A Chat with Martini Police (10.07.20)
Hailing from the depths of Lincolnshire, Martini Police are a quartet bringing you dreamy indie-pop sounds. Known for their high energy, enthusiastic and engaging performances, Martini Police is one of the more passionate bands around. We spoke with Harvey Foster (HF), Megan Clayton (MC), Cameron Patrick (CP) and Donovan Jackson (DJ) about their new single ‘Nightclub’ and much more!
OSR: Have you always wanted to be musicians or did you ‘fall into it’?
HF: I think it was a mixture. I always loved music growing up being a massive fan of Elvis from six onward. It wasn’t until I started messing about with a friend’s guitar when I was 13 that I wanted to do music properly.
MC: Since I was about ten I wanted to be a vet. In my first year of sixth form I realised the thing that made me happiest was playing music and I’ve wanted to do that ever since.
DJ: I’ve wanted to be a musician since I was about 15 and I played my first gig. I knew as soon as I came off the stage that it was what I wanted to do.
CP: Honestly, I fell into it after getting my first guitar when I was about seven. My parents got me guitar lessons for a while and I was on and off, but it wasn’t until I was around 13 that I realised if I practise I can learn to get really good.
OSR: Why did you choose to go into indie-pop?
HF: I think it’s something we all felt comfortable with individually. As a band, we all started exploring our music taste more and more. I used to be a hard rock/punk kid, but I guess you could say it’s because of what was around me at the time. It wasn’t until I went to college and met the others that my taste started properly expanding. I have demos from around 2017/2018 which show my taste in music changing dramatically. It wasn’t all just rock and punk from the start, though. I’ve always tried experimenting with softer ‘pop’ sounds. The first band that introduced me to the indie culture/music was The Stone Roses and I fell headfirst in. Their first album was on repeat for months on end.
MC: Indie-pop suits all of our collective music tastes, I think. We all enjoy wildly different music but indie-pop is something we all enjoy playing.
OSR: If you could open a show for any artist, who would it be and why?
HF: The 1975 or Arctic Monkeys for sure. They’ve been massive influencers on our music and to share a stage with them would be a dream come true.
MC: Personally, I would love to open for someone like Girl In Red or King Princess. Their shows are always such a safe space for LGBTQ+ people and I would love to be a part of that.
DJ: For me, I think opening for Wallows would be pretty special as they’re a special band to me.
CP: Pretty basic, but definitely Arctic Monkeys. I feel we could give their crowd a great show.
OSR: If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?
HF: That’s a difficult one. Locally, I would love to collaborate with The Tin Pigeons. They’re a lovely wholesome group with absolute tunes in their catalogue. There may or may not be something in the works with our good friend Redshakes. If we’re gonna go worldwide, probably Clairo.
MC: I would love to collaborate with Rex Orange County. I find all of his music really interesting and love his use of instrumentation.
DJ: If I could collaborate with anyone, I think Clairo would be able to add another layer to our songs whilst adding publicity.
OSR: Can you tell us about ‘Nightclub’?
HF: ‘Nightclub’ was primarily written about my favourite nightclub Flares in Peterborough and nights out I’ve had there. I miss that place.
DJ: ‘Nightclub’ is really meant to be the soundtrack for a night out. It’s the song that plays in your head to the montage of memories you remember the next day.
OSR: Do you plan on releasing a video for ‘Nightclub’?
CP: We planned to have one of our friends do a video for a college project and have it released on our YouTube. As college is closed, we are having to look into it further and see if it’s a viable possibility. We shall see if we follow through with the plan.
OSR: Due to the pandemic, would you consider online performances?
MC: I would really like to do an online performance. I miss performing. It’s definitely something we’ve been looking into; it’s just been difficult as none of our schedules seem to be lining up.
DJ: The only problem with online performances is that, due to the way we perform, we would feel like we would be selling ourselves short. Especially for people that haven’t heard us before.
OSR: What are the pros and cons of being an independent artist?
HF: Pros: you own all your music and royalties and nobody can tell you what you can and can’t do. Cons: it’s hard work. I do a lot of the stuff for the band and at times I wish there was someone else that could be doing it while I have a nap.
MC: One of the pros is definitely the creative freedom. We can do whatever we want with our music, send out any message without needing anyone’s approval but our own. A con would be we have to fund everything ourselves, which can be a bit of a struggle.
OSR: What advice do you have for someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?
HF: Just be you, honestly. Write what you wanna write, do what you wanna do. Also, have a kind but tough heart. This scene can swallow you up whole, but there are some absolute gems in it.
DJ: I’d say keep going. The most important thing at the start is making good music and just trying to grow awareness of your band.
OSR: What are your Top 5 favourite artists of all time?
HF: My top 5 artists in no particular order: Childish Gambino, The 1975, Arctic Monkeys, The Stone Roses, Slaves.
MC: I find it hard to rank the artists I enjoy so these aren’t in any particular order. My top 5 would be: Fun, Watsky, BTS, Panic! At The Disco and Girl In Red.
CP: That’s a hard one, but I’ll try and keep it short and sweet. 1. Metallica; 2. Men At Work; 3. Iron Maiden; 4. Arctic Monkeys; 5. Muse.
OSR: If we could get a peek at your favourite playlists who would we find?
HF: I’ll just give you a brief insight to my Spotify ‘On Repeat’ – Gorillaz, Oasis, The 1975, Arctic Monkeys, The Vaccines, Weezer, Nirvana, Fontaine’s DC, Boy Pablo, Prince, Sports Team, Rage Against The Machine, Tin Pigeons, Post Malone, Wallows and Micheal Jackson.
MC: My favourite playlists are a mix of all my favourite songs, so there will be lots of emo bands from my adolescence like My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy.
DJ: My favourite playlist would include bands like Wallows, Day Glow, T-Rex and Peach Pit
OSR: On a scale of B to Y (Y being ‘yowzers’), how happy are you with ‘Nightclub’?
HF: Probably Y. If I wasn’t happy with it I wouldn’t put it out.
OSR: Do you have a message for our readers?
HF: Stay safe, be kind and stay hydrated.
MC: Make sure you’re all staying safe and look out for one another.
DJ: Listen to Martini Police.
CP: Thanks for reading and continuing to support us.
Thanks to Martini Police for chatting with us! You can find more about the group on their Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Spotify.
