Singer/Songwriter
| Topics: Arts & Entertainment |
| Interview Date: November-27-2012 |
| Extraordinary Insights: "Do what you find exciting, create something that you would be excited to see in the world, that you don't already see in the world. There are a lot of forces and people that will tell you, 'it would be wise and fiscally prudent to copy stuff that already exists,' or to do something that sounds more like [this], or to do something that sounds more like that, but you would never be happy doing that. You're good at what you do, not at what other people do, and the time that you inevitably put it will always be rewarding, and you'll end up with something that's your own." |
Audio-only version:
Selina Martin is an acclaimed songwriter. Based in Toronto, she is an artist who has forged her own brand of pop by melding rock, new wave, punk, dance, folk and occasionally country, always with smart lyrics and always making it her own. Many of Canada’s most respected music writers have highly praised her work, including multiple accolades in the Globe and Mail.
On top of this Selina is an extremely expressive live performer and is also endowed with a distinctive voice. Known also as a skilled composer/arranger/producer and multi-instrumentalist, Selina has contributed to numerous recordings by her friends & peers (Rheostatics, Veda Hille, Bob Wiseman, Justin Rutledge, N.Q. Arbuckle...). Recent works of note include co-producing and arranging Martin Tielli's The Ghost Of Danny Gross, Parts 1 & 2.
She's also a gifted actor. Martin was one of the 4 main creators with the innovative and impressionistic Toronto-based theatre company Bald Ego Theatre. Selina has toured across Canada, the US and Europe. Her third full length and much-lauded recording, Disaster Fantasies, was produced by indie wunderkind Chris Stringer (Timber Timbre, Ohbijou, The Coast), and is her most focused album to date. It's a fierce collection of genre-defying tunes, including “a beautiful rendition” (Geddy Lee) of The Spirit of Radio (Rush), and was released on CD and vinyl across Canada in 2010. Martin is currently touring with a 3 piece band called Selina Martin Triplets. Compact and potent, they perform artful arrangements of the songs using electric guitars, accordion, kalimba, foot percussion, bass & 3 part harmonies.