Speaking to someone as interesting as folk artist/singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright was an exciting and intriguing prospect, so of course I began by asking her about her Christmas holidays.
“They were good. We always have a kind of work holiday I guess, because every year for a while now we’ve been doing these Christmas shows, in Nashville, Tennessee, which was pretty special because it was a kind of a Country Christmas.” Indeed, coming from an impressive family of touring songwriters, Martha tells me that this was the best way for the whole family to see each other.
Speaking about her brother Rufus’ musical abilities, she told me that “I think ‘Dinner at Eight’ is a great song. It’s about our dad and these bitter struggles and I just love the melody of it. It’s a really great song; a song I wish that I had written.”
Asking her about the rather vague album title, Goodnight City, she says the following: “I thought was fitting for the record, because it was a farewell to something, as well as a new beginning. And it fits the subject matter of the album; a common theme on this record is my kids, especially my youngest, Francis, and this phrase “Goodnight City” was something which he was saying over and over and over again at the time, because he kept asking us to read him a book called Goodnight, New York City, but he always omitted the ‘New York’ part for some reason.” She concludes her story by telling me “it really tied into the concept of the record.”
I inquired into the inspiration behind the track ‘Look Into My Eyes,’ which is an odd electronic pop song in the midst of a very folk-influenced album. “Well, that was a song which was written by my aunt, Anna. She came up with the chords, and the idea of the arpeggiator being used as an instrument, and the whole thing just created this sort of soundscape which was very different from songs that she’s known for writing.”
“She wrote a few lyrics, but then my cousin Lilly and I, for the first time, wrote the rest of it together. It was an amalgamation of the three of us together and our ideas of what the song was, a kind of a journey. So then I finished it off with the pop vocal on top of it, and it was really fun.” She describes the finished song as being “a bit more cinematic and lyrical than the other songs on the record, and I like it because of that.”
Speaking on her reluctance to start writing new music, she says that “I kind of have to take time to process what kind of songs I want to make.” However, she assures me that the song-writing process will begin shortly: “I just have to see what’s there for me musically, and now is the time to start.” However, she also tell me excitedly that she’s “been listening to some Connie Converse lately because I’ve been thinking about appearing on a tribute album to her, and she’s really interesting to me; she’s got this great, interesting sound.”
Converse is evidently not the only influence that Martha’s been thinking about lately, however: “I think it would have been fun to do something with David Bowie. Just his approach to music and how he wrote songs, and all his ideas about the musical riff, as well as the lyric, I think it would have been great to do something with him.”
I asked her about her new tour, and if she enjoyed any venues in particular, revealing her surprising fondness for the London Roundhouse:
“I really enjoyed playing the Roundhouse in support of my second record, and we’re going back there soon; I think that’s a great venue. My mother was at the last Roundhouse gig I did, and also Shlomo, the Human beatbox, was there, so it was a really fun experience for me. So, I’ve got really fond memories of that place.”
However, she has not had such wonderful experiences in her concerts outside of the UK: “The worst gig I ever did was in Sherbrooke, and I couldn’t sing because I had lost my voice, but they made me do the gig anyhow, and I could hardly sing at all.” She finishes her story by rather sadly telling me that “I was trying desperately with teas and lozenges, and I had to stop because there was just nothing there, and it was really depressing, but they shouldn’t have made me do it.” Regardless, Martha is as fantastic an artist now as she was when she began over a decade ago; in fact, many would argue that she’s done nothing but improve since her debut.
Martha is currently on tour in support of her newest album, Goodnight City, which was released 11th November 2016.
Zack Moore
[image: zimbio.com]