BILLIE MARTEN : Ahead of ‘Flora Fauna’
In all the interviews I’ve read with Billie Marten, each and every compliment is prefaced with her age. Yes, age is always an obvious starting point when describing someone and yes, Billie’s musical CV is wildly impressive given how young she is but I find that this means emphasis is taken away from her talent and rather focused on her youth. Billie may be younger than you’d initially think, but she is also an absolute breath of fresh air and enormously talented regardless of age. If she were a 45-year old woman, her musical powers would still be just as striking… So soz in advance, none of that here. I now realise that writing a paragraph focused solely on her age to make a point of how we need to stop mentioning her age may be counter-intuitive but we’ll overlook it.
Born in North Yorkshire, Billie Marten was first discovered after her mother put a video of her singing up on YouTube for the benefit of her grandparents who lived in France. It got hundreds of thousands of views and all of a sudden she was playing the Introducing Stage at Reading, touring with Snow Patrol and garnering a mass of loyal followers.
On the cusp of the release of her third album, ‘Flora Fauna’, we met up with the wondrous Billie in her Hackney home. We bonded over the ease at which we go red in the face, our shared love of her Yorkshire hometown, Ripon and her need to be by the sea. I’ve decided that if Billie were to write a book, a key chapter would have to be called ‘How to find the best fitting jeans and perfectly scruffed up, dust-stomping boots’, she just seems to have all the answers. Oh, and she also leant me her favourite book, which must be a firm sign of goodness. Welcome to the Billie Fan Club.
How was locking down back with your parents?
It was wonderful thank you. I got stuck there accidentally which turned out to be a real blessing - came for one weekend, stayed for nearly 6 months. Spent the most part lounging around in the sun and finding a lot of reflection and stillness, something I wasn't practicing before all this.
You said at the start of your career it was just you & your dad doing the gig routes, and that in turn he is both your biggest fan & critic. What sort of music did he and your mum bring you up on?
He did start it all off really, I distinctly remember him teaching me these four chords (we called them the Damien Rice chords) and subsequently buying me a little pink guitar to practice on. I have an older brother and used to watch him play with Dad and be so envious of them, so I took it upon myself, with the guidance and musical taste of my parents, to learn. I think the first record I heard was Hunky Dory, which makes for a pretty good start, and from there it was everything from Joni to Stiff Little Fingers. Our whole family has been brought together through that mutual love of music and I'll always carry that feeling with me. I think music (as a fan) is incredibly important and we really do need it.
We’ve talked of our shared love of Ripon. Growing up, were you desperately itching to get to London or were you very happy staying there?
God bless Ripon, there's a wonderful naivety that comes from growing up in and around a small population, and my first moments in London were a real testament to that. I remember feeling incredibly daunted and thrilled by such a huge place and all sorts of different people, but the train rides home were also a deep relief to me. Slowly you get used to feeling so small in such a huge place and you make friends with that feeling, everything just gradually became normal to me to the point where it was stranger to come back home that it was to stay here. Every few weeks I get a serious hankering for home though and that'll always stay with me.
What’s your favourite place in the world?
I've a couple of spots: The first is Robin Hood's Bay back home, it's a miniscule fishing village with a glorious wood fired pub overlooking the port, and England's steepest hill to get down to it (that fact is not true). I have such fond memories there and when I can I always go back and visit. The second would have to sadly be my own flat in London - over lockdown I've made it incredibly difficult to leave, it's a cosy badger hole, and I'm totally okay with that. I'm such an advocate for building your perfect nest and finding comfort in that, and overseas travel just seems too much of a myth right now to even ponder.
You’re an incredibly wise wizard. Where do you look for wisdom?
Thank you grasshopper. I think wisdom comes from constant, small realisations that thread together to form this scape, I don't think you can learn it because then it's not yours, only learnt, and wisdom is such a transient, elusive thing that sometimes can't be caught. I'm certainly far from sage status, we always reveal and project the best parts of ourselves, don't we?
What is something that brings you daily joy?
My bed, forever my long time lover. I try to spend as much time in it as possible.
Waking up and opening the windows to see my plants have grown and bloomed,
and swans.
What is the greatest piece of advice you’ve received?
