After Wisconsin’s PHOX, singer Monica Martin steps out as solo artist
Marcus Mumford has the clout to work with anyone. He even recruited legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg to direct his first music video for his latest single “Cannibal.”
So, unsurprisingly, there are some esteemed guests on the Mumford & Sons’ frontman’s forthcoming debut solo album, including Phoebe Bridgers and Brandi Carlile.
And Monica Martin.
Martin doesn’t have the same name recognition, but she’s very familiar to fans of Wisconsin music. In 2013, Martin stepped into the spotlight with a group of friends from Baraboo in a creative and whimsical folk-pop group PHOX.
One of the most accomplished Wisconsin bands of the 21st century, PHOX played Lollapalooza and Coachella; appeared on “Conan” and NPR’s “Tiny Desk Concert”; opened for the Lumineers and the Head and the Heart; and toured across North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
When the band came to an end in early 2017, Martin sought a new beginning in Los Angeles. And it was at a Los Angeles gig that she shared a stage with Mumford. A big admirer of her work, he asked her to appear on his album as the guest vocalist for the song “Go in Light.”
“I love the song and I am such a huge fan of his,” Martin said of Mumford. “That’s just kind of speaking to those kind of crazy organic connections that can pretty much only happen in a place like L.A.”
Before the song and album arrive Sept. 16, Martin will be coming home to Wisconsin, to play her first Milwaukee show as a solo artist Aug. 27, at the Back Room at Colectivo Coffee, followed by a sold-out Madison gig the next night at the High Noon Saloon.
“I would undermine my worth. ‘How could I have a career after this thing that had stickiness, which was PHOX?’ ” Martin said. “I couldn’t picture what it would look like. Now I know what it looks like. It’s beautiful and nourishing in different ways. … I do have strengths and I have validity as a singular artist.”
Finding her own way after PHOX
It took a bit for Martin to get to that state after relocating in 2018.
“I spent a lot of time just trying to write songs in any different way I could find,” Martin said. “A lot of that was seeing what that meant when I’m not preemptively considering that other voices are contributing to a soundscape.”
She recorded with art-funk group Vulfpeck and producer Violents, but when it came to “the journey of trying to figure out where I fit or who I am, I think I overcompensated.”
“Some songs that I wrote in the first couple of years feel like I went too far in the other direction (from PHOX),” Martin said. “They ended up not speaking to the truth of how much folk music is part of me. … There were a couple of times when I finished something in a co-writing space or with a new producer and I wanted things to be fluid, but I would make concessions over and over again.”
But in the past couple of years, Martin said, “My identity crisis is settling” — and that’s evident in the music.
At the invitation of friend and comedian Beth Stelling, Martin fell in with the musicians and comedians who frequently perform at famed Los Angeles venue Largo. After making her Largo debut, Martin said the owner told her, “This is your home now.”
It was there that she met Khushi, who has become her most trusted producer and collaborator. And Khushi in turn connected Martin with his best friend, actress and activist Jameela Jamil (”The Good Place,” “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law”), whose boyfriend is influential musician and producer James Blake. Blake has become one of Martin’s biggest supporters, and a recurring collaborator.
Collaborations with James Blake
Martin was a featured vocalist on Blake’s track “Show Me” from last year’s “Friends That Break Your Heart” album. Blake returned the favor earlier this year, appearing on a new version of Martin’s gorgeous single “Go Easy, Kid,” a tender call to ease one’s anxieties and self-doubts. (The track, recently spotlighted on the popular “Song Exploder” podcast, also had a contribution from Martin’s former PHOX bandmate Matteo Roberts.)
“It’s always lovely to finish something and say this represents the spirit of a feeling perfectly,” Martin said of “Go Easy, Kid.” “A lot of people with self-esteem issues are going to have these moments where it’s so clear that you’re speaking to yourself in an unreasonable way.”
“To be with James, who I’ve just absolutely adored since forever, having him say, ‘I cry every time I listen to your songs,’ … I have so much proof to believe in myself. I’m getting there.”
Martin has since released another solo single, “Hard to Explain,” and plans to play some originals, including an unreleased tune, and some covers at her Wisconsin shows. She may even touch on a PHOX song.
Reflecting on the band that gave her her start, Martin said: “You see all of the ways that you were able to stretch out your limbs, all the things that you took for granted.”
“There were seven of us initially, all very young with lots of varying levels of emotional intelligence and capacity to communicate,” she continued. “There were a lot of failures and a lot of heartbreaks, and at the same time, we did something so (expletive) cool because every person in that group is an incredible artist.”
“I’d be curious to know what the emotional dynamic would be in 2022. I think it would be a lot more capability to have a more intimate collaboration honestly,” she continued. “I am so, so grateful for that experience. It really opened my heart to being able to connect to people in this way. If it wasn’t for (PHOX), I probably wouldn’t have started singing at all publicly.”