Martyrs are Michael and Jon, two lifelong friends who formed their first band while attending school inside Cyfarthfa Castle in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales.
By Graeme Smith
That sounds like a picturesque origin story. When I asked them about it in an interview, Michael was quick to point out that the castle was “a beautiful, slightly dilapidated monument to Merthyr’s ironworks era.” I can think of no better phrase to set the scene for their new EP, Church Street.
It’s a collection that lives in South Wales. Church Street is a landmark in Merthyr Tydfil and it’s in that place Martyrs delivers us three distinct stories with three distinct vibes.
Michael and Jon are now based on the Kent coast, so I suppose Church Street transports them to their former Welsh home just as much as it does us, the listener. “Growing up in South Wales together is a tie that binds Jon and I to one another and has done for our whole lives,” says Michael. “So, writing what turned out to be something like a ‘concept EP’ that drew from our experiences in Merthyr was the natural culmination of that.”
“Church Street had a video store which had three arcade games in it: Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter 2 – [a] dodgy, hacked bootleg version – and WWF Wrestlefest,” adds Jon cheekily. “I am still confused as to why they are not mentioned in the lyrics.”
There aren’t any tales of arcade machines but love, nostalgia, bittersweetness and history. The EP kicks off with its title track, and we are greeted by classic storytelling and ‘90s indie rock. It brings its tale to life vividly, sung with soft vocals and vigorous instrumentals.
Track two, He Breaks Horses, explores the seldom talked about Merthyr Tydfil uprising in stark detail, channelling folk telling energy. “It sounds like Will Ospreay’s entrance music if it was played by the Stone Roses,” says music-maker Jon. Lyricist Michael adds: “it sounded like the basis for a protest song. I’d been reading a book called Merthyr: The Crucible of Modern Wales by Joe England and I realised I didn’t know as much about the Merthyr Rising as I thought I did.”
He researched the event using The Merthyr Rising by Gwyn A. Williams and tied the history to what we’re experiencing today, dealing with working class resistance to oppression and the power of union. “These all seemed like themes as relevant now as they were in 1831,” he says.
From that hardness, the EP ends with softness. Twist The Cap is a profoundly personal tale. “The feelings the protagonist in the title track is going through, I’ve felt variations of them myself, and the same for Twist The Cap,” says Michael.
Aside from the lyrical and musical content, Church Street stands out for two other reasons. First, it’s the seventh release on an arc of ten. Second, Martyrs adopted a wholly DIY approach.
“I’m not a big fan of ‘the people’, especially the very peopley kind that hang out in large numbers, getting all up in each other’s business, having ‘conversations’ and the like,” says Jon. “DIY is a great way of indulging in what appears to be a social endeavour – being in a band – whilst reducing the sphere of interaction to literally one other person.”
Speaking on the ambitious ten release project, he adds: “Michael does this sort of thing a lot… ‘10’ he says… out loud… to people… it was him pulling this sort of stunt that led to Martyrs in the first place.”
“We’ll often go with whatever seems like the most outlandish idea either of us has,” says Michael. “The run of ten EPs was a perverse sort of compromise. Jon wanted to release singles every month, I just wanted to make an album. We settled on an arbitrary number of ten EPs while we worked on a full album in the background.
“It sounded manageable, but it’s taken over our lives to a large extent. It’s lucky we enjoy the process so much – write, record, release, repeat – because we’ve been locked into it for more than about eighteen months at this point.”
The next EP is due for release in the summer, and their next full album is coming along. “The track we’re working on right now is inspired by classic Detroit techno, so who the hell knows what the record as a whole will ultimately sound like,” Michael admits.
Church Street is out now, and you can listen to it below.
Supported by Musosoup #SustainableCurator
