#90: How to Find the Perfect Singer with the Martin Brothers

Welcome to the latest episode of Inside The Mix podcast! In this captivating instalment, join us as we delve deep into the world of music production and songwriting with none other than the extraordinary Martin Brothers.

Prepare to be enthralled as we explore the fascinating story and family dynamics behind their incredible music. Gain exclusive insights into their creative process and the inspirations that fuel their musical journey.

Get ready to uncover the secrets of crafting captivating music videos. Learn how to choose the perfect concept that complements your music and resonates with your audience. Discover the Martin Brothers' tried-and-true methods for bringing their artistic visions to life on the screen.

Finding the right vocalist can be a game-changer for any song. Tune in as we unravel the secrets to locating and collaborating with exceptional vocal talent. The Martin Brothers share their invaluable tips and tricks for creating a seamless and harmonious songwriting dynamic.

One of the key ingredients to a successful arrangement is space. Discover the art of leaving room in your music for elements to breathe, particularly vocals. Explore the techniques the Martin Brothers employ to ensure their songs have a perfect balance and allow the vocals to shine.

Unleash your inner rhythm with a deep dive into the world of drum points. What elements make a drum point truly exceptional? Learn from the masters themselves as they break down the intricacies and nuances of crafting a standout drum section.

Join us for this unmissable episode packed with invaluable insights, expert advice, and a wealth of knowledge. Get ready to embark on an extraordinary musical journey with the Martin Brothers!

CLICK HERE, to follow Martin Brothers: https://www.martinbrothersmusic.com/

Chapters

• 0:00 Episode 90 Introduction
• 3:53 Behind The Music: The Martin Brothers' Story and family dynamics
• 11:27 How to make a great music video
• 19:05 How to find a singer
• 26:06 How do people write songs together?
• 33:52 Why is space important in an arrangement?
• 36:46 Creating space for vocals
• 48:23 Martin Brothers & Pensacola Mist: 'Heart to Heart'
• 54:27 Martin Brothers links

Transcript

Marc Matthews: 0:35

Hey, inside the Mix podcast fans, it's Dream Commander. Follow me or find out more on Bandcamp and Spotify. You are listening to the Inside the Mix podcast. Here's your host, Mark Matthews. Hello and welcome to the. Side. The next podcast. I'm Mark Matthews, your host, musician, producer, and mix and mastering engineer. You've come to the right place if you want to know more about your favorite synth music artists, music, engineering and production, songwriting and the music industry. I've been writing, producing, mixing, and mastering music for over 15 years, and I wanna share what I've learned with you. Hello folks, and welcome back to the Inside the Mix podcast. If you are a new listener, welcome and please do hit that subscribe button, and if you are a returning listener, welcome back. So in this episode, I caught up with the Martin Brothers. So I had the opportunity to have a lengthy chat with Nikki and Oliver, the duo that make the Martin Brothers from Switzerland. So in this episode we talk about the story behind the Martin Brothers and their family dynamic. We look at their music videos as well and the amazing videos that they put together and how they do it. We also discussed how to come up with a concept for a music video, how you can find a vocalist, and tips for finding the perfect vocalist and diamonds in the rough. We also talk about the songwriting dynamic and how the two collaborate and work together. And also a really, really interesting part of this conversation is when we dive into space in an arrangement and leaving space for a vocal, which is pivotal to a very, very high quality mix. And we also look at what makes a good. Drum progression and what can elevate a drum progression to a high quality output. And then we finish off by talking about their collaboration with Pensacola Mis, our favorite band of the podcast. So I hope you enjoy this episode. There's plenty to take away from this episode, so I'll stop waffling now and we'll dive straight into the episode with the Martin Brothers. Hey folks, and welcome back to the Inside The Mix podcast. I am very excited today to welcome my guests, the Martin Brothers. So they're gonna be joining us for this episode. So Jennifer, just a bit of a background before I go into uh, and kick off this episode. So I actually dis. Discovered, uh, the Martin Brothers on Let's Talk Synth, seriously hosted by U A P. So I was listening to that of a gym. We're in the gym really of a, of a Friday morning, and I heard the music and I heard the conversation. I absolutely loved it. And I, and I reached out to you guys to get, get you on board and, um, I'm thankful that you agreed to join me today. So, um, how are you, Jens and, uh, thankful for joining me. Great.

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 3:15

Great. Yeah. Thanks. Thanks a lot for inviting us. Um, it's always a pleasure to have a nice chat, right?

Marc Matthews: 3:24

Well, a hundred percent on a Sunday. On this. On Sunday,

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 3:27

yeah. What else can we do, right? Oh, today's

Oliver (Martin Brothers): 3:29

Sunday. Don't realize that this Sunday.

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 3:31

Yeah.

Marc Matthews: 3:34

Yeah. What better way to spend a Sunday? I always. So these things, it, it depends on what time zone you're in. Sometimes I talk to people in the States and uh, and it's early in the morning and they're sort of just getting up or in Australia and it's late at night. Um, but for me it's midday. Um, where, where are you joining us from? Actually, by the way, from, from

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 3:49

Switzerland. So it's also Central European time, right? Yes, indeed, indeed. And glad, glad we didn't have to get up early in the morning.

Marc Matthews: 4:01

Yeah, that, that, I mean, it, it is a few times I've had to do that and you could see the person on the other side and they're sort of leery eyes, just woke it up. Um, but I'm thankful for they join for them joining me. Um, as I say, yeah, I discovered your music, um, via, uh, rein and the uap. So the, let's Talk since Sy Seriously podcast. So audience listening, obviously listen to this episode first. Um, but I strongly suggest go and checking out that podcast as well because he's got a host of, uh, episodes on there with some really, really good artists, some really, really good stuff going on there. And, um, I'm sure he won't mind me giving him a shout out as well. So, um, just a bit of background. I've gotta read, um, this bio I picked, uh, uh, I think it, I think it was your website or it might be bank. I can't remember that when I was doing my due diligence for this episode. So you describe yourself on a mission to revitalize the electronic music genre inspired by your love. Throw my stuff around of eighties synth pop. The producer duo delivers memorable beats and melodies with amazing vocals from various artists, which I'm gonna touch on a bit later as well, cuz that is true. And I'd love to know where you, where you find these vocalists and so you're gonna share with us sort of the story behind. You, you yourself, the duo yourselves, and you're appear approach to music production and songwriting. So I think it'd be quite cool if maybe you could just start off with a bit about your musical background. How did it all begin? For the Martin Brothers? I dunno if you wanna. I I, when it, when it comes to duos on the podcast, I generally signpost the question to someone to alleviate that sort of, shall I answer? Shall I not answer? So, Nicki, do you wanna take this one?

