TOBY MARTIN | Public figure
TOBY MARTIN
Reviews
to load big map
25.01.2022 This charming English public house will tomorrow night be the stage for some wrenching antipodean balladry. I will play too. Its the Swan in Slaithwaite, West Yorkshire. Local folk-based supergroup "Sweet and Toxic" will open proceedings round 8:30, then me.
25.01.2022 Testing the effect of songs about the hot Australian suburbs in foggy England. These are rough mixes of the new Youth Group record.
24.01.2022 Looking for signs. Looking for good signs for 2019. And I found one in a pile of rubble by the side of the road - here it is pictured with the actual Colne Valley behind it (although the chimneys only rarely now cheerily smoke). 2019 is the year some of my musical projects will come to fruition. In March I go into Yellowarch studios in Sheffield with a great group of musicians to record with Colin Elliot (a combo that delivered several Richard Hawley records amongst others)... an album of songs loosely inspired by my time living in a post-industrial, pre-brexit northern English village. With bagpipes. Later in the year, in Sydney, Dang Lan and I will record the Vietnamese/folk/psych songs we wrote, and hopefully play a few shows. And last but not least, a new Youth Group album will finally be released! Dang Lan just told me that the Year of the Pig is a lucky year for us Rabbits. See more
23.01.2022 This week's songwriting residency with Dang Lan begun under her Longan tree. We hope the songs will be as bountiful as the fruit! A @utprojects production
23.01.2022 Yesterday I got to go ‘backstage’ at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, and have a play on these sweet Matons. I will be wielding said axes at a songwriting workshop for 13-15 year olds on Sunday (Tix for workshop still available: link below) It’s all part of their amazing Maton exhibition. Did you know Maton has been making guitars in Australia since the 1940s? I had no idea. This is a 60s Fyrebird and it has a friend called the ‘Ibis’ which is awesome and was made back when the bird had a glamorous reputation (now it has a gutter glamour of course) @powerhousemuseum https://maas.museum//song-writing-with-toby-martin-online/
23.01.2022 Its great to be writing music with Dang Lan again. All this week we are in residence at the wonderful @utprojects Today we are matching colours and swapping instruments. Look out!
23.01.2022 Danny from youth groups good mate Brad, and one of the most generous people you could meet, is one of the many many people affected by the recent catastrophic bushfires. He owns and runs the holiday park in Lake Conjola, which itself survived but has just lost all its business for January. Its heartbreaking. This fundraiser is for things they need right now to get up and running again - like a generator as they still dont have power. I know lots of people have already given a lot, but if anyone can afford it the link is below.
22.01.2022 It was a lot of fun being part of In/Out: Floating Cities in Lier, Belgium, last night. This was a show devised by Dirk Proost that took people of many ages and backgrounds and formed a shifting, swaying piece of music (or theatre). I sung a few songs and was happy to be part of the freak out - one of the few parts of the Flemish running sheet I understood!
22.01.2022 New Youth Group song is out! Video is directed by Michael Klattenhoff. Pals back in the 'old dart may recognise the streets of 'Oodderzfield here...
21.01.2022 It’s been a scary summer. But it’s also been pretty amazing to see communities coming together to rebuild, to protest, and to give. Conjola Park and Lake Conjola are communities that have a huge amount of rebuilding to do. Our awesome friends Brad and Hayley run the caravan park at Lake Conjola and Youth Group are playing there along with a bunch of south coast artistes to rase some money. Come along! Even better, stay the night and bring some business back! To book a cabin or powered site call 1300 133 395 Lots of people are generously donating time and resources for this, including @webuyyourkids who did the poster. Thanks everyone!
21.01.2022 Me and the Yoof. This Sunday on The Sound. Doing a Triffids song song in tribute to the late great David McComb.
20.01.2022 A great track and video from the wonderful SamH and Co. This was made as part of the Roots to Inspire project I worked on while in the UK. Good old Huddersfield! Hope everyone's spirits over there are keeping up despite everything.
