☆I'm sure you gain inspiration from many artists, but who are your biggest creative inspirations in music?
"It started, for me, all with the old school rock n roll. Fats Domino, Little Richard and of course, Elvis. That sound inspired me to pick up the guitar and once I started that journey a whole new world of rock opened up for me. One of the first groups I encountered in this journey was The Kinks. This underdog of the British Invasion was really the start of a rougher rock sound, but when I discovered Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and The Who, this sound was cemented in my mind. But since I also play in an orchestra, as a trumpeter, I also loved a more orchestrated sound, something grand and intense. That's where The Kinks [come in] again, but also Klaatu, The Beatles, Queen, Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys and Prince come in. This eventually led to me experimenting with sound and wanting to make something intense, something with a thick sound. Of course, these are not my only influences, but these are some of the greatest influences."
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☆How long did it take you to record this track in the studio?
We started recording at 10 am, and stopped at 6 pm, so this was 8 hours of studio work.
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☆From your insider opinion, what would you say this song is about?
"I explained my inspiration previously [in an answer to a different question], and this is going to be the extension of that inspiration. Once I had the idea of a powerful Bondgirl~esque protagonist, I felt like it needed elaboration. Not necessarily a full story, but more of a character study, as you often see in lyrics from The Kinks. I wanted this song to feel like it was building up to climax however, and with only a character study it is difficult to pull that off. So what I tried to do with the lyrics is slowly zooming in on the character, Ruby. It starts off with just a gal you know, who seems intimidating. In the second verse you get closer to her and attempt to dance with her and in the "bridge" you get the most intense musical and lyrical section, describing real confrontation with this powerful lady. I'm very proud of how this turned out, but I do have some bias."
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☆How has Covid-19 affected you and your music?
"Covid has been disastrous to my music. I haven't been able to record any new material, as I was planning to do in December 2020, which is very frustrating. It would have been nice if I had a studio at home, but because there are no concerts and nobody is in the streets there is no way for me to gain enough money to build a studio at home. On the positive side: it did give me enough time to write a whole lot of new material, which I hope to record and release soon."
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☆Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
In the next 5 years I hope to study biology and make a lot more music. Whilst music does not have priority over school, I do hope to record a lot more music and to expand my musical horizon a lot. It would also be great to do live shows, but so far I prefer recording.
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☆What is it that you love most about music?
"Music is just constantly bugging me, really. It sticks in my head, I get a lot of musical ideas and if I don't write it down, if I don't write any music or make it, I'm just going to be annoyed by the music in my head. This might come across as negative, but I love the way that music is sticky. It sticks to your mind, it enhances your mind, cures your ills, makes you feel better and brings people and communities together. It's a universal language and I hope to increase my fluency."
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☆Why the hell do you like us?
"The 60's and 70's aesthetic hasn't been as popular in modern clothing trends as the 80's and 90's have been and that's really a shame. I love the colourful clothing, the models and of course it's the style that a lot of my icons wore, so I love that aesthetic. ThunderStomp Threadz is one of the few companies that makes personalized jackets idolizing the rock legends of those era's, and that's simply amazing. It's a niche that I fit greatly into and I'm very thankful for this company."
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☆Who would be your "dream collaboration" on a track in the future?
"I love powerful and unique voices. Musically, I see myself more as an instrumentalist than a vocalist, so I would love to do a collaboration with an amazing vocalist, such as Macy Gray, Tina Turner and Lizzo. I think voices like that could really enrich my musical palette, but as a guitarist, obviously I would love to do something with great guitarists like Yvette Young, Christone Kingfish Ingram, Steve Vai, Marcus King, Dweezil, Zappa and I could go on. However, I don't want to limit myself to only collaborations with the aforementioned icons, so I'm open to collaborate with any musician that is willing to. I love to write music, love to record music, so if you want to collaborate with me, you can just message me on my instagram!" (@notsosmartmart)
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☆Is there anything specific that you as the artist want your fans to take away from your new single?
"Difficult question. Generally speaking, I want my fans to enjoy my music and share it with their loved ones in the hopes they enjoy it too! I want people to enjoy music together and to bring them together, so if my music achieves that, it would already make my day. This single specifically is about a very powerful lady, so if anyone feels empowered by my music, I wholeheartedly support that!"
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☆Can we look forward to any new music? If so, when?!
If you dig Mart Eerens, consider supporting him via his bandcamp above during this tough time on upcoming artists! Leave any questions below that you have for Mart! This song should definitely be added onto your playlist for this summer 2020. You can bet it's on ours! Below are the links to stream Ruby and add it to your playlist!
Looking forward to your new songs Mart! Keep up the good work!
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