Harley Hits The Highway

Martin tells us about gigging across the slide heartlands of the US, about his latest record, Mojo Fix, and what we can expect from his next album

How’s your music been going?

“It’s been good. More in America I guess, which is where I’ve been focused for a while. We’ve had some great placements in TV shows, which seems to be the way that music is moving a little bit. So yes, I mean, I got to tour around America and see the country. I got to go to Clarksdale; I got to play at Ground Zero… I played amazing venues that I’ve always wanted to play, like The Troubadour. It was like, hang on, Guns N’ Roses played here!”

How has the new album gone down?

“MojoFix has gone well. What’s next is I'm writing a new record and, as opposed to how MojoFix was recorded, which was quite a studio record, I need to make sure that all the songs work from beginning to end in a solo format before adding the band, which is probably more akin to how DrumrollsForSomersaults was recorded. Sometimes, I’m travelling solo, and I want to be able to represent the records that I’m making in both band and solo format.

“So yes, I’m just focusing on that at the moment, and I'm still getting used to playing with a thumbpick. That’s been great for my regular playing as well, because suddenly I can take on scales in a different way, and I can do a few more slightly Django [Reinhardt]-esque lead lines, because you’ve got the pick on the thumb. So, hopefully, I'll have a record written by May, and then it should be out in the autumn.”