file of lyrics and I hope that now, through Songbay, my work will get the exposure I have always thought it deserves.
In more recent years, I began to compose music for independent film and television. I love quality thriller drama and have become a huge fan of the foreign dramas that we can now enjoy. In particular, I am often impressed by the quality of these programmes’ opening titles music and it is naturally an ambition therefore to see my own music used in these productions.
At present I am concentrating on lyric writing. I am keen to push the quality of my writing and the vocabulary I use in ever new and adventurous directions, and whilst happy, poppy songs are fantastic and we all need them, the darker, more thought-provoking the lyric the better for me! There are too many artists I have loved over the years to list here, but Martin Gore of Depeche Mode has been a particular source of inspiration, whilst I find the lyrics of the Danish songwriter, Mads Langer, quite exquisite. To be able to express himself in English the way he does as a non-native speaker is amazing. Other artists I admire for the quality of their songwriting include Thirteen Senses, Editors, SYML, A Fine Frenzy, Ruelle and David Sylvian. Favourite band of all time though are Blondie; favourite song, Heart of Glass; favourite album cover, Speak and Spell, Depeche Mode; favourite guilty pleasure song!, Waiting For A Star To Fall, Boy Meets Girl.
I am very excited by the opportunity to collaborate with other songwriters out there and would love to be able to write lyrics for you according to your own desires for your songs and your own brief. Please get in touch.
Martin