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 5:29

Oh, oh, shoot. I thought you'd give it to Oliver. No. Anyway, um, to cut a long story short, um, Yeah, uh, definitely it really kicked off when I, uh, back in, I dunno, 2007 or maybe a little bit earlier, um, when I, uh, used to work in, in your country in, um, United Kingdom. Right. So, and, uh, o obviously music is all over the place there and, um, I started to play the guitar. And as soon as I, as soon as I came back to Switzerland, I wanted to form a band and, um, I was thinking of like perhaps my sister singing, my oldest brother playing the bass. And Oliver, I was actually planning him for playing the drums and Okay. And everything turned out, you know, differently as you as life is usually right. So, but, um, anyway, you know, my, my sister, you know, she can't sing unfortunately. And, and my oldest brother Michael, you know, he was too busy to playing in a band, so I ended up with Oliver and myself as a duo. And, um, he didn't wanted to play the drums, so he went for the syn.

Oliver (Martin Brothers): 6:45

Yeah. Keyboards because was a bit, um, you know, a drummer. He need very fast hands and I'm not so fast. I'm more slow. That's why I choose to synthesizer her.

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 6:58

Yeah. But, but that, that's how it started. Um, you know, actually, you know, like forming a band and stuff. Obviously a lot earlier, uh, due to our parents, for instance, I mean, our father, uh, I, I quite remember that, you know, you know, driving with the car, you know, to, I don't know, some family gig and he was playing, or you know, it was, came up in the radio Queen and dire straits and all those kind of things. Uh, which I guess gave us influences a lot earlier. But, you know, band wise, We formed after visiting the uk.

Marc Matthews: 7:36

Mm-hmm. Fantastic. I love the fact that you, you, you kind of, you always had like a full family band at one point. It's kind of like the Jacksons, uh, Jacksons obviously not slightly different style of music. Uh, and there's another family orientated band as well. I can't figure who they are. Cali, my head. Cali family? I don't, I've never heard of that. I'm gonna make a note. I'll check it out. Yeah.

Oliver (Martin Brothers): 7:59

She's a chairman's, a chairman, singer. Yeah, it's a chairman.

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 8:03

Uh, that's probably why they, but you know, there, there, there are actually a lot of brothers and sisters out there, but probably not a whole family band. I guess so. But you know, disrates, obviously Mark Neffer and his brother, I think it was David Neffer first, but then he left the band because he probably wanted to be the lead singer as well. But you know, there can only be one and there are a lot of other groups. Um, I can't think of, you know, a lot of it at the moment, but, you know, there's so many brothers and sisters out there. It's actually fun, you know? Yeah.

Marc Matthews: 8:36

So, yeah, I like that story. So you started, uh, say you've got guitars and we've got synths. You wanted to play drums, but, um, yeah, I know what you mean with coordination. I've tried, I'm a guitarist myself and I've tried playing drums when I was in a band and I'd sit behind the drum kit and I'd play, try and play four, four beats and it would just fall to pieces. So I know exactly what you mean. Um, and then you moved over to the UK and then you, you moved back to Switzerland, so Oliver of it. Did you remain in Switzerland at this time or, or were you in the UK as well?

Oliver (Martin Brothers): 9:01

No, um, I was in that time in, in Switzerland and yeah, when Nicky came back to Switzerland, he was really, uh, yeah. You really wanted to do this band thing and for me from the beginning was clear, uh, I want to be a part from this project. Yeah,

Marc Matthews: 9:17

yeah, yeah. One question I always ask, that's cuz I'm fairly certain, I've spoken to, uh, acts before and now we we're getting toward like 80 to 90 episodes now. So my memory is slightly hazy sometimes when it comes to people, people I've spoken to. But what's the dynamic like with yourself, uh, working with like a family member versus sort of like, um, Just another musician. How does that dynamic work? Is it, I mean, how do, do you butt heads a lot or you, is it quite like you a free flowing process? What does that look like? What does the dynamic look like between the two of you when it comes to songwriting and production? What do you think?

Oliver (Martin Brothers): 9:57

Yeah, it's, uh, the dynamic. I mean, yeah, most times it's really, uh, flowing well in a really. How can I say this? Positive wipe. But sometimes, you know, brothers, yeah, sometimes you have also a bit, uh, differences. Um, yeah, I think this is then a bit maybe, um, a bit different if Yeah. With, uh, if you work with, with other people. There is a bit more distance. Right. Uh, So, yeah, can be sometimes, uh, how

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 10:31

can I say? Yeah, I mean, we had some very weird stuff going on. I mean, I have to be honest, um, we already were telling, uh, Reiner some stories about it, but, you know, that's true. I mean, I also remember for instance, when we went, uh, to the states, you know, making some music videos, we often had, you know, two, uh, three other guys, you know, friends for instance, helping us. And the distance with those guys were a lot. You know, uh, bigger. So if you had an issue, you, you were addressing the issue a lot different than if I had something with Oliver. Yeah. So, and sometimes, yeah. To be honest with you, we were shouting at each other in Swiss German, and the other guys, they were just standing there very confused. But, you know, probably from the outside it looks a lot like. Damn, these guys, you know, they're, they're almost fighting now or whatever. It's, you know, it's, it, it probably sounds heavier than it actually is because as brothers, you know each other, uh, very, for a very long time. And, you know, you have a discussion then, but then you move on. So, Um, you know, it can be a little bit tricky sometimes, but overall it's, and we, and as well on the top of that, we are getting older and we have our goal in focus, right? So then everything else doesn't matter anymore. So much so, yeah.

Marc Matthews: 11:49

Yeah, I, I, I know what you mean. And, um, you, it's almost cuz I've got a younger brother and he's not musical uh, so he doesn't, we, we don't sort of bounce off each other with musical ideas. But I remember growing up, we, we hated each other when we grew up and then we got older and then that sort of relationship changes. I remember, I remember cuz I'm the older brother, I, when my parents weren't around, I would just do wrestling moves on him all the time.

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 12:12

Same here.

Marc Matthews: 12:12

All the, yeah, all the time. I used to put me in figure four leg locks and all this sort of stuff and, um, then he'd go cry. I'd be like, oh, I didn't do anything. But that's the dynamic we have. But what I find is though, I think when you have that sort of family relationship, you can, you can be honest and you can be, you can remove that filter, which is quite nice. Which sometimes I think when you're working with. Musicians. You, you have to be more diplomatic, I think sometimes, because you, you don't have that pre longstanding relationship. So I imagine that's, that's really, really nice. One thing you mentioned there, which I really wanna dig into is, uh, cause I mentioned this off air was about music videos. So you went to the States, uh, you mentioned then, so did you go to the States just to record the music videos? Can you tell us a bit, our audience a bit about that journey? Um, what took you to the States and what did you do there?

