Talking To... Martyn Joseph
Welcome to the 6th of “Talking To” where FATEA editor, Neil King gets to chat to some of the artists that have impressed
him through their work and releases. This occasional series continues with an interview with Martyn Joseph
Martyn Joseph is the great documentor. He has travelled far and wide and become a great observer of human life. From there it's been a case of turning those observations into songs
and getting them on to a stage or a record to be heard. Consequently Martun Joseph's cannon of work includes songs about family and friends, feelings and events. The human spirit and the greed
and cruelty we weep onto the world.
As a performer Martyn has over twenty year's experience to draw upon. He was one of the first to really understand what it meant as an artist to be on and own your own record label. He's been quietly
at the forefront of a number of revolutions, but it's time to make some noise about and talk to Martyn Joesph
#M=Martyn Joseph #N=Neil King
#N We last spoke back in 1997. Haven't spoken since, fill in the gap.
#M 1997, well was two years after Sony and I parted ways. I'd stopped trying to be a pop star and all that and was working with an independent label called Grapevine. I decided that I felt I could do the whole thing better myself and with an obvious bias towards myself. The internet was coming about. I formed my own record label, called Pipe, back in 1998. I'm putting out a live album to go along with this tour and it's about my eighteenth album. I've taken over my own empire and have the freedom and autonomy that that gives me.
On the one hand it's great, but the downside is that it can mean that you are involved in the business side a lot more than you might want to. The last thing I often ever get to do is the artistic piece. There's so much to do that I find it saps a lot of my energy and time. There isn't always the energy left to be creative as much as I would like.
The plus side is that I get to do what the hell I like. I can get involved in causes, Amnesty, Christian Aid. In '99 I went to Canada for the first time. I had a great tour over there. I've been doing this for twenty five years and can go where I like and I don't think that would have been the case elsewhere
#N You were one of the pioneers of DIY record labels.
#M I was certainly there at the outset of all that, I'm not certain that I was one of the pioneers. I suppose it was possible because I know what I can do. I can get out there and play. A lot of people don't last because they aren't used to getting out there and playing live to people and make it work. There were a lot of people, including artists on my old management label, Wildlife Entertainments, who even had number one records that have gone back to day jobs, because there was nothing to sustain them. I was always aware of what I could do. I knew that there was life and a living beyond major labels and a lot of people don't think that way. Some see the loss of the deal as the end of a career. I was able to build my relationship with my audience far more when I was away from a major label and learnt from that.
#N There is a major difference between learning your craft and having it all and having it now.
#M Without sounding conceited, I think I'm at the top of my game right now. I'm forty six years old and I've been playing live for twenty five years. I think my guitar playing, the whole thing, my voice, the song writing, I'm starting to really understand who I am. You don't create yourself overnight it's something that evolves. Going out and having hits can make it difficult to become something else even if that's right. The journey to get there was part of the process and it's difficult just to get there.
#N And part of that I suppose. If you'ld have remained on Sony, or any major come to that, would you have been such a political songwriter?
#M I don't think so. I was beginning to become less of one the more I did with them. I did two albums there. If you look at the second album, there's some good content and some nice songs on there, but you begin to write songs that are three and a half minutes long. You're looking for a fantastic hook for the single. It begins to infiltrate how you work in your mind.
The first thing I noticed on the albums after the deal fell through was the songs got longer and I started to tell stories again. I got back into political issues again. I started addressing issues that I wasn't addressing when I was with Sony. If I want to go and look at projects in Brazil and get involved I Can. I don't have anyone telling me that I need to get back and promote a single. I can do what I want.
If I want to I can write a song, record in my studio and have about four and a half thousand people download it tomorrow. The problem is that for all of it the impetus has got to come from myself. I need to make sure I'm motivated and make sure that it doesn't all crash.