Aidan’s Punchline proves a knockout
A singer-songwriter who made it to the judges’ houses of last year’s X Factor has proved a knockout with his debut single.
Aidan Martin, who grew up in Cleadon, has released his debut single Punchline, which has reached No 4 on the Singer Songwriter Chart on iTunes after an acoustic version of the track – with which he auditioned for The X Factor – went viral with more than 10million views online.
The 28-year-old was inspired to write the track after a past relationship.
Aidan almost made it to the live shows of the hit ITV talent show, but was evicted after singing for judge Louis Walsh at the judges’ houses round in Istanbul.
Since then he’s signed with management label Sound Collective and has written tracks for a number of artists, including Joss Stone, who performed his track at the UN Headquarters in New York.
Aidan, who attended St Wilfrid’s School, in South Shields, said: “I was so chuffed to reach No 4, especially as it’s with a song I wrote myself. My only competition was George Ezra, who was at No 1, 2 and 3 with songs from his new album. To be alongside an established artist like that is incredible.”
Speaking about his appearance on the show last year, he said: “I’ve been writing my own music since I was 17, it’s an integral part of my music. The reason I didn’t enter X Factor in the past was because you couldn’t do your own material, but when they opened it up to original material in the last series the time felt right.
“I was overwhelmed for the video of the audition to get 10million views in the US and UK. The reason I do music is to tell a story and connect with people, so for it to resonate with people was really special.”
He added: “I wrote Punchline about a relationship two years ago, which I thought I was over, but singing in front of the judges brought that process of heartbreak back.”
For the single release Aidan worked with producers on re-working the track, with the accompanying video due for release soon.
The singer is also hoping to start work on an album this year.
He said: “I’ve had fans waiting for me to release something, so it’s great to finally get my single out and for it to be so well received. I’ve got lots of exciting projects coming up this year.”
Punchline is available at http://smarturl.it/AidanMartinPunchline
“I’m really excited for what the next year has in store” AIDAN MARTIN