On the radar: BEA
Bea is wearing vintage Moschino Tiger Print Dress and Vivienne Westwood Draped Blazer Jacket by Archive Six
Bea Martin is a rising star musician who’s recent EP has been featured on Radio One and Spotify. She’s currently studying at Goldsmiths in London as a PPE student while simultaneously pushing her music career career forward, practicing for her imminent live shows while also facing her 3rd year dissertation.
Hi Bea! I wanted to start off by asking about your writing process. How did you find making the EP?
It was just my way of escaping. It wasn't supposed to be anything really, and was just my way of getting out of the house for something other than going on a walk. I moved my piano into a barn just around the corner from my house and banged on it all day waiting for something to come out.
It seems that in your work, especially with this EP, there’s a link between the work and the place it was written or recorded. like Blue Escape you said was about the freedom that came from moving back to Sussex from London, and this EP was recorded on a piano in a barn. Does the place that you write music affect the process at all? Or is it just a coincidence?
No, definitely. I think blue escape was a kind of an ode to nature in general during the time of lockdown and no festivals. But the writing in the barn definitely had an affect on it. I’d go there in the morning when the birds are waking up, and I’d sometimes be there until it was dark. So I was very intertwined with my surroundings.
“I was really craving that kind of physical contact with people. With crowds. I missed sweaty bodies. ”
Were festivals a big part of your life pre-lockdown?
I think once I started writing I realised how big of a part they were. I went from a very young age. Saw a lot, heard a lot. And it had a massive effect on me. I just loved being surrounded by so many creatives and having the chance to just hop from stage to stage just listening to my favourite people ever. It was just so surreal and dreamy to me that this was a place that existed.
Yeah you’ve said that some of your inspirations have been Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Donnie Hathaway, and I wanted to ask about Amy Winehouse as an inspiration of yours. You’ve mentioned at one point, a story about you listening to Valerie on your sister’s phone and I was wondering if you could tell me about that.
She was just my first love. My sister had an old LG touch or something. And she had one song on it, which was Valerie by Amy Winehouse. I used to steal her phone and lock myself in the bathroom. I seem to remember sitting on top of the toilet and watching myself in the mirror as a 7 year old and singing it. I just sang it over and over and over. I had a guitar teacher who would come around to my house and my mum would say “she's been singing!”. So I sang it to them, but I hid behind the sofa.
BEA is wearing vintage Gianni Versace Vintage Waffle 1990’s by Archive Six
That must be a very formative experience of performing. You mentioned at one point you were thinking about live shows and going from that shyness to live shows, what's your relationship with that? As a jump or as a method of performance?
I am very excited. I was in my school productions. And I would always sing where there was an opportunity to, so I've had my fair share of the scary stage. But yeah, I'm very excited. We're planning to hopefully do the show late February. So we've got to get rehearsing.
On that note, you've also released two music videos recently as well. It was one for Blue Escape and one for Let Me Down. Obviously you're quite a new artist in terms of presenting yourself to the world, and I was wondering how you felt those music videos reflected the image of yourself you want to be presented through your work?
The Blue Escape one was just overwhelming. I shot it with my sister who produced it with her boyfriend Jasper, who's a director. So it was just very close knit. It was just that song in particular was about a release and so I ran through a field all day, and just rolled in mud. It was perfect. That's like where I'm happiest. And then Let Me Down I did with a very small team as well, with Dom’s drummer. He knows music videos and we just went on a little walk around South London, which is where I'm studying now. And yeah, it was more performative, and I had a movement coach. She taught me how to express myself through movement and I hope that came through.
"That song in particular was about a release so I ran through a field all day, and just rolled in mud. It was perfect."
I wanted it to be quite conceptual, and more of a performance rather than having a plot. Let me down is about the end of a relationship but learning a lot from it. So in the beginning the movements are quite slow. And then when the beat kind of picks up, it's like a coming of age.
What would you say you did learn through the relationship if you don’t mind me asking.
Just knowing your worth afterwards and becoming stronger from it. Because when you come out of a hard break up it’s just… shit. But then learning that you're alright with yourself is the most important thing, because then you're not scared to kind of give your all in relationships. You're like, I'm actually sweet by myself. But I think I've learned that from a couple of breakups.
Bea is wearing Dolce & Gabbana Lace Up Corset Top by Archive Six
You also mentioned you're writing new music. With this album, you've been featured on Radio One, Spotify playlists as well. It was on “night pop”, and I think the other one was “fresh finds”. Does that give a certain expectation or pressure to anything following now that you’ve had a success?
I think at this point, just keeping the music is as weird as we can really until we have to go in a certain direction. We're really enjoying just writing and it's flowing really well between us. So it's just whatever comes out. So no, there's not really a pressure. We try not to put one on. Like when we're writing if it's not flowing that day, me and Dom will just go for a walk or be like “Right, let's kick it tomorrow. This isn't working.” So it’s nice to work with someone who’s so like minded.
How long have you been writing with Dom for?
I think it’s coming up to two years… and it's been COVID years as well so a REALLY long time. But yeah, we met through a family friend who was renting a room off him. very random. He showed him my music and Dom was like “get her in”. And then ever since I've just been bugging him and his wife every week.
Bea is wearing vintage Moschino Tiger Print Dress and Vivienne Westwood Draped Blazer Jacket by Archive Six
“I don’t really like being taught music.”
When I was younger, I think at my