20.01.2022 Danny from youth group’s good mate Brad, and one of the most generous people you could meet, is one of the many many people affected by the recent catastrophic bushfires. He owns and runs the holiday park in Lake Conjola, which itself survived but has just lost all its business for January. It's heartbreaking. This fundraiser is for things they need right now to get up and running again - like a generator as they still don't have power. I know lots of people have already given a lot, but if anyone can afford it the link is below.
20.01.2022 If you live near Bacchus Marsh VIC (which is itself only an hour from Melbourne) then think about coming to this Parlour show I am doing in Bree Boyles backyard on Sat 21st April! Should be a lotta fun.
20.01.2022 Dang Lan and I will be performing TÌNH KHÚC T QUÊ HNG (Songs From Home) at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre as part of the @sydneyfestival next year! We are so excited to finally perform these songs - we have been working on them for a couple of years now, kickstarted by Utp We will be joined by the most excellent Bree van Reyk and Matthew Steffen Photo by Joshua Morris Photography
20.01.2022 A tiny noisy snippet of Songs From Northam Avenue at Carriageworks last year. A good taster of what to expect when we bring it to Casula Powerhouse, Sydney, on 14th April. Presented by Urban Theatre Projects and Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre
19.01.2022 If youve got a spare 2 hours you can listen to my Double J radio show right here. It covers Yorkshire folk, Queensland hillbilly and Idahoian guitar jams. And everything between.
19.01.2022 Good morning Sydney! Ill be bringing my croaky morning voice to ABC Radio Sydney 702 at 9:30am today. Ill be talking about Songs From Northam Avenue at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre this Saturday Urban Theatre Projects
19.01.2022 Here are the details for the gig at Casula Powerhouse in April. Cant wait to bring Songs From Northam Avenue back to western Sydney and into this amazing space!
18.01.2022 Its been a scary summer. But its also been pretty amazing to see communities coming together to rebuild, to protest, and to give. Conjola Park and Lake Conjola are communities that have a huge amount of rebuilding to do. Our awesome friends Brad and Hayley run the caravan park at Lake Conjola and Youth Group are playing there along with a bunch of south coast artistes to rase some money. Come along! Even better, stay the night and bring some business back! To book a cabin or powered site call 1300 133 395 Lots of people are generously donating time and resources for this, including @webuyyourkids who did the poster. Thanks everyone!
18.01.2022 Urban Theatre Projects launched their wonderful 2018 program last week, and Im thrilled to say Im doing two projects as part of it. First up well be bringing Songs From Northam Avenue to Casula Powerhouse (Sydney) for a full band extravaganza on April 14th. And then one of my collaborators on SFNA - Dang Lan - and I will be spending a week together writing new music for a future album. (Some writing will no doubt take place in Lans kitchen, which is both a great music room and unique source of guava and salted kamquat).
18.01.2022 Such a beautiful, moving performance from the amazing Roger Knox, and family
17.01.2022 Our Jordanian TV appearance on RoyaTV, discussing Sounding out Refugee Stories. The whole interview is in the link below, its all in Arabic, even my answers were live translated! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFruTnYeJAE&feature=youtu.be
16.01.2022 If you've got a spare 2 hours you can listen to my Double J radio show right here. It covers Yorkshire folk, Queensland hillbilly and Idahoian guitar jams. And everything between.
16.01.2022 I am undertaking a punishing tour of West Yorkshire over the next couple of weeks. First stop will be the Northern Quarter in Huddersfield on Sat 24th Feb in the afternoon (and its a family-friendly affair). The exhaustive tour will then have its grand finale at the Swan in Slaithwaite on the evening of Friday 2nd March. I would love to play an entire set of songs relating to the textile and plastic industries, and Ill be working on it.
