22 min
Episode 95: Finley Martin (Musician) Cover to Cover with Matt Tarka
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- Arts
Our guest today is one Finley Martin. He enjoys every aspect of making music – from songwriting, to performing live, to engineering and production. He primarily plays bass and guitar, but he's been known to add other instruments (keys, drums, field recordings) when he's recording at home. Finley was born and raised in Prince Edward Island, Canada, but has been based in the DC area since 1998.
In addition to his solo work, he's played with a number of area bands since then:
Gist – 1999 to present (post-punk)
The Chance – 2008 to 2010 (art rock)
RagnaPOP! – 2014 to present (pop punk)
Oppo – 2014 to present (indie rock)
GrooveJet – 2015 to present (Latin, jazz, funk, RnB)
These bands are representative of his broad musical tastes and interests. If you heard them in one night, you would journey through angular vs. melodic post-punk, art core, horn-heavy funk, latin jazz, uke-tinged pop punk and indie rock. Finley's solo work fuses these influences with Americana and folk stylings, often drawing on the Celtic storytelling and kitchen parties from his childhood. He creates reflective songs—at times quiet, acoustic, melody-driven ballads, but equally often heavier, driving barn burners, making use of the loop pedal to develop multi-layered soundscapes. His songs often explore issues that reflect life in the 21st century such as social inequality, gun violence, climate degradation, and technological encroachment.
For our conversation today, we are going to be discussing The Tragically Hip's second studio album titled Road Apples, which was released back on February 15, 1991. It was their first album to reach #1 in Canada, and the album has been certified Diamond as well. Incidentally, earlier this year. Road Apples is receiving some deluxe treatment, to celebrate its 30th Anniversary. Enjoy the conversation!
Our guest today is one Finley Martin. He enjoys every aspect of making music – from songwriting, to performing live, to engineering and production. He primarily plays bass and guitar, but he's been known to add other instruments (keys, drums, field recordings) when he's recording at home. Finley was born and raised in Prince Edward Island, Canada, but has been based in the DC area since 1998.
In addition to his solo work, he's played with a number of area bands since then:
Gist – 1999 to present (post-punk)
The Chance – 2008 to 2010 (art rock)
RagnaPOP! – 2014 to present (pop punk)
Oppo – 2014 to present (indie rock)
GrooveJet – 2015 to present (Latin, jazz, funk, RnB)
These bands are representative of his broad musical tastes and interests. If you heard them in one night, you would journey through angular vs. melodic post-punk, art core, horn-heavy funk, latin jazz, uke-tinged pop punk and indie rock. Finley's solo work fuses these influences with Americana and folk stylings, often drawing on the Celtic storytelling and kitchen parties from his childhood. He creates reflective songs—at times quiet, acoustic, melody-driven ballads, but equally often heavier, driving barn burners, making use of the loop pedal to develop multi-layered soundscapes. His songs often explore issues that reflect life in the 21st century such as social inequality, gun violence, climate degradation, and technological encroachment.
For our conversation today, we are going to be discussing The Tragically Hip's second studio album titled Road Apples, which was released back on February 15, 1991. It was their first album to reach #1 in Canada, and the album has been certified Diamond as well. Incidentally, earlier this year. Road Apples is receiving some deluxe treatment, to celebrate its 30th Anniversary. Enjoy the conversation!
22 min