Martre Interview

 

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the solo project?

Well, despite being a metal head for more than thirty years, since the age of ten, and actually picking up the guitar in my early teens, Martre is my first serious project - and the first thing I ever released, was the short ep “Smertens Leje” in late 2018

In terms of genres, I guess it’s best described as experimental black metal; raw but w/ atmospheric melodic and  ambient elements, notes of blackened grindcore and a tiny bit of doom, all added to the mix.

2.Recently you have released your first full length, musically how does it differ from your previous ep's and singles?

I actually listened to all the previous releases, just recently, and I would say there has been a quite natural evolution; the first ep "Smertens Leje" was recorded in Garageband, on my old iPhone, with an old acoustic guitar. All vocals was done through the earphones that came with the phone, and the simplistic and raw output on that ep, is obviously a result of those factors. 

When I got my hands on some slightly better equipment, the creativity continued to flourish, and the sound of Martre naturally evolved, with all the new possibilities that became available to me. 

Through time and experience I've become better at what I do, and despite the music becoming increasingly darker, I still enjoy experimenting with styles, and don't constrain myself to a particular style of music or sound - and hope it'll continue to be like that; it keeps me entertained, and my ADHD brain sane.

However, despite the continuous change in sound, I can still find some elements from the first ep's, in the music I do today though; the acoustic pieces, the varied use of vocals and perhaps even the atmosphere it self, I guess. 

In fact, I still use the old trusty earphones for vocals, and record everything myself in Garageband; I bought a MacBook though, and all recordings have been done on that since the release of "Forglem mig ej" back in 2020.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you have explored so far with the music?

It may sound like the greatest cliché, but on the first ep, critique of organized religion, witch hunt - both actual and metaphorically, was definitely a topic, I spent some time on. From then on, I primarily turned the lyrical attention towards myself. 

I'm diagnosed with ADHD, and have always been struggling with low self esteem, social phobia, overthinking everything, angst and the occasional mental burnout because of it; some of my lyrics reflects those challenges - and is a big messy mix of everything going on in my head.

With that being said, the lyrics on the latest album, is inspired by the recent events going on in Ukraine; naturally, the main topics being death and sorrow..

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name  'Martre'?

In Danish the word Martre, means to induce psychological pain, sorrow and/or worries. Coming up with a bandname is quite hard, and at times it seems like every name is already taken. After doing the first ep, I became aware of another danish band also called Martre; the split up a few years before I became active though, and their music is nothing like mine - so I decided to keep the name.

I've recently been told, that "Ofelia" is not something you should listen to, before going to bed at night - and if that should really be the case, and my music is that haunting, I guess I live up to my name..

5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the full length cover?

The photo on the cover, is an old picture I came across years ago, and I've been saving it on my computer ever since. "Ophelia" from Shakespeares legendary Hamlet, was the instant thought that came to mind, when I saw it for the first time. The postmortem scenery , with the young girl in bed, reminds me of the old painting of "Ophelia", done by Sir John Everett Mills. It's a beautiful, yet haunting picture, and I couldn't get it out of my head; from the second I saw it, I knew I was going to use it, when the time was right.

I interpret the photo as the death of the innocent, caused by the pure madness that surround us. In the story about Hamlet, Ophelia goes mad because of her fathers actions, denying her the love of her life, and her own actions, caused by her fathers strong influence; ultimately leading to her death. 

In my imagination, the deceased girl depicted on the photo, is just as innocent as she looks; her death caused by conscienceless powerful sociopaths, who without any kind of remorse, makes the world burn destroys city after city and sacrifices defenseless people - all for their own gain..

6.With both of your projects you record everything by yourself, are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer to work solo?

I’ve never been the most social person, so with the technology available today, it makes it easy for an introvert person like me, to explore my creativity and record music, all without depending on other people, or having to interact with possible bandmates; I would have a hard time, adjusting my own creative visions and ideas, to fit within the context of a band.

Should I ever decide to involve other musicians in my projects, time would also be an issue; I've got a wife, three daughters and a job - so finding time, for actually teaming up with other people, I suspect, would be somewhat difficult. 

On another note, I've actually got three different projects. Martre, Feral Mittens and NØDDØ; why should one limit oneself to just two projects...? :)

7.In the first 3 years you recorded a lot of music with this project, do you still spend a great amount of time writing and creating music?

