Post-disco duo Martyrs have come a long way since growing up together in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales. Having bonded over WCW Wrestling and the iconic sounds of REM, Jon and Michael came together once again many years later in Kent. Posing the question “what would yacht rock sound like if we made it at home instead of in a multi-million dollar studio?”, Martyrs was born as well as a new genre: Post-Yacht.

Their forthcoming single Where Did You Go? encapsulates Martyrs essence in just over four retro-filled minutes. The band describe it as a “visit to a supernatural Studio 54” as the track comes strutting out the blocks like Staying Alive-era John Travolta. Where Did You Go? combines raucous instrumentation with a haunting lyric about an eerie encounter with a long forgotten music box. A horror story set to a disco beat, Where Did You Go? offers an infectious hook and dazzling chorus that will leave you unsure whether you should dance or shudder.

In this interview spotlight, I chat with Martyrs about the latest music, AI, dream collabs, and more.

Full Q&A along with links and music below.

This AI thing is getting way out of control. I have students using ChatGPT to write death metal songs about country music…and country songs about being sad. You can feed some Ais a text prompt and create a Hollywood-quality short film. How do you feel about this new wave of technological innovation?

This is something Jon (musician/producer) and I (Michael – singing) discuss a lot. The point of AI as I see it is to help humanity shed itself of menial labour and allow people to thrive and flourish creatively. Instead we’re doing the exact opposite and using it to replace creativity. It can be used to improve so many aspects of modern life, but instead we’re demeaning artists and writers with it. In terms of creative use, it’s fun to mess around with, it’s amusing to see what it can do, but I’ve got no interest in it as an actual creative tool. Plus, on a more base level, the art looks like shit and the way it writes is laughably poor. My apologies, you’ve touched on a soapbox subject. Though I am now quite curious to hear a Cannibal Corpse song about Loretta Lynn.

I know it’s hard…but what’s your favorite song and/or favorite artist of all time? If not favorite, in your top 3?

The best song ever written is ‘The Only Living Boy In New York’ by Paul Simon. At least, that’s what I think sometimes. Often it’s ‘Hammond Song’ by The Roches, sometimes it’s ‘Racing In The Streets’ by Bruce Springsteen and often it’s ‘I’ve Got My Mind Set On You’ by James Ray. All of those songs are flawless, incredibly beautiful and moving in their own unique way. I’m big on hyperbole and recency bias though, it’s evidence that you’re not numb to the world, so today I’m going to say my favourite song is ‘Berlin Without Return’ by Voxtrot, which I heard for the first time yesterday. 

Favourite artist of all time. That’s huge. Again, it alters over time. The Blue Nile is probably the right answer. The Replacements, Red House Painters, The Kinks, Aphex Twin, Swans and Bikini Kill have all held that spot at one time or another. It’s a competitive field. Did I forget Iron Maiden? Oh, and Superchunk. Can’t forget them. I could carry on for days. I bloody love a list…

Were you trying to accomplish anything specific or different with this project? What’s the back story?

We made the first album ‘Un Diavolo In Casa’ during the pandemic. It was, unsurprisingly, stunningly dark. It was lo-fi, scrappy, quite brutal in parts. We wanted to try something as a sort of antidote to that record and that’s where we came upon with this question of “What would yacht rock sound like if you made it at home instead of in a multi-million dollar studio?”

‘Luminism’ is us trying to answer that question. Again, as with the first record, it’s completely DIY – all home-recorded, all written by us, every note played by Jon, sung by me, the album design, the artwork, everything done in-house. We just had an ambition to make something that really shines. We looked back to artists like Hall & Oates, Billy Joel, Donna Summer, Cyndi Lauper, out of our indie-boy comfort zones to try to capture some of that shimmer. Some of that delicious gloss. Because we are who we are, though, it comes out sounding quite melancholic at times, quite heartbroken, even if what you’re hearing musically, hearing superficially is really quite joyous. 

The first single ‘Sunset Thinking’ was a big, bold ballad about being rescued from a mental health crisis, and the new single ‘Where Did You Go?’ is a disco banger about a haunted music box. What that says about how our minds work? Don’t want to know, really…

There are songs on there about addiction, about failed professional wrestling promotions, depression, social injustice, but it’s all through this wonderful, rose-tinted musical lens. Jon is able to turn my often miserable meanderings into something much more uplifting, thankfully. We’re calling it “Post-Yacht” and hey, there have been worse attempts at coining a genre name. Not that I can bring one to mind immediately.

Ultimately I think it’s a hopeful record. Even if it’s steeped in the past, it’s got one eye on a brighter future.

What drives you to create? What keeps you going, especially on the bad days?

I think the bad days are what drives a lot of creativity. I’ve suffered with mental health issues in the past. It was impossible to be creative to any meaningful extent during those times, but reflecting on them drives a lot of what I bring to Martyrs. I write a lot about the contrast between the good times and the bad, the long lost past and the potential of the future. I enjoy being in that liminal space between the dark and light. 

Writing and recording is the experience, the destination for me, rather than a step on the road to having your music released or, less likely, admired. The process is the most important aspect of making music. You’ve got to love that process and set aside ego and ambition. Once you do that you can actually be happy with what you do. Or, you know, as happy as anyone can be working on a disco song based on The Picture Of Dorian Gray. It’s really, really lovely that a handful more people are hearing our songs and finding something relatable in them. That’s awesome. I can’t wait to start working on the next record though. 

If you could collaborate with anyone – dead or alive, famous or unknown – who would it be and why? Please plug them with a link so readers can check them out.

I’ve found the perfect collaborator in Jon. We grew up together in South Wales and we shared a lot of musical touchstones growing up, but then we went our separate ways and when we circled back and started working together again, we each had completely different musical experiences, wildly different influences and ideas and somehow they fit together. Our minds work completely differently, compliment and change and distort the other, and the results are nothing like I’ve ever worked on before.  We have completely different skillsets, though I’m not sure I’d refer to what I do as skilled exactly.

I think it would have been incredible to work with Steve Albini. I’m sure if you ask anyone in a band that’s what they’ll say, though, and rightly so. 

I’d be really happy to sing with Carol Martini, she’s a singer-songwriter from California and she had a recent single that I can’t stop playing called ‘Bring Your Heart Back To Me’

I also have a friend who has just started making this really challenging, almost oppressive, dark electro music under the name 10DOTS, and I’d be curious to see what we could come up with together. It would not be a fun listen, I wouldn’t imagine. His recent single is marvellous, but I think he’d be way too cool to work with the likes of us.

Where is the best place to stay connected with You?

All our socials and such are here: https://linktr.ee/martyrsmusic

People should feel free to email us at martyrsmusicuk@gmail.comthough, as we actually check that.

I appreciate Your time. Want to say anything else before we sign off? 

We appreciate yours. Only that all sales of the singles and album on our Bandcamp go directly to Trussell Trust who help provide aid to food banks across the UK: https://martyrsuk.bandcamp.com/album/luminism

You may think the music sucks – an entirely appropriate response, I assure you – but if you can donate a quid to them anyway that would be grand: https://www.trusselltrust.org