As he tours his new album, 'A Savage Life', Folk & Tumble caught up with Dom Martin to talk about recording the album during the pandemic and getting back out on the road again.
FT: You’ve just released your new album, ‘A Savage Life’ to rave reviews. How does that feel?
DM: It feels amazing as I nearly binned the whole thing after the first recording sessions as I wasn’t at all happy with what was going on. We got lucky though in the end as we found a great studio and production team in Dublin, Chris O’Brien and Graham Murphy who were able to pull the Phoenix from the ashes! They really did a great job and did as little production as I wanted.
FT: The album features two of Northern Ireland’s best known and experienced musicians, and with them you’ve formed a powerful blues trio. Is the stripped back set up a format you prefer?
DM: Yeah I love the set up I have right now. Dave Thompson and Laurence McKeown bring exactly what I need to the stage, controlled energy with a lovely feel for dynamics. Those guys know how to get in the groove!
FT: The album was recorded while the pandemic was still affecting daily life. Did it have a big impact on the process?
DM: Not so much on the recording process itself but definitely in the some of the songwriting. It was a tough time for everyone and I guess there’ll be a lot of blues albums come out of it.
FT: I hear a lot of Rory Gallagher’s influence in your playing, what other musicians have influenced your music?
DM: I grew up with Rory, he was the only constant in our house. I used to sit in my room listening to tapes and LP’s which belonged to my Dad, trying to figure out how he was doing things! One day I suddenly realised I was a Rory tribute without having set out to be so I had to stop listening to him! My main other influences are probably John Martyn and Roy Buchanan but I just don’t listen too much to anything now as I end up sounding like them.
FT: You are back out on the road touring with the band and as a solo musician. How does it feel to be back out playing with the band and performing for an audience again?
DM: Oh it’s really awesome to be out there again! It’s all I know and all I want to do so I really missed playing live the last couple of years. It’s real therapy right there.
FT: How’s the gig diary looking for the rest of 2022?
DM: It’s pretty healthy to be fair but there’s a big pandemic backlog with promoters and festivals so it’s going to be 2023 before we see any real growth I think. I’m really looking forward to trips to the USA and Norway this summer and I was supposed to be in Russia for 2 weeks in July but we’ll just keep pushing as we know no other way.
FT: Good luck with the album sales and the rest of the tour.
DM: Thanks, really appreciate it.