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 12:59

Once again, I, I was, I was actually in the States for, for some time, so, and, and then I was really digging the vibe over there as well. Like, like the UK both places. I, I quite like maybe the States, uh, at least California is a little bit, you know, weather-wise is a little bit better than UK in some, some parts. Oh yeah. But, you know, anyway, but I like both places equally and so, um, you know, it's just, You know, you have so many fantastic places over there, and obviously, uh, Switzerland, you know, is a very small place and. It's always like, you know, if you wanna shoot a mu music video over here, there is always something in the way. So for instance, you, you know, you go to some hill, but Right. You know, behind there is, I don't know, some, uh, some house or whatever. So in, in, in the states, obviously you have a lot more space and just beautiful countryside and obviously Los Angeles, it, you know, we have. You know, gorgeous rooftops and just cool places and streets and whatever. So that's just a place of inspiration for us. So we thought, Hey, why not? And we have, you know, some friends over there. Um, so it's easier to stay.

Oliver (Martin Brothers): 14:16

Yeah. And I think also that, uh, people in the, uh, California, especially Los Angeles, um, yeah, if you. Film something, you, you stay around if cameras some people, yeah. They don't really care that, that they like it because it's, uh, yeah. Everybody's filming their something. Yeah. Yeah, that's true. In Switzerland, you make something, uh, yeah. After two minutes, the first one is coming to us. What you are doing, I mean, yeah.

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 14:45

Yeah. I mean, I remember back in Switzerland we wanted to shoot something in a, in a garage, a big garage of a shopping mall, so, We were filming about two minutes, and then someone was asking for permit, right? So I had to write the, to the head of this shopping mall, so that what we actually were going to do, but we ended up filming in Switzerland. But, you know, anyway, but in, in the States, for instance, uh, we were, we had an overnight in a, uh, motel. And it looked really like cheap, but really cool. So we were asking the guy behind the bar, you know, do you mind if we shoot something you like? No, why not? And it's great. And, and he actually wanted to be in front of the camera as well. So, uh, people there o obviously due to, uh, the whole uh, uh, movie business, there are much more used to it. Yeah.

Marc Matthews: 15:35

Yeah, I can imagine. Um, and your music videos are great and I, I know exactly what you mean. Whereby in the UK and like Switzerland, because I remember shooting music videos when I was in band and we did it on a, on an abandoned airfield. And as soon as we started shooting some, some guy turns up and he is beat up white van and he is like, what are you doing? And they were just, just shooting a music video. And he's like, what have you asked? And it's like, what? There's no one around like, but it was his land ultimately. But I get what you mean. In the States. I think there's, there's probably a different mindset, as you say. Like everybody wants to be on camera. Well, not everyone, but there's a, there's a clamor to be on camera though, which is quite interesting. Your music videos are quite varied as well. Like, um, they're, they're really, really good. So the one you did with Pensacola Mist, where there's, it's quite mountainous. And then, um, she's apocalyptic where you've got this sort of, uh, if I remember rightly, it's. It's, it's, but what's in the video for that one? I can't remember now. It's Illa is a King Kong.

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 16:28

It's got both, actually both of him.

Marc Matthews: 16:31

King Kong, and then there's another one. Is it Love Lockdown? I think it's that one whereby there's like a chase sequence or it is you, there's like a, you're more of a, in a forest sort of area. I think it's that one, yeah. With the, with the darker, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the one. What make, how do you choose the concepts for the video? Does it mirror the. Music do, do you take influence for the music or is it just sort of like, this is a cool idea, let's run with this?

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 16:57

Good question. Good question. Because you know, prior to the marching brothers stuff with the glasses and everything, uh, we were slightly on a different, uh, track, right? More like e d M stuff and it was more aesthetic, but then sooner we got bored with it because, you know, just walking around and. You know, filming nice pictures. It's nothing wrong with that, but you know, we thought just maybe go for something a little bit more, has more meat on it. Right. So, uh, when we actually start off, we had some kind of funny elements in it. I mean, we still have some funny elements in it, but then we just, uh, you know, I guess there are a couple of different styles, um, more than just a couple, but to shoot a music video and we were heading. More in the direction into like actually giving, giving some some story parts. Or, you know, including some parts of, kind of a story in it. So that's why we, you know, were thinking maybe of a ch of a chase scene or something else. And on the top of it, Oliver and myself, we don't sing. Right. If you have a singer, it's, it's probably a lot easier because you just have to singer sing somewhere nice and that's it. And you don't need, uh, a story, but. You know, with us, you, you probably have to add something

Oliver (Martin Brothers): 18:17

on. Yeah. Yeah. And, and sometimes, um, in the music writing, uh, process, you already have something, uh, An ID in the head for a music video, especially Nick. He sometimes is, uh, he comes, he say, uh, have a new demo and already an ID for a video clip.

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 18:36

Yeah. Just to give you one slide, like I was doing, uh, I was coming up with a Christmas song. Just a few weeks ago. And, uh, I gave him a title as you talked about it in your producer's podcast with all the other producers. How do you, you know, what title do you give your demo? So, and it was far away Christmas and I was already thinking of a story like, oh, you know what would be cool for a video, Oliver in Switzerland, you know, making music here. And I, I am on an island somewhere. I was thinking of an island and then in, you know, hot summer day, right? With the palm trees and everything. And I can't catch the flight in time to make production here in Switzerland. So we are far away from each other. And so, and, and I already had a picture of, of a video going on, so let's see if we, we gotta go with the, this idea or not, but, As Oliver just mentioned, sometimes it even helps for, you know, for writing music, if you have kind of some, you know, pictures in front of you, how it might sound, sound like or actually looks like. And this also gives you kind of a atmosphere of the song. Yeah.

