INTERVIEW: Trouble – Martina Armour

Good afternoon lovely blog readers,

Social media has its blessings and its curses. However, I am very thankful for social media connecting me with the wonderful Martina Armour!

Folk-pop artist, Martina Armour, just released her first single this July (on Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud… etc) called “Trouble”. I am super thankful she was able to sit down and answer a couple of questions about the new single even with an incredibly busy schedule.

Read down below to get to know about Martina and her music a little more:

Tell me as little or as much as you want about you! Who are you? Where did you grow up? When did you start music? (A loaded question but just so readers get a background of who they are listening to)

I was born and raised in the south of Sweden. Music was my first love. One day when I was 9, my mom and my grandmother went out of town on a whim for the day and came back with this beautiful wooden upright piano. Something we for sure couldn’t afford at the time, but my mother felt strongly that we needed it. She wanted to get me into music lessons and told me I could choose between the instruments that we owned; guitar (the one played when she was young), accordion (my grandmother had 2) or this gorgeous piano they’d just brought home. It was an easy choice for me, piano! So I began taking lessons and a few years after that I started writing songs. I remember my first song, “Letter to Heaven” was a conversation to my best friend that had passed away in a car crash. Songwriting became my way of dealing with my feelings, thoughts, and dreams. So I would say that loss was what catapulted me into songwriting. Later in my teenage years, I picked up the guitar and for my live shows, I go back and forth between the two.

What inspired you to write the song “Trouble”? 

I wrote Trouble in a town called Ojai, in California. The beauty and stillness of that place made the thoughts in my head so loud that I had to make sense of them all. Sometimes in LA there’s so much going on and always noise around you it’s easier to tune out your mind. But not in Ojai. The song is about loving someone you “shouldn’t” or don’t really want to because you know it will end in a disaster but your heart is just telling you otherwise. It’s about that moment before you come clean with your feelings and your logical brain is hoping they won’t return your feelings while your heart hopes they do.

(Bean: yep, this feeling is real.)

What artist(s) do you think influenced your musical style the most? Why? 

So many artists but definitely Missy Higgins. Growing up, I didn’t really listen to the genre of music that I was creating. I wasn’t really exposed to it, but I heard exactly what it would sound like with more instruments in my head. Then I stumbled upon Missy Higgins while living in Boston and I remember thinking “Wow, that’s what my music sounds like in my head!”. I just loved her lyrics that were so poetic yet relatable. Other artists are Bruce Springsteen and Fleetwood Mac. My mom would play Bruce throughout my whole life growing up (still does actually) so it’s kind of the soundtrack to my life! Fleetwood Mac, and in particular, Stevie Nicks are so inspirational to me how they have their own sound and still 50 years later can rock better than any band in their 20s. And queen Stevie is just such a badass singer and songwriter. The way she holds the crowd in her hands I can only wish to come close to one day.

(Bean: I feel you girl, Fleetwood Mac will forever inspire me / Stevie Nicks is forever a queen)

You said in a recent Instagram post that this song took a long time to write, what were the difficulties in writing this song?   

So when I started writing this song, it just poured out of me in one night. Everything except the chorus. I was so stuck and just couldn’t tie it all together. Looking back I think because I was going through some painful things at the time, my mind couldn’t go there. I wanted it to be personal, honest and raw, but that’s also very scary. So I let it sit for a while and forgot about it. Then during one exhausting hike, way later, I sat on top of Runyon Canyon looking out over LA and the chorus was born.

When did you know the song was complete? How did it feel? 

It felt really amazing! Knowing that this was something I’d worked so hard on, all those nights I’d sit in my home studio adding layers and layers on the song. To produce my first single was very important for me, that it was all done how I wanted it. Then also when it was done I felt an intense feeling of emptiness. Kind of like “Now what? What do I do with myself?” So it was a complex feeling of all that build-up of relief that it was finished mixed in with some emptiness. So I gave it some days and then dove into making the next single!

What next steps are you taking in your music career? 

I just signed with a manager last week actually so that’s something I’m super excited about! So we are working on the next couple of singles and then an EP release after that. He got me into The Village Studios, so in a few weeks, I’ll be recording my next single in there, something that’s definitely on my bucket list!

(Bean: I am so excited for new music! Keep me posted!)

Anything you would like the readers to know?

Keep an eye out for my music video for ‘Trouble’ that’s coming out soon!

 

Martina, thank you for being so raw and real with my readers and this blog. I truly don’t think I can thank you enough.

Readers, go listen to the single and watch out for up and coming Martina Armour! (also, give her a follow on social media because why not?)

Xoxo

The Music Bean