Meet Matt Martin, Athens’ musical jack of all trades

It’s no secret Athens is a hub for creativity, especially when it comes to music. Our college town has inspired some incredible artists over the years – R.E.M., the B-52’s, Widespread Panic and Of Montreal, just to name a few.

Each year, it seems more and more artists rise above the fray and begin to distinguish themselves in this busy framework. When considering the current music scene in Athens, Matt Martin is certainly a name that comes to mind.

Having toured with a major group, signed to a record label, played with countless bands and now working on a solo project, he has worn many hats in the industry and has gained a lot more than academic knowledge during his time in Athens.

Walk us through your 2015.

I played SxSW in early 2015 with White Violet. I found that to be really inspiring and it really motivated me for my solo project, Wanderwild. I resurrected a bunch of songs I had written in 2013, self-recorded an EP and mixed it in the beginning of August. Since then, it’s been the question of, “how do I launch it?”

I teamed up with Team Claremont – great PR group in Athens – and started a campaign at the beginning of 2016. The EP comes out March 25th. Throughout the fall, it was securing that and filming two different music videos. My whole vision from the beginning was to record an album. I’ll put out another EP and videos by the end of this year. I’m doing a lot of the work myself, so I’m able to pull it off.

You played a sold out show at the Georgia Theatre on NYE. How was that?

Family and Friends invited us (Dana Swimmer) to play early on after they booked it, which was a huge honor. There’s nothing more fun than playing rock music to a packed venue. Even if it’s Caledonia. When people are engaged, there’s this crazy cool energy. And a sold out Georgia Theatre show – that’s pretty neat.

I feel lucky to have been invited to that experience. It was mostly their doing. It was amazing. New Year’s is an exciting time. It was the most fun we’ve had as a band, and inevitably ignited a conversation like, “why don’t we always do this?” In some ways, it’s not meant to be right now. But the energy was amazing.

So, what’s going on with Dana Swimmer?

We started recording a record called Glacier in the beginning of 2014. I mainly played bass in that band. It kind of quickly became a way cooler thing than any of us anticipated, and we started working with a label called This Is American Music. We started sending them tracks and they were like, “holy shit, this is different than everything you’ve done before.”

We felt like the ship was driving itself. It was a contributing factor to taking off school – we were going on tour, but we just were unfortunately a factor of the fact that the industry is complicated and doesn’t always work as it should. We ended up putting the record out on our own after sitting on it for like a year, and Flagpole put it on their Top 10 list.

We’re not broken up per se, but on an indefinite hiatus. If an opportunity presents itself, we’ll take it. Like the New Year’s event – we’re down.

What would you call your genre?

Wanderwild is indie rock with a songwriting focus. That’s still very broad, but what I mean by that is I’ve always been equally inspired by different sounds and tones and elements, and that’s when the production side comes in. Sometimes indie rock is more about an energy and less about song craft.

I value songwriting and also the spirit of not being afraid to experiment. Songwriting can be about formula and tradition – like folk fundamentally is contributing to this canon of work, a guy on acoustic guitar but different melodies, it’s beautiful but raw and pure. I love that but want to push it harder and louder.

What is your favorite venue?

I’ll always be a champion of Caledonia. I just love that it’s a smaller, grittier rock club but it also sounds fantastic. Obviously, we kind of have it all. The Georgia Theatre is professional, slick and hip with high production value. 40 Watt has a similar ethos. I love Flicker too. It’s like you’re playing in a living room but with all your friends, the tiniest stage in Athens.

What’s the coolest show you’ve ever played?

Honestly, NYE was one of them. Another fave was FreekFest at New Earth with Dana Swimmer. It was rowdy and fun and cool. Also playing with Uncle Dad opening for The Whigs at the 40 Watt. They were hometown heroes, and we went to their shows and then got to play with them, so that was a dream come true.

One of my fondest memories from the White Violet tour was playing Cameo Gallery in Brooklyn. There weren’t many people there, but we were touring with Semi Circle, and got our van got iced in. We had to borrow a shovel from American Apparel to dig our van out. The whole experience was hilarious. The whole tour was ridiculous.

What are your plans for the future?

Finishing college – that’s something I’m ready to be done with. Please, let me graduate so I can move on with my life. Hopefully putting out two Wanderwild EPs this year. Hopefully doing some weekend warrior, light touring and developing this project. I’m really excited about it. Although it’s new, it’s the culmination of all these years playing in all these different bands but starting out as a kid with a guitar in my basement.

I used to make demos all the time in high school and I didn’t know what I was doing. But that coming full circle, and all these years having a blast with all these other projects, taught me how to approach it on a music and business side and how I want to do it. It’s something I pour a lot of energy into.

Listen to Matt’s music on SoundCloud or Dana Swimmer’s website.