Marc Matthews: 19:45

Yeah. Yeah, it's a really good point. And I really like that, and I like the fact A, that you're doing a Christmas song. I can't wait for that. Uh, keep gonna go B uh, yeah. You've, you've, you've said it now, so it's gotta happen. Yeah. And, uh, and b that you, you're, you've, you've visualized the music video and then you're sort of using that to influence the songwriting and it's something that I do, and I've spoken to other producers and artists as well. When you have like creative block or something, I've, I've. Search out. If I've got an idea, a rough idea, I'll go find some video and then I'll compose the video and it sort of helps me so write if I'm stuck. So I totally get that and it totally makes sense. But, um, I'm definitely looking forward to a Christmas song. I think that'd be great. One thing you mentioned, um, which I think would be really interesting to talk about, and a nice little segue here was about you, you say that you, you, neither of you sing and your sister doesn't sing, uh, so you get. Singers in. Now I mentioned Pensacola mis. So you've done a, uh, a song with them. We're gonna touch on that song in a bit, um, cuz it's fantastic and I really wanna talk about it. Um, but how do you find your singers? How does that process work? Do you have an idea in mind of the singer you want? Um, or do you sort of get people to audition vocals? How you tell us how does it work? How do you find singers? Cuz they are brilliant singers. Thanks.

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 20:57

Appreciate that. Do you wanna go?

Oliver (Martin Brothers): 20:59

It's always difficult because they want, we, um, The thing we want. They always say no, they don't. No, no. I'm joking.

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 21:07

Martin Bras, who are those guys? Better not. I'm joking.

Oliver (Martin Brothers): 21:11

Yeah, that was, um, yeah, we, we, we, we listen a lot of music and then you, you hear singer and you say, oh. This, uh, one would be really fit well with our music, and then you ask. Mm-hmm. And of course, sometimes you have to live, uh, with that, that somebody say no is not interested or,

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 21:35

yeah. And, and also a lot of coincidences, right, because with the Pensa columnist, Stuff. We actually were reaching out by accident to Melissa, which is the, the girl singer. Right. And then because with the heart to heart, we thought we, we, we need like kind of a, a vocal that sounds Oriental. And she sounded Oriental to us. So we were asking her for a song. Then she said, Oh, alright. Right. I'm actually quite interested who are you guys, but let me talk to the guys I'm working with and, okay. Who, who is this Pensacola Mist? So we ended up with Pensacola Mist and, uh, Pensacola Mist. Oliver, uh, he's also singing. Uh, the Penza columnist Oliver Oliver. So, and then we ended with another singer. So most often, it's kind of, kind of a coincidence also, we had a sing singer here. We had a song, never Dance Alone, which we still have to do something with it because we still love it. And we had a singer here from the uk and that was via internet. Uh, how is it, Sam? Better or whatever. Like, you have all those platforms, right? Yeah. Yeah. So we are riding on, on Sam better, and then he was actually here in Switzerland. Uh, writing stuff and then he had like, it's a great song, but I, I don't know what lyrics I should write to it. Let me call a guy I know from Atlanta. So he, oh wow. He called someone, guy from Atlanta in the States and this guy heard the song and said, Hey, that's cool. I quite lo like that song. So, and then we ended up doing Champion, which was another song with this guy. So, you know, you always have to try to connect with other peoples. That's probably also the advice I could give, and something we try always is just go out there, talk to people, uh, ask someone, do you want to talk? Do you wanna sing with, you know, for this song, And you might end up with someone, someone completely, no. With someone completely else. Uh, but yeah, which, you know, fits.

Marc Matthews: 23:34

Yeah, it's a, it is a great piece of advice that, and it's something that I've been doing of late cuz I think when I've released music previously, I've used platforms like sound better and vocalize as another one. Cuz I think if you wanna get something done quick, they're great. Specifically vocalize, you can put something on there, I dunno if you've used it. And then within a week, You can have a top line bag and also with the lyrics as well. But I'm now sort of like you guys branching out more and making those connections and actually reaching out to singers to collaborate more. Um, I think, I dunno about you, but it is a longer process I find. Yeah, it's true. How do you, so it is, isn't it? Yeah. There's a, how do you manage that back and forth of ideas? Do you just send them an instrumental and then they sort of riff over it and then you're back and forth? Or are the singers more involved in the arrangement as well? How does that work?

Oliver (Martin Brothers): 24:19

Um, yeah. Most times we, we send a complete finish, uh, demo, and then they make the top line. Um, yes. Most times like that.

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 24:28

Yeah. Most often. Yes. And, and as you just mentioned, that's also a, a very good point. It usually takes longer if you get someone, you know, um, aside from, from a professional platform where people used to, to work fast and very professionally, but, but, As the song is called Heart to Heart, it's more a hard thing then because those people, they write music for themselves. They want to be maybe the next weekend or whatever, they Dr. They have dreams. They are in their living room, right? Writing music. Working their butts off. So, and you want those guys because we, obviously we can't get the weekend. I mean, we would love to work with him, but you know, we're just not a big enough number. So you gotta go and search for those like, um, uh, raw diamonds, right? Yes. And usually when you work with raw diamonds, they perhaps don't have as much. Experience as someone else, so it takes a little bit longer, but usually pays out at the end because they just give more heart into the work. And it's all about emotions. I probably get . To the point later on, but it's just all about emotions. That's one thing, uh, one, uh, manager told me once, and it's all about emotions. So you want a singer. It doesn't matter if he has a high or a low voice or he have, or if he has a great voice or maybe not so great voice. I mean, of course it has needs to be a certain level, but then you want something special. And you only get that with emotions, with real emotions. And if we have someone from a platform who's doing a great job, but it doesn't deliver the right emotions, you perhaps have great vocals, but they're just not good enough for, you know, maybe a big hit. That's just my opinion.

Marc Matthews: 26:24

Yeah, I think that's fantastic advice. No, and I totally agree. Um, because it's when you, I think for one of a better way of putting it, it can also, it can almost be seem like a conveyor belt. I can imagine if you're a top liner and you're doing reasonably well on one of those platforms, it's just like, right, I've got this song. I'll knock this one out today. I'll knock this one out today. I'll knock this one out today. And you just go on like that. Whereas like you say, if you find that diamond in the rough that you can work with and you can sort of. Help shape and that vocal and go back and forth. And it's that emotion as well, isn't it? Because if they're right, I, I dunno how you do it, but if they're writing the lyrics as well, they're gonna have a connection to that. Um, so I, I totally agree with that and it's great advice. Um, cuz I know a lot of the audience listening are in that position whereby they are reaching out, networking, and trying to find vocalists so, It's great to hear that, um, cuz the caliber vocalists that you have are fantastic and, and that it also is a relatively lengthy process for you as well. So I think that's probably gonna be quite reassuring for a lot of the audience listening. It certainly is for me cuz I've noticed it is a, a lot longer process, but, um, it's one of those things I think what'll be really cool now to dive into is actually the songwriting and sort of compositional side of things. So when it actually, when you, when you have an idea. Do you create music independently and then bring it together? Or do you sort of say, right, we're gonna work on a song and start writing together in the same space? How does that, how does a songwriting process work for you

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 27:47

guys? If I have an idea, I go with ai. I type in. Make a great pop song and then Yeah, no, we don't do it that way. Luckily not. I bet that will happen to soon gonna happen, right? No, you go. I mean, I can add something. Yeah, we do it.