I don't have a lot of time for actual writing and recording, but my head is always filled, with a lot of ideas for new music; some weeks I record absolutely nothing, just to hit a creative spurt the next, which results in half an album of recordings; some useful, some not so much.. 

No matter how much I end up recording, I always keep getting back to it a thousand times, before I'm happy - and that makes it a very long process, from the first idea - to the finished product; at times I wish, I could be one of those people who improvise and record a full album in a day - but apparently, that's just not how I work..

8.The full length was released by 'These Hands Melt', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

I was approached by Mauro Roma, who started the company, not long after the digital release of "Ofelia"; he told me about this new record company that he was about launch, and offered me the great opportunity of releasing the album on cd.

I had a bad experience when the last album "Menneskebarn" was released, as I was approached by a Turkish label, that wanted to do cassettes and cds - but after months of wait, terrible communication - and doing hours and hours of graphical work myself, the guy I was communicating with, stopped responding to my messages and mails. I wasn't happy, to say the least. 

With that experience in mind, I did a background check of Mauro, and with his experience as A&R at Flowing Downward Records, I found some confidence in his merits and large network; all leading to the agreement of releasing "Ofelia" on These Hands Melt. 

Even if the album should turn out to be a huge commercial failure, I still hope that this company will become very successful; with Mauro pulling the strings, finding all these interesting and talented artists - and investing everything into this project, it deserves to be a huge success.

9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal?

The new album has generally been very well received, and when I dive into the statistics, I see people from all over the World supporting Martre. Obviously that makes me very happy. 

Artists putting out albums, and pretending not to care about its reception, are all full of shit; If you really don't care about peoples opinions, and do music "just for you", then why don't you stop uploading the damn thing? Keep it on your phone, or burn it on a cd, just for you.

However, if some people hate everything about what I do, I'd very much prefer that, than people not having an opinion at all; as grateful I am for the support I've been shown, I still believe music should touch people, make an impact on someones life if it's good - or at least just make people turn off the stereo in an instant. 

Music should never not matter, or be the musical interpretation of the color beige; dull and boring.

10.Can you tell us a little bit more about your other musical project 'Feral Mittens'?

Feral Mittens I used to describe as slasher punk black metal, and it's a totally different beast than Martre; it's grotesque, satirical and political lyric wise, improvised to a certain degree, features wooden flutes, hammond organ - and is just a very funny thing to do.. Despite featuring a couple of odd elements, it is actually quite straight forward punk'ish black metal.

The last project I've got, for now, is NØDDØ; my outlet for experimental doom metal; I've only done a single-track ep so far - but I'm about to change that, as I'm currently in the works of doing a follow-up. 

11.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician during the future?

I don't know; I don't see myself loosing interest in any of my projects any time soon - so I guess there will be lots of new music from my hand, throughout the coming years. 

Hopefully I will keep improving as a musician - and perhaps someday, even fulfill the dream, of also adding some of my own music, to the vinyl collection in my living room.

12.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

It's hard to point out specific bands, as I'm probably inspired and influenced by everything I've ever listened to; bands and artists close to my heart, range from Alice Cooper, Sodom, old Metallica, Slayer and Mayhem to Leviathan, Akhlys and even Pink Floyd. 

At hard as it is to pinpoint direct influences, I must have picked up something along the way; I could mention the Danish post hardcore / metal band LLNN, as a great inspiration, when it comes to creating dark atmospheric soundscapes.

As another example, it might be difficult to hear something like the aforementioned Pink Floyd in my music, but I'm a huge fan of David Gilmour, and his style of playing. Very few people can make a guitar sing and weep like he can; my own, very melodic, approach to doing solos, is undeniably inspired by some of the things I have heard him do.

Should I name a few newer artists, I enjoy at the moment, then I would have to mention A Pregnant Light; Damian Master is a genious. Also, I would advice people to check out my favourite New York black n' rollers from Funeral Dancer, my fellow danes from Hersker, Stikkersvin and Afsky, the brand new albums by Sól án varma, Sáasil, Varhara and Spirit Possession - and if you're feeling brave, and don't always need your metal cookie'cutter style, then try anything by Salqiu.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts? 

I just want to thank you, for giving me this chance, of telling about my music - and though I'm fully aware of the fact, that my music is not for everybody, I truly appreciate everybody, who spends just a minute of their precious time, to check out my music; fan or not, I appreciate you gave it a shot. 

Martre @ Facebook