For the very first interview of the blog, I would like to present Joel Martin, a young American artist fresh off the block with his debut album ‘Roots’, which released during the last month.

Album Links: Spotify // Bandcamp // Apple Music // YouTube

PD: “How would you describe ‘Roots’ to those who haven’t heard your music before?”

Joel Martin: Roots is basically an instrumental progressive rock album. There are a few vocal bits, though they were written mostly as an afterthought.

A couple of tracks to recommend for starters?

Start with the last song, “To Touch the Stars”. It is, in my opinion, the best on the album, and while it was written a long ago, it is one of the more complex tracks.

How did you go about writing the tracks?

I finished writing ‘Roots’ a year and a half ago, and I didn’t know much about the theory of composition then, if anything about writing at all. I was just writing ideas down and trying to piece them together.

What are your thoughts behind ‘feel’ versus ‘theory’ while composing music?

I believe it should be a bit of both. Music theory is a framework to make you better understand why you like music, and let’s you know what are the options to develop an idea. But at the end of day, it cannot replace pure inspiration. You cannot just throw in a bunch of chords and scales on paper and say that’s a song.

What were your music influences when you wrote Roots?

In general, my biggest inspiration is Between the Buried and Me, even though Roots sounds nothing like them at all. I believe the second album would be more directly inspired from them. During the writing of Roots, I was listening to Persefone‘s ‘Spiritual Migration’ as well as a lot of Dreadnought while writing the track “Grounded”. Native Construct‘s ‘Quiet World’ was another that was always on the loop.

I did hear a bit of Native Construct and Between the Buried and Me on “Incantation”. What’s changed since you wrote Roots? Both in terms of musical philosophy and influences.

I got more into post and avant-garde genres since, for example music from Kayo Dot. They’ve massively influenced me since, and my writing style has evolved to a more uniformly composed style from a more section-to-section style.

A funny or bizarre story behind a track on Roots?

I was sitting with Jared Fedele on voice chat and discussing how absurd some of the transitions on “Incantation” were. The track was intended to be a half-satire on those tracks that cannot decide what genre they want to be. The working title of the song was even “11/16 Clapping Instructional Beats” at one point.

What were your expectations when you released the album and how has the response been so far?

I didn’t have any expectations while writing Roots to be honest, I just wanted to get something done and put it out there. I hope with the second album, however, that things will catch on a bit more. There are times when I look back at the material on Roots and realize that the writing is immature in parts and I could do a lot better.

Jarod Fedele and Derick Penrod are both contributors on your album. What’s it like working with them?

Jarod is the reason why Roots, and any album I put out in the future, exists. He single-handedly introduced me to prog music, and taught me theory and writing conventions. It was his idea, when he heard “To Touch the Stars”, that I should put out an album. He recorded keys, drums and bass, as well as handled mixing and mastering, all while managing his busy schedule as a music student. I can’t thank him enough.

You mentioned Between the Buried and Me earlier as your major influence, how did you get into them?

Initially, it was quite difficult for me to get into them. I was just clicking around stuff on YouTube and tried out ‘Coma Ecliptic’ one day. Even though today I don’t think it’s their best effort, I still think it’s their most accessible. Once I got into ‘Coma…’, Jarod suggested ‘The Great Misdirect’, his favorite, and with that album, I fell in love with the band.

Expanding our perspective to the overall progressive scene today, I believe the most interesting stuff being put out today is either in metal or extreme metal. Do you believe the same? Do you think a revival of progressive rock is foreseeable in the future?

I absolutely agree with you. I think there has been a golden age is progressive music in the last decade, much like in the 70s. But progressive rock has given away for progressive metal. Metal itself is going through a bit of an experimentation phase right now, almost like a renaissance, while most modern progressive rock bands just seem to just call back to the 70s. I do think the line between the two is going to be increasingly blurred. Even today, many prog metal albums have several soft or straight rock bits, and we’ll see more albums that are a mix of both, involving a wide spectrum of sounds. Accessibility is definitely an issue though, it took me also a year to get into the metal side of things.

So we actually e-met on the discord server; how important has this community been for the promotion of your album?

The discord community has been amazing, they’ve been really enthusiastic despite me not having big expectations. I have met a few of them in real life too, they’re just all very supportive.

Plans for the future?

I’m currently halfway through the second album. I hope to finish it before the end of year. I’m also graduating soon, so let’s hope I complete it on schedule with an expected release during 2021. It’ll be a lot more mature and experimental, and I hope to write something that will stick with people for a long time.

What albums are looking forward to this year?

I have not really kept up-to-date with new releases, but I’m excited for the new Cryptodira album. They provide a perfect fix for Between the Buried and Me fans in love with their ‘Colors’ to ‘Parallax’ era.