Oliver (Martin Brothers): 28:11

Uh, no, not not together. I mean, uh, if Nicki has a idea or Danny, he make the demo. To the point that is nearly finished and then maybe the detail work, we make them together. Yeah. It's most times like that, we don't sit together, uh, and make a song from scratch. Uh, everybody have his eyes, you everybody have his own influences a bit. Sometimes you can hear maybe that one of the song is more from, from, from, uh, from Nicki or more from. Uh, from one of my ideas because, um, we don't have exactly the same music influences. I would say

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 28:55

yeah, definitely. And you know what kind of, what's kind of strange, but um, I always go back to that point for some reason. And Oliver is actually really good. I mean, that's one of his like, um, points he really gets all the time when I listen to his songs. Like, I always look for something and, and, and it's strangely enough, it's always, or it's a lot of times in percussion, percussion, drums, percussion. You look for that, something special, right? Because I can start off with a song, uh, go for three or five, four courts, right? Have, have a court coordination and then maybe I'm going. Go for a song temp or maybe have a song in the back of my head where, you know, I think, okay, I wanna go for something like a, a dance song. So it gonna have, it needs to be maybe 128 bpm or even faster, whatever, but, For me, the song always comes to life. If it has that two or three ingredients, I need to hear that separates that demo from just an ordinary one, which you probably don't follow later on because it's just not good enough or not interesting enough. And so you need that like and, and. A lot of the times I find myself, it's, um, not always, but it's, uh, of course, you know, we have maybe a spec, a special sy sound, which you really like, or a bass, uh, an oc, an Octa, um, whatever, um, uh, bass you quite like, but it's the percussions most often that I think Ah, okay. That, that, that. Kind of, you know, high hat or whatever, gives me that feeling of, I mean, like I go back to the Christmas song, right? You need some kind of really cool, um, what's the name for it? Like Christmas bells, Christmas bells and everything. Yeah. But he don't want too much, so you gonna go look for that one special thing that fits the marching brothers music. Right. Something which isn't too cheesy, but you know, still has some coolness in it, but you know, drives the song good enough and you know, so. For me, when I go for a song, I always look for the two or three ingredients the song needs to have. And if, if the song doesn't have those ingredients, I usually don't even finish the song. Yeah.

Marc Matthews: 31:17

Interesting. Do you have, uh, does the Martin Brothers have like a signature, cuz you mentioned bass, percussion and synths. Do you have like a signature synth sound that underpins all your songs? D is there like a concurrent like bass sound in all of them or they all different textures in each song? It's

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 31:34

a good question. I don't really think so because if I just think of, you know, someone, I don't know, Martin Garrick's perhaps. E dm. I, I don't know for sure, but you know, I most often think, you know, they, they probably gonna go for, or Swedish for instance, they're gonna go for that, that certain kick they want. I think we probably are a lot more diverse. I'm not saying by all means, I not, not better anything. Just different. We gonna have a lot of different kicks and stuff because it's more like pop music, send pop, right. Electro pop. We end up. Usually, uh, so we're, you know, there's quite a variety of music or sounds we have, so we don't really have a signature sound or a sync, for instance, I mean, perhaps sometimes if you go for album, then you have maybe one synth that you work more often than with another one because it's just, you know, happens that you go for a song and you quite like it and you go for a second or a third one, but it's actually quite different, but, It's hard to describe, but it's just, uh, for instance, with the marching brothers, we don't want to go for songs that are too happy. Just, you know, very simple. We just don't want to go with songs that are too cheesy and too happy. It's not us. And we also don't want to go with songs that are too dark. It's probably not, you know, no, nothing without an exception. Right. But, so you start to exclude stuff you don't like. Or you think it's just not right for you? So we are probably somewhere in the middle where we want to have some nostalgic, melancholic influences, but also some vibes and stuff that are, that, that, that is, uh, you know, Good enough to, to dance too, for instance. Yeah, that's,

Oliver (Martin Brothers): 33:24

yeah. I think what gives maybe bit or makes a bit that the, the, um, how would say that the marching brother sound is maybe the combination from Nicki and, uh, what I'm doing because yeah, I said before we don't have exactly the same style, and I think when these two styles comes together, this gives to Martin Brothers sound and on the end of the day, yeah.

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 33:49

That's true. Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes Oliver is maybe a little bit too, too much r and b, so we are gonna go for, we don't gonna go for that because it's just too much r and b. It's probably music he would do when he writes he, if he would be an act on his own. Right. But he, he's not. And myself, maybe sometimes I would go for something little bit more. Even more cheesy or you know, very party driven. But then it's just not us. It's just me. And we don't wanna make music for the Nicki Martin, right? Want to go for Martin Brothers. So somewhere in the middle. That's, that's actually a good point where we meet. That's the sweet spot I would say. So

Marc Matthews: 34:28

yeah, you're kind of bringing the two worlds together and then finding what meshes together and like one of you is able to pull the other one back and, and vice versa, and stop you going too far in one direction. What you mentioned there was really interesting about how you wanted to not sound cheesy or too happy, but at the same, and you wanted to sound quite. Melancholic but not too melancholic, and I think that's why your music stood out to me so much because it is something that. Appeals to me in songwriting coming with, cuz I've got a metal background, but I like electronic music and hip hop and, and, and some pop music as well. But I like that darker edge, um, to music. And that's why your music stood out to me, I think, which, um, so it is, it's interesting that you mentioned that there. One thing I was gonna ask you, well I will ask you rather, is something, this is conversation I've had with a number of producers now on the podcast and also in the Producer's pub, which is about arrangement and space in the arrangement. And I was listening to, I can't remember if it was a podcast or I read an article about space in arrangements and leaving space for vocals when it, when it comes to your songwriting and arrangement and composition. For, wanna have a better way of putting it? How much do you have going on at any one time? Are you quite sort of minimalist in your approach to sound designs and org augmenting sounds? How does that look when you're songwriting? I hope that makes sense. Yeah, it makes

