Portland, Oregon is home to singer songwriter Jeffrey Martin. He first appeared on our radar back in 2009 with the release of his debut album GOLD IN THE WATER and he has gone forward into a career that has steadily built upon his insightful and sensitive songs. Having made a hard decision to give up a regular job as an English teacher in High School, Jeffrey has used his talents to reflect upon the human condition in all its guises and to hold a mirror up to our humanity, our deeds and insecurities. He speaks for those on the margins of society and frequently captures the quiet dignity and the hidden depths within everyman. We asked Jeffrey to share some thoughts with us recently while visiting Ireland and his wisdom shines through in the words.
Congratulations on the new album. Thank God We Left the Garden has received very positive media feedback. Are you happy with the results of your labours?
Of course. People have been really kind to the record. I’m glad folks are connecting with it.
The feel of the album is one of quiet intimacy. Is that what you were aiming for originally – almost a fragility to mirror our troubled times?
Yes that’s very much what I was aiming for. This batch of songs was a direct response to my anxiety about the pace of the world.
How long did the recording process take?
Not sure exactly. Three months? Or 7 years.
Was the backyard shed you used always meant to be a studio during construction?
I built it so I could have a dedicated place for writing. I definitely didn’t build it with any acoustic recording function in mind. Just built the cheapest thing I could that would keep the rain and rats out.
You recorded late into the night to avoid neighbourhood noise. Did you get any strange reactions from the immediate neighbours who must have wondered what was going on?
I think my neighbours are perpetually curious what I’m up to. Strange sounds. All hours of the night. A few know what I do. Others I leave to wonder.
Your producer on the album is John Neufeld. Can you tell us more about your working relationship with him?
Jon is a music friend. And a crucial part of the Portland music scene. Working with him feels like working with a kind and humble sound guru. He’s talented on another level.
The songs seem more personal and internal in comparison to your earlier writing. Was this a conscious change of direction?
It was the opposite of conscious.Writing these songs was one long exercise in getting out of my own way. It’s just what came out.
When you were growing up, who were your favourite artists and bands?
It was a constant and ever-changing buffet. Every kind. But I always come back to the songwriters whose lyrics feel like finding a light switch to a dark room in my mind that I didn’t know existed. I don’t really care about genres. I care what people are trying to say. That can be Nina Simone. And it can be Dave Matthews. And it can be Blaze Foley. And it can be The Black Diamond Heavies.
Did you play guitar from a young age?
I started playing casually when I was maybe 16 or 17. I taught myself just enough to write to. And there it’s remained.
Do you intend to release your earlier albums in physical format?
I haven’t decided. I think I’d like to revisit those songs and release those albums as “then and now” double records.
Going back to 2014 and the DOGS IN THE DAYLIGHT album. When you look back do you see much change in your writing process?
I’ve moved away from some folky Americana tropes. Fewer trains and less heartache for the sake of heartache. In previous albums there were a lot of dark and sad songs, but I didn’t offer much of myself. I discovered that a certain amount of vulnerability, some honest telling of my own story, in a song can help balance the melancholy with some solace.
ONE GO ROUND (2017) is an album that carried on your leaning toward story songs. Did you record this in a friend’s home in preference to a studio setting
I recorded it with Tyler Fortier in his home studio. He’s got a very legit studio space with great gear. I liked working with him because he was willing to build the songs out in a really organic way. Slowly and mindful of what might be too much.
Do you prefer to perform in a live setting or would you choose to stay home and simply be seen as a songwriter today
I absolutely love the live show. There is a magic there that can never be contained on a recording. For me, recordings are deeply secondary to the live show. Both are important, but if I had to choose one it would be live shows every time, forever.
When you tour, is it hard to make any real profit when you add up the cost of flights, hotels, meals etc?
It’s hard for anyone these days, doing any job, to make any profit. My goal is sustainability, and so far that’s working. Money kills everything and the more you have the more you sacrifice to it. My goal is to make enough money to keep playing music for a living. Whatever exists beyond those margins I don’t really care about. I try to be intentional with that mantra. It’s too easy to start feeling like you need more. Or worse, that you deserve more.
So many artists cannot make ends meet with poor royalty payments and increasing costs of living. However you gave up a regular teaching job to devote your time to music. How difficult was that decision to make?
It was only difficult in that I was trading a conventional job that was somewhat reliable for the infinite expanse of working for myself. But art thrives on a healthy amount of uncertainty. Every creative moment comes alive with real stakes.
Do you write slowly or do song ideas and words come to you quickly?
It’s both. All at once for some. Over the course of years for others. If a song doesn’t come quickly, that usually means I need to do some more living. I try not to fight that equation.
Your partner Anna Tivel is a very successful singer and songwriter also. Do you regularly communicate song ideas to each other or how does your creative dynamic work?
We write very separately from each other, but live together in constant shared space of ideas and reflection. We’re two deeply internal minds who were lucky enough to find each other and fall in love. There is a common unspoken understanding that we both need mounds of time alone.
The new album wrestles with some big concepts such as ‘who are we, and what are we doing here.’ Have you resolved that heaven already lies within us, if we would just wake up?
Well put. I’ll never understand why religious communities seem to be so fearful of this concept. Especially considering that it’s written in their bibles in black and white. There is the sandbox of the material world, where all of our politics and capitalist dreams and inane social constructs reside. And then there is the infinite expanse outside that sandbox, where compassion and wonder permeate and go on forever.
You sing of intolerance and homophobia on the song Red Station Wagon. Do you think that prejudice can ever change or is the mountain of hate too big to climb?
I believe things like prejudice have to be overcome on the individual level, life by life. Society can offer helpful tools (education being a key one) but will never be able to compensate for a fearful and ignorant mind that has no desire to find a better way.
The division that we see today in our world makes me think that humans are the greatest blight upon the planet. In writing about a higher purpose do you see a light at the end of the tunnel?
I don’t agree. While certainly other creatures are conscious, I believe that human conscious specifically brings a profound value to the universe that nothing else does (that we know of so far.) One that allows Existence to ponder itself and be awestruck by the infinite depth of minds and hearts. The destructiveness of humans isn’t the fault of our awareness, but rather the result of those who choose to remain unaware. I could stab someone to death with a paint brush, but it wouldn’t make sense to blame the brush. I hope we can become increasingly aware that our humanity is a powerful tool, not a passive fact of our existence that we are slave to, and it needs to be protected and wielded with immense care. Not to say that our human nature doesn’t contain some truly horrifying potentials, but that with awareness and compassion we can choose our better natures.
Interview by Paul McGee