MARTHA HILL

Image by Saint Sophie

NORTHERN ALT. POP SONGWRITER MARTHA HILL GIVES AN INSIGHT INTO HER YEAR, AS HER NEWLY RELEASED MUSIC HIT THE NATIONAL AIRWAVES

It’s been a funny year for me, but also weirdly good in lots of ways. I’ve been lucky to have been able to continue working and creating throughout lockdown due to having invested some funding into a home recording set-up at the end of last year, and I’m massively thankful for that.

I knew I had Summer Up North EP ready to release this year, but the challenge was: how do you record an EP when you can’t leave the house? After a few trial and error sessions, myself and producer Julien Flew managed to find our flow with it. I’d record the acoustic parts (my vocals, guitars etc.) in my living room and send them over to him, and then we’d sit together for hours over Zoom, screen and audio sharing, and build the rest of the arrangement together. It was funny being ‘in the studio’ and on my sofa in pyjamas at the same time!

When I released Grilled Cheese in June, I was hoping it would do well, but I had no idea it would receive the national radio support that it got. It felt unreal when BBC 6Music picked it up on their B-List playlist, but then they bumped it up to the A-List and Radio 1 also picked it up as the BBC Introducing Track of the Week! The support it received was amazing, and it was lush having pals messaging me saying how buzzing they were to hear me on the radio.

I have absolutely no idea what 2021 will look like. But I’m currently focusing on writing as much new material as possible, and I also have a tour booked for the end of April. My Durham show has already sold out, but there’s still some tickets for

Westgarth Social Club in Middlesbrough (24th April) and The Cluny, Newcastle (30th April). I can’t waaaiiittt to play live again! I miss it so much.

www.marthahillmusic.com