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 35:45

sense. Totally sense. I, I mean, can I only say that Oliver is definitely more mini minimalistic than I am? I most often go for too much. You know, I writing music and then, oh, I have this melody and I have this melody. Once again, go back to the Christmas song. So many melodies going on over there, but I'm probably gonna have, you know, throw away some of them because you, you can't go with too many melodies per one song, right. Oliver, on the other hand, sometimes it's gonna go for a, a really cool beat. Once again, it's gonna go for that sweet percussion, which gives the song a certain style, but then, I have to admit sometimes for my taste in, uh, that the chorus drops in and it maybe star stays a little bit flat, and now I have to make a little announcement. After that, I give it back to you. So he just recently made a song, which I personally think is killer. He came up with the courts and everything. He, he added the sweet percussion I was looking for and, but the chorus wasn't too big enough, so I added a synth, which was like space, but space kind of, um, um, I gave it the space it needed, right? But with a huge syn. So now we ended up with the song, and this is a song we wanna go and apply for your wish 2024. So that's just a little announcement I have to make. So anyway, we just wanna go for a bigger crowd. Hey, know it's going to be very difficult, but we, you know, gonna go for a singer right now looking for singers. Yes. And want to go for your wishing. 2024 and, but just going back to that song, Space is good. You need space for a song. You can't go in a pop song or whatever, Saint Pop song. You can't go with too many items or synth at once. But you know, you have to, you need something that lifts, for instance, a chorus and then perhaps you have to add. A little something. Yes, he's like that. Sorry, now you go talk too much. You know? But anyway, he's, that's just a good question actually. Yeah.

Marc Matthews: 38:04

Yeah. I'm, I'm glad, I'm glad you mentioned that. Cause it mirrors, uh, a lot of the answers that I've had from other guests and when I've been talking to various people on Instagram and whatnot. Um, cuz it's a common thread and I, I was talking to, I think it was, Yeah, it was a, it was an artist called Drew Knight who, um, who's, uh, laying down some vocals for a track of mine. And he mentioned the exact same thing that then, this is a quite a good question actually. Uh, how do you know, make sure that you leave enough space for a vocal? Cause you mentioned there about having space where you got synths, you've got your percussion, you've got your bass and everything else going on. And when you're doing that, In, in a silo, you're doing that, a vacuum's. One of a better way of putting it. How do you make sure that you leave enough space for the vocalist to then sing on top? Do you ever get vocalists coming back and saying, actually, can you remove that? Element so I can have more space to breathe, if that makes sense.

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 38:51

Uh, it happened, but just one thing to add, I think it's actually was you, mark that said that in the producer's podcast. I can't remember clearly enough. Sometimes go the other way. Other way around. If you think something is too much, take even away more. Let's see how that sounds. Right. Sometimes if you think something is not loud enough, make it, take it away. Entirely or make it louder, but don't go. That's a mistake we made in the past. Uh, you know, call the mixing engineer. Uh, can you do it two DBS louder, or three or four or five or just go for 12 dbs, make it twice as loud or third as, uh, three times as loud. So this is always a good, uh, or for me, sometimes a good, um, way of finding out if something is too much or not enough. If you just go, uh, to a certain extreme. And then you maybe find out, oh, actually that part actually works without that sense at all. And sometimes, oh no. Now I've taken away. It's completely life lifeless. We need that sense, but now we have to make it louder. I don't know if that makes sense, but Yeah. Yeah.

Marc Matthews: 40:03

Definitely. Yeah, it does make sense. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and I think you're exactly right. I think taking elements away, I know I've done that in mixes before where, um, and I, I've, I've said this to a few producers, well, cause I do this producer kickstart where it's a case of like, if, if something's not working, just go through every, all, all the elements in your mix and mute it. And if it doesn't make a note, it's a all difference. Just can it, and just, just get it gone. Because all of that content, that frequency content is eating to the con, the, the, the headroom and the dynamic range that you have ultimately. And if it's not contributing, just just get rid of it. Um, but I remember when I started out and I was producing a mixing and I would have like 40, 50 tracks and I'd have like, I'd have synth on top of synth, on top of synth. I'd be like, yeah, this sounds great. And then might look at the meter and it's just all over the shop. Yeah. Yeah.

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 40:51

No, that feedback,

Oliver (Martin Brothers): 40:52

I remember one mixing engineer, um, we ask if he can make a mix. He say, yeah, sure. Sent the, the. The stems. Right. And we send him the stems for, I don't know how many, but, uh, Danny said, uh, he, he's now, uh, not able to make the mix anymore.

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 41:10

Yeah, yeah. I remember. I remember remember that one? Yeah.

Marc Matthews: 41:15

Oh, amazing. Amazing. Yeah. It's interesting when I get approached by people to mix and now I get more people telling me how many stems they have. I don't ask. But I get more people now telling me, they've sort of like, I've got this track and it's got 20 stems. I've got this track and it's got 24, I've got this. I'm like, actually that's quite an important bit of information. Cause then I know what I'm dealing with before it kicks in. Oh,

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 41:36

actually, actually, uh, um, the same with vocals. Very important. Usually as less vocal stems we get as better vocals are. If you're really good singers, you may be sent. A couple of lines. Right. That's enough. And you listen, it blows your way. And usually with the people can be a rod diamond, right. It doesn't mean, you know, he, he's not a good singer, but sometimes Rod Diamonds, they're gonna send you about 20 lines of vocals. Right. So, and about 15 of them don't need, because it just, just takes up space. But you know, doesn't really do anything to the song. Right. But just they wanna be on a safe side. And they, they just add, you know, a lot of harm is a lot of blah, blah, blah. It's just gonna be too much. And you just, uh, go back and say, okay, actually we'll listen to that line. We quite like that one. Can you repeat that twice, just with a little bit more energy, um, maybe a little bit more dynamics and you get it back and you know, you don't need to all the rest.

Marc Matthews: 42:38

Yeah, it's very good. Very good point. And it actually makes me remember, I was, I cannot remember the mix engineer, but it was quite an established mix engineer, and it might have been like a TikTok video or something like that. And he was saying how when he has, uh, stems sent him, and if a vocals. In particular, if it's just like you mentioned there a whole raft of different takes, he would then respond saying you need to render these out in one, cuz I'm not going through and editing all that. Um, and I think in doing that, if you are the, yeah, if you are the producer and the vocalist, then you could pretty much be able to go through and say, actually I don't need that. I don't need that. I don't need that. Cuz I have had it where you've had like, There's been a whole raft of vocal and I'm like, oh man, I gotta go in and edit it. I mean, you've got vocal line now where you can pull it all into time and stuff, but it's still long-winded and like, and like you say, I think sometimes it's, it doesn't really add a massive amount and, and I think like, once again, echoing what you said about vocal vocalists, if they are. High caliber vocalists. A, a decent, decent standard, then yeah, they can usually knock it out on fewer, fewer tracks. Um, I, I,

