Other projects

Martin plays guitar in instrumental post-rock steamcore band The Monroe Transfer. Drowned in sound’s new bands wing, DisCover said, “At their most beautiful, The Monroe Transfer are able to lightly brush the places that so few other instrumental acts can”. Rather than rattling on about them, I would encourage you to listen here; they are not what you would necessary expect.

He appears regularly in the house band for The School for Gifted Children, a comedy and music night run by Robin Ince themed around science and knowledge, at which he performs original compositions on those topics. He has played at both the Latitude Festival and Edinburgh fringe under the auspices of its forerunner, the Book Club, and serves semi-regularly in the house band for If.comeddie Newcomer Award winner Josie Long’s comedy night, the Sunday Night Adventure Club.

He produces Answer Me This!, a weekly comedy podcast starring Helen Zaltzman and Olly Mann, which answers listener questions, and which in February 2008 reached no. 9 in the iTunes Comedy Podcast chart, making it the highest-rated independent comedy podcast on iTunes. He plays the character of Martin the Sound Man and contributes much of the music used in the jingles, idents and bed tracks.

He also had a TINY voice-over part in Josie Long’s 2005 Edinburgh show, An Audience With Dan Nightingale & Josie Long as Sir Paul McCartney and recorded the hard-to-find People’s Sauce with her the same year. He beatboxed for character comedian Jo Neary at the Laughter in Odd Places performance at comedy critic Bruce Dessau’s house. He has recorded demos of “Scrabble Song” and “Charlie’s Birthday Party” for singer-songwriter Gavin Osborn, and a version of Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ‘69″ featuring farmyard animals for an as-yet unused sketch by comedy team Pappy’s Fun Club. And he is rarely sick at sea.