'No one's looking at you.' - Something my Grandma Doreen used to tell my Dad when she made him try on school uniform in the supermarket, it's my favourite phrase to force myself to shed that embarrassment and self-awareness, and it's the perfect antidote to ego.
We were talking about stage fright during the shoot, and you said it still gets to you, what is your best coping mechanism when dealing with nerves/anxiety?
Unfortunately I think it depends on a person's character and individual neuroses, and I do have PLENTY of those, so a situation such as performing live only exacerbates them. I've definitely got better since the very beginning, but it's something I'll always have to work on. My methods include taking myself to a corner and not-really-reading-but-looking-like-I'm-reading a book, until we get the show call, also being completely distracted in something menial like doing my tax return or calling a friend/family member and almost actively ignoring that fear, channelling it into excitement, so as to belittle it and scare it off. It can bugger off quite frankly.
Your video for Garden of Eden beautifully overwhelms all of the senses. Tell us a bit about this video and how it came around…and what’s your favourite smell?
Thank you kindly. It's my favourite video we've made to date - me and my friend Lyds decided to get out of this creative rut we were having at the very beginning of lockdown, and out of that assertion came this beautiful piece. Lydia was stuck in Brussels at the time, and I was up North, and together we started collating images, videos and feelings that were pointing towards the same concept - joy. I wanted a video that represented that treasure chest feeling of discovering your Garden of Eden, without that saccharine sweetness that can sometimes be associated with that imagery, the juxtaposition is very important. I'm very proud of us for making this.
My favourite smells (thank you for this question) include fresh ironing, petrol, the smell of the butchers, rain on tarmac (petrichor) and books. Always smell a book before reading.
We’ve got to mention your tour with bloomin’ Snow Patrol. This must have been a pretty career-affirming moment. If you could have any artist supporting you on a tour, who would you hand pick?
Ha, it was certainly a different time… I felt very ostracised from that community, playing the Hard Rock in Vegas wasn't necessarily where I was supposed to be, but certainly a wonderful time and I got to see most of America from the window of our RV.
As for artists, I think I'd prefer to support someone I loved rather than play after them - so it would be someone I adored like Loudon Wainwright III, Suzanne Vega, Richard Hawley, Randy Newman - someone like that.
Do you prefer the writing, recording or performing part of being a musician?
I think it's midway between those, it's the exact moment you finish a song and you play it once through at the end, and it's so new and fresh to you, and no one has heard it yet but you want everyone to immediately, and yet there's this lovely sense of trepidation, like tip-toeing around a newborn, and you're in a rare moment of non-judgment against yourself and it's just sublime.
A YouTube comment under ‘Peach’ reads : “…her music takes me back to my grandmother’s garden. Honeybees buzzing, lemon trees, a large lake, full of greenery and antiques here and there”. As I read it I can smell and hear and feel all of those things. What artist makes you feel like this?
Well what a lovely thing to say. I love people. I think the most visual artists I can think of are Kate Bush, Bowie, Talking Heads, Belle and Sebastian and Penguin Cafe, those are the top ones for me. They provide you with all the work they've already done, to allow you to just feel it.
Who are you listening to at the moment?
I've made a few good discoveries, someone with the most elaborate name - Alabaster DePlume; a sort of folky but more outspoken Sam Lee type with beautiful brass sections. A punky band named Tiña, and El Michels Affair, check them out.
What, if anything, has the pandemic taught you or offered you?
It's taught me that everyone needs space and silence to understand who they are sometimes, I think it was in some ways a real blessing. I felt the Earth stop for a while and it gave us time to reflect and heal, something we'd never have done without it. Coming out of this time makes me quite anxious I won't lie, but I'll definitely keep the things I've learnt and take them with me.
Picture this: restrictions are lifted and you’re on the road. Where are you going and what are you doing?
I think much of the same really, I'm a creature of habit and all my habits are small. My normal life with a tad more hugging and walking and visiting would be splendid.
What do you listen to on the Last Bus home?
At this point I'm probably feeling quite drunk and sad so I'd put on something really overly cinematic and lame to make me feel cool. BUT I also really appreciate pure sounds and albums with not much going on, so a go to favourite of mine and one of my dearest dearest loves would be Joanna Newsom's Milk Eyed Mender.
‘Flora Fauna’ is out on 21st May via Fiction Records. Pre-order here.