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 43:41

I can o although, sorry, I can only add one's. Okay. One little thing because, um, with Martin Brothers beats drums because we, we producing the drums, our own right. We're gonna go for electronic drums, drum kits, and, but we, we had some live gigs with a really, very talented. Japanese drummer, Yuchi, he's his name. Shout out to him. And, but you know, I remember rehearsing with Yuchi and like we all, obviously sometimes we went with drums, all Oliver as well. Almost impossible for, you know, to play for human beings. So like, you know, two weeks before the gig, like he was like sweating his ass off. We were like, Hey, you know, you just play that beat, you know, guys, but it's, you know, it's a lot of lines, right? But then we, we said, okay, all right. You're, you're right. Let's, let's keep it simple. So, and everything in that beat, which was not needed really, you know, he, he, he left, right, left out and he played maybe a straight aid and then like this break, which we really liked. And then it out ended up sounding so good life that we actually went back to the mix and threw away a lot of the drum stuff. Yeah. So live playing life can also give you sometimes a good idea of if, if something is too much or not. Yeah.

Marc Matthews: 45:03

Yeah, yeah. That's a very good point. And when it comes to drum programming, and I know I, I do this cuz I've said this on the podcast a few times, that like, drum programming isn't my most fun task. I, I do it and it has to be done. Um, but I. I find it sometimes I'm, I'm doing it and I'm thinking, actually, am I creating something? Is this, is this actually plausible as a drum beat? I mean, does this make sense? Like, I mean, so my question then was gonna be what can sort of elevate, cuz you mentioned earlier about percussion and how percussion can make a track and, and propel it forward. What is it about, what takes a standard sort of drumbeat and then propels it to a, a higher caliber drumbeat? And at what point does it get too much? It is a good question.

Oliver (Martin Brothers): 45:47

Um, yeah. When I make a beat, I just, yeah. Try to search for something that is Yeah. Special and sometimes maybe you cannot find it or it's a more standard beat and, um, yeah. I dunno, how can I say? I, I just do what I. I just let my fantasy going on. I dunno, it's, it's

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 46:12

difficult to say you're living in a fantasy world, man. Yeah, no, it's

Oliver (Martin Brothers): 46:15

like difficult to say. I mean, I mean, just try some things. Yeah. I mean, of course not every beat, uh, I make, uh, ends up with, uh, yeah. Sometimes I have to throw it away and start from scratch again because, uh,

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 46:29

I mean, I mean, maybe an advice could be, but you know, I mean, I'm not. Some sort of a teacher or anything, but advice could be sometimes go for two or three elements. I say, uh, percussion wise, don't go for too many. Just find a group. Find a group that fits. That's what I was talking earlier. Oliver usually, maybe it's his natural, finds a group of percussion that works. As such, he has two or three elements. Those three elements repeat throughout the whole song. It's not saying that it's boring because he has maybe one or two additional elements that only appear in a song once or twice or, or at the very end. But you need to have, he was going, it's uh, we we're actually coming up with a song called Paralyzed. It's maybe going to be our second. Halloween special. Oliver was digging the hole for that song, so, and um, he was, he had like one or two, three, um, percussion stuff and one was like, oh, oh, like, you know what? We reverb on it. Right. So it sounds scary. Yeah. Yeah. So for me it's maybe not a typical percussion stuff, but that appears throughout the whole song and gives me the mood of a Halloween song. Like kind of that what, that's what I think of the percussions, right? So you need this elements, which gives the song a certain style or feel. And sometimes also maybe if you have a percussion that doesn't really work, you just leave it there and maybe try to add. Take out some parts of the percussion, make it less, but then add a lot more reverb and maybe you get something special. Because we had a, a song called, I can't remember anyway, but we had a great singer and it then that, that song turned out to be a lot bigger because I was just removing some, uh, percussion and was adding a lot of reverb to just two of them. And then you got the. Then I had that feeling I wanted. It was a very sad song kind of. So I wanted that deep breath of a, yeah. Percussion.

Marc Matthews: 48:46

Yeah. Very good advice. I, I like what you say there about having three main elements as well and um, and limiting that cuz it's almost like you could have three elements and you can really. Go to town on those elements, like you said, with reverb and another time-based processing to really sculpt the sound and make something different. Rather than thinking, I've got three elements, it needs to sound different. I'll add another, nah, it's not quite right. I'll add another and, oh, no, no, it's still not there. I'll add another and just keep going on like that. And then you fall into that track We mentioned just now as well. You've got this infinite raft of tracks going on rather than actually you're not getting to the crux of the problem, which is either, it probably doesn't work to begin with, or you need to work with what you have and work within those confines of those three elements. Now, fantastic advice, James. We're, we're, we're a fast approaching sort of 50 minutes. Um, and I did mention at the beginning that I wanted to dig a, a touch into the song, heart to Heart. Um, so that is the song that we've mentioned with Pensacolas. So Melissa on vocals and, um, I'm, I'm fairly certain I'm scheduled to talk to them again in a, in a month or so's time on the Cool. So, uh, this, this conversation will probably repeat with them, which would be cool. Audience listening, if you haven't checked it out yet, check out the music video cuz it's a fantastic video. Um, first question is, where was the video shot for that one? Was that in the States? Nope,

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 50:01

I lost Sky in Scotland. One of the most beautiful places on Earth. It's like a dinosaur island.

Marc Matthews: 50:13

It is a beautiful, beautiful video. And then I realized that when I said the States, I felt to myself, actually it's quite a lot to get you all flying over to the states sort of called a video and then coming back.

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 50:22

But, but actually's fantastic. Yeah. But it's funny because it takes you, uh, do you remember how the actual place was called? Do you remember the place on, uh, on Alice Sky? Yes.

Oliver (Martin Brothers): 50:33

Old man of store.

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 50:34

Right? Old man of store. Okay. So it takes about 45 minutes to get to get up there. And we had like, you know, guitars, I mean the guys from Pensacola said guitars and everything with them. We had synthesizers and stuff. So, you know, actually arriving that place up there, we were all right out of breath, right? Was like, and the Oliver, myself, we were. Um, scouting the place one day before, because obviously we don't, you know, have like endless holidays before. And so we had only day before and the day before it was actually snowing up. There was so freezing cold. Oh yeah. But the day we were shooting the, the sun was out and was a lot, I mean, it was still cold in the morning, but then, you know, it got actually to a temperature, which was okay to film. Yeah. Yeah,

Marc Matthews: 51:26

yeah. It is a beautiful location. As soon as you mentioned Scotland, I immediately thought you must have been very cold. Uh, if it's up there, I mean, it's, uh, the UK's pretty cold as it is. I live in the south, in the Southwest, and we are considered to be like the, the more tropical region of the uk. So the further north you go, the colder it gets. Um, so yeah, I can imagine it was. So that song itself, before we wrap things up here, um, it's got a particular sound to it. How would you describe sort of like the, the, the sound aesthetic to that song? Because you've got like what I'm, I'm believed though, like pan flutes going on in there if I'm, correct me if I'm wrong as well. Um, so how would you describe the sound? What was your idea when you were writing it?

