Meet Wave, AKA Joshua Martin – Creative Artist alumnus.
After making the move back to his native Cyprus, we caught up with Wave to listen to his latest release and find out what he’s been up to since graduating from ACM…
What made you want to work in the music industry?
“My dad is an old rocker and ever since I can remember, there’s been great music playing at our house. When I was 10 I found his iPod, ran off with it and taught myself to play the drums to all his ELO and Beatles records. I just developed a passion for the beautiful scene of music and it stuck; ten years later and here I am.”
What have you been up to since leaving ACM
“After leaving ACM, I moved to Cyprus, in the hope of rediscovering my inspiration. What I found was not just inspiration but a whole new direction. I made the transition from surf rocker to synthpop producer, and I’ve started releasing music under the moniker Wave. I released the first single ‘I like to stay hydrated’ a couple of weeks ago, and a few more have followed it since.”
What are the main influences behind ‘I Like To Stay Hydrated?
“I wrote the track with a very good friend and old bandmate of mine, Sim Walsh. One night I walked into the living room and he was playing a chord progression on his guitar. We’ve always had a very good writer’s flow, I feel comfortable with him, so I just started singing and improvising, and then about ten minutes later we had the song skeleton. If you’re looking for the inspiration for the track, then I’d have to say, it’s Love. It makes poets of us all. However, Mac Demarco’s new album ‘This old dog’ has inspiring use of old drum machines which I love and use. See HOMESHAKE also, for weird production and off-kilter lyrics.”
How did your course at ACM help prepare you for life in the music industry?
“I think I came to ACM with the romanticised notion that we’d all be wearing flowers in our hair and record label executives would give us great, non-exploitative deals because they loved our music. I did the songwriting and artist development course, which had a fair amount of business studies in it, and I learnt of the various pitfalls, how not to be taken advantage of, how to market yourself, and how to have longevity as an artist. All very valuable lessons that I couldn’t really have learnt on my own.”
What’s next for Wave?
“So I’ve released three singles; next is the EP! ‘The flower bed of a lover in season’ is my first full length release under Wave, and is probably my proudest moment as a musician so far. Everything you hear has been made on garage band on my iPhone (see Steve Lacy, Kendrick Lamar producer). When you strip away conventional practices, and there’s nothing left to hide behind, you find the heart and soul of the music, and I hope that’s what I’ve managed to do.”
“I’m going to start performing live too, and hopefully get a scene going out here in my native Cyprus. Nothings for certain, but everything’s exciting, and I can’t wait to see where this takes me.”
If you’d like to study at ACM and follow in the footsteps of our Alumni like Wave, please call our Admissions Team on 01483 500 841 or visit www.acm.ac.uk/open-days to book a place on an ACM Open Day today.