16.01.2022 Songs From Northam Avenue at Casula Powerhouse on Sat 14th April! It will look and sound a lot like this! Presented by Urban Theatre Projects and Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre
16.01.2022 Casula powerhouse looking good with Lyndal irons beautiful photos behind us
16.01.2022 A new Youth Group album released to the world today!
15.01.2022 Good morning Sydney! I'll be bringing my croaky morning voice to ABC Radio Sydney 702 at 9:30am today. I'll be talking about Songs From Northam Avenue at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre this Saturday Urban Theatre Projects
15.01.2022 This weeks songwriting residency with Dang Lan begun under her Longan tree. We hope the songs will be as bountiful as the fruit! A @utprojects production
15.01.2022 Our Jordanian TV appearance on RoyaTV, discussing 'Sounding out Refugee Stories'. The whole interview is in the link below, it's all in Arabic, even my answers were live translated! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFruTnYeJAE&feature=youtu.be
15.01.2022 A dream come true! @artoffightingband are a special band for me. Their hushed intensity has been a personal soundtrack and a musical inspiration and I am so excited that YG are touring with them in May! Poster by @webuyyourkids
15.01.2022 For those in the Ooderzfield, Leeds, Manchester zone, I am speaking and playing at this event next Wednesday and it should be a really interesting night. Great theme, great record store.
14.01.2022 Thanks be to David James Young and Junkee for including Songs From Northam Avenue on this list. It's in good company!
14.01.2022 Another proud dad moment! This is a wonderful video documenting the Roots To Inspire project I was working on just before I left Huddersfield. I was just so bloody moved hearing these 4 brilliant artists talking about their work and hearing snippets of it (and hearing everyones lovely accents again!) Feels a bit strange to be looking at and thinking about my Yorkshire life on a day in Sydney filled with bushfire smoke. Possibly making me extra emotional.
13.01.2022 Earlier this year Dang Lan and I wrote some songs together as part of a Urban Theatre Projects residency. Ive been listening to snippets and demos today and getting excited about recording em next year. I feel pretty certain that there will be zithers played through distortion pedals, stories of journeys and me singing in Vietnamese.
12.01.2022 Check it out! An actual in person gig! And one that you can take your kids too. And with the excellent @georgiamooney - hoorah! Obviously pretty limited tickets for this one.
12.01.2022 Proud Dad Moment: Before I left Yorkshire I helped put together the Roots to Inspire project - with the Uni of Huddersfield and Kirklees Council - which got musicians and community groups collaborating to create new music. In one of these projects, SamH wrote lyrics based on interviews with new and long term residents of Huddersfield, and then got together a whole heap of people to record the songs, including the Hud gospel choir.
12.01.2022 New Youth Group song is out! Video is directed by Michael Klattenhoff. Pals back in the old dart may recognise the streets of Oodderzfield here...
11.01.2022 It’s great to be writing music with Dang Lan again. All this week we are in residence at the wonderful @utprojects Today we are matching colours and swapping instruments. Look out!
10.01.2022 ridiculously late notice, but this will be with the full band, fresh from the recording studio with a bunch of new ragged folk songs. Last gig in the UK for a while!
10.01.2022 Aloha Isolationists! Hope youre all hanging in there ok. I am Artist in Residence on Double J this coming week. If youre by the wireless tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon 3-5 have a listen to the show, which I recorded at home. It ended up being kind of a collection of micro themes: English folk music, Australian hillbilly, Yorkshire reggae, songs with semi-interesting tour stories attached, and just songs that I love. And theres even a new song of mine. Its a mixed bag of Easter eggs. It will be on line too next week. Thanks heaps @doublejradio
09.01.2022 Happy new year! What a bloody tops way to kick it in - this was dreamed up and devised by the wonderful Emma Saunders (who amongst other feats choreographed the Spring Feeling dance at Bankstown Live). Cant help but feel just the teensiest bit homesick watching this.
09.01.2022 I've been living in northern England for three years now and I still notice almost every day the way the past reaches out into the present here. It's not even past, of course. In other news I'm trying to catch up with The Moles' recent records which are sounding very good.
08.01.2022 Songs from Northam avenue band getting set up and ready to rock casula powerhouse tonight! 7pm. Tickets available on the door
08.01.2022 Thanks be to David James Young and Junkee for including Songs From Northam Avenue on this list. Its in good company!
08.01.2022 My current favourite songwriting spot. Amongst the many generations of Sykes and Bamforths. Surprisingly producing some of my more romantic material (or maybe thats not so surprisings, Ive always had a an inner goth)
06.01.2022 Aloha Isolationists! Hope you’re all hanging in there ok. I am Artist in Residence on Double J this coming week. If you’re by the wireless tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon 3-5 have a listen to the show, which I recorded at home. It ended up being kind of a collection of micro themes: English folk music, Australian hillbilly, Yorkshire reggae, songs with semi-interesting tour stories attached, and just songs that I love. And there’s even a new song of mine. It’s a mixed bag of Easter eggs. It will be on line too next week. Thanks heaps @doublejradio
06.01.2022 Here are the details for the gig at Casula Powerhouse in April. Can't wait to bring Songs From Northam Avenue back to western Sydney and into this amazing space!
05.01.2022 Yesterday I got to go backstage at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, and have a play on these sweet Matons. I will be wielding said axes at a songwriting workshop for 13-15 year olds on Sunday (Tix for workshop still available: link below) Its all part of their amazing Maton exhibition. Did you know Maton has been making guitars in Australia since the 1940s? I had no idea. This is a 60s Fyrebird and it has a friend called the Ibis which is awesome and was made back when the bird had a glamorous reputation (now it has a gutter glamour of course) @powerhousemuseum https://maas.museum//song-writing-with-toby-martin-online/
05.01.2022 Great article on Youth Group in Sun Herald (and Sydney Morning Herald online). And as a bonus a side story on the role place has on my songwriting - from Songs From Northam Ave in Bankstown to the Slawit Washeteria! Thanks heaps for the words Rod Yates and the pix Max Doyle
05.01.2022 MohmmadReza Beladi on ney anban and me trading licks jam band style, from a few weeks ago. Also in shot is Sarah Tym on Northumbrian bagpipes (although you cant really hear her in this mix). And you can hear, but cant really see, Chris Ruffoni (bass) and George Harrington (drums). Weve just finished recording our northern-english-Iranian-folk-fife-and-drum album at Yellowarch in Sheffield. Thanks to the Beladi family for the film.
05.01.2022 Hi there. I am doing this thing with Parlour where - if you want - you can organise a gig at your place, invite your friends, and have me come along and play solo. Apparently you can do it even if you dont actually have a parlour. So, if you live on Australias Eastern Seaboard, and are interested in this idea, and want to do it sometime in March or April then go to parlour.tours/tobymartin to investigate the details. This video gives you an idea of the deep level of professionalism, craft and passion you can expect from said gig.
04.01.2022 A reminder that we are bringing Songs From Northam Avenue to the wonderful Casula Powerhouse (Sydney) on April 14th. It will be the full band experience: Mohammad Lelo on Qanun, Dang Lan on Dan Tranh and Dan Bau, Bree van Reyk on drums, Zoe Hauptmann on bass, me singing and strumming, plus some more special guests, and all with Lyndal Irons photos and John Merediths interviews as our backdrop. Its gonna be a special one! Presented by Urban Theatre Projects and Casula Powerhouse
03.01.2022 RESIDENCY: TOBY MARTIN and Dang Lan had a great week in residency last week turning powerful stories of migration, loss, identity, young love, peace and war int...o songs, dances and spoken word recordings. They did Tai Chi together, ate together, sang together, shared personal photographs and generally harmonised their lives for a moment in time. Lan is sure that Toby and her have worked together in a former life and their paths are interconnected by cosmic rays... after hearing the works they produced in a single week we definitely think the same. Watch this space! @ Bankstown Arts Centre See more
01.01.2022 Ive been living in northern England for three years now and I still notice almost every day the way the past reaches out into the present here. Its not even past, of course. In other news Im trying to catch up with The Moles recent records which are sounding very good.
01.01.2022 New YG vid!!! Directed by Pablo Jeffress