Oliver (Martin Brothers): 52:04

Um, I think was a bit like, um, he wanted to make something with, uh, Asian China touch, right? And, um, I think he's a bit inspired by, uh, what's the name from this, uh,

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 52:17

alpha will, uh, Alphaville. Yeah. Yeah. I mean definitely like with the rumbling base, kind of like we wanted to have something similar, um, but then as it usually is, like we ended up with something completely else. But, um, yeah, uh, I mean, yeah, Melissa, she was like, I mean she, I, I think she was writing lyrics with, with the two guys from Pensacola Mist and like their. Like hugely huge talents. Uh, so they came up with this really cool lyrics, which has that like, kind of, um, Japanese, um, uh, theme and yeah, as such, and, um, Uh, it was at one of those songs. Yeah, because actually there was a re-recording of her vocals and we didn't go with the whole re-recording, which is stained with the ones she was recording somewhere else, because those were the initial song, uh, recordings. And that's what I say. Most often, you know, as singer, if she goes with the, the initial recording is most often the best one because then she was really singing from her heart to heart. Right. So, um, yeah. But, you know, was a lot of fun. And actually we were just, were, uh, looking for something for a mystical place to

Marc Matthews: 53:33

shoot. Yeah. Fantastic. I know what you mean there about with, with vocals and capturing vocals. Cause I, I remember when I've recorded vocals in the past and I would always record even when they were like warming up. Oh yeah, definitely. I would always record because you never know what you're gonna capture. So it's a, it's a fantastic piece of advice cuz I think, I dunno, I think the more you sing something, the less this is coming from me actually. Probably I'm not a vocalist. Um, but I guess the more you sing it, maybe the less. It is certainly in one sitting, the less emotion, I guess you'll have maybe one of a better way of putting it. The more you repeat something, it becomes a bit mundane. So capturing it in the first few takes, I think is ideal. Um, but that's, it's easy for me to say I'm not a vocalist where a vocalist will probably be like, have you ever tried kids actually singing and recording it? It's quite hard. Um,

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 54:19

so yeah, I mean, I think if we wanna go and record this interview, Right now, again, it probably doesn't make that much fun, right? Because then you're just repeating and trying to make it as funny as before. But you know, it just doesn't really work. I'm not saying maybe it would be, maybe we're gotta go for a second one. It's a lot better, right? You never know, but after the Christmas song, you never know. But. Usually, you know, in, you have those initial, um, emotions and, and, um, as more, I guess as more as, as you just mentioned, as more as you repeat that, it probably takes away a little bit of that magic from the first moment. Mm-hmm. It's like the first kiss, right?

Marc Matthews: 55:01

Yeah, very true. Yeah. Yeah. Getting very philosophical there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I would agree with that. Yeah. It's like in a relationship, isn't it? You got that honeymoon period. Gradual. Yeah. Yeah. I won't say anymore in case

Oliver (Martin Brothers): 55:15

girlfriend

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 55:17

just don't go down that road. It's better than ever before right now.

Marc Matthews: 55:23

Yeah, it is. It is. It is. She's fantastic. I'll give her that. She supports me in my musical endeavors. Yeah. All right. That's cool. And she has to listen to my music, even though she doesn't mind. I'm sure she does. But anyway, before I dig myself in a deeper hole, um, Jens, uh, we we're coming to the end now, so where can our audience find you online? Where's the best place to go to listen, uh, to your music, watch your music videos, et cetera? I'll put this in the show notes as well.

Oliver (Martin Brothers): 55:48

Yeah, I think that the usual things. YouTube. Spotify, our homepage, uh, Instagram, that's it, right?

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 55:56

Yeah, yeah, yeah. WW dot martin brothers music.com. Don't, don't go for ww martin brothers.com is something else. At the music. At the music. And you get there. Yeah.

Marc Matthews: 56:10

Excellent stuff. Brilliant. And, um, I always say this to artists, you mentioned that about a po possible, uh, Christmas song and possibly Halloween one, and, uh, you mentioned Eurovision 2024. Have you got any key dates or any releases or anything you want to give a shout out to on a podcast? Anything coming up?

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 56:25

I mean, it's been very, very, very quiet for the last few weeks. Uh, we, you know, we have to admit that we are gonna, um, definitely gonna go and post more on Instagram now. We have about 20 songs right now, so we were not. You know, chilling and doing nothing. We have about 20 songs right now. We already have some recorded with vocals, but we just want to take enough time. And also we don't wanna make the mistake or it's actually a mistake. What we don't wanna go for, you know? First, second, third, fourth album, wanna go and, you know, try something else. You always have to d you know, go, go somewhere else in your life from time to time. And I think your vision, um, it, you know, I dunno, five years back someone asked us to go for your vision with ah, I don't know. But now actually, uh, we thought, why not? Let's go for it. Try to make a stylish, uh, geek, but obviously it's not that easy, but it's just something we wanna try. Let's see. Yeah. Ah, fantastic.

Marc Matthews: 57:28

I will, uh, I won't lie, I don't usually watch your Yeah, yeah. However, if you guys were involved, I certainly would. I think it's in the UK this year as well. Yeah. We're too late for that one. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's a Liverpool, I think. Okay. Okay. Um. Same there. If, if I got an invite to go for the podcast or something, I've already Yeah, yeah. I'll, I'll go along. That's good. Happy days. Um, but I'll look out for that. I love that idea and I think it'd be great. And I think, um, it'd be fantastic. Um, No. Brilliant. Jens, it's been an absolute pleasure. Thank you. Thank you for joining me on this on this Sunday. Um, I've really enjoyed this fantastic music audience. Go check out, um, their back catalog and their music videos and whatnot cuz it is fantastic. Um, also check out, uh, let's talk synth seriously as well with u a p cuz there's another interview there, um, with the Jens as well if you wanna learn, um, even more. And, um, gentlemen, really big thank you today. Thank you very much. Pleasure.

Nicki (Martin Brothers): 58:20

Thank you. Thank you. Thanks a lot for having us here.

Marc Matthews: 58:24

It's been brilliant. I'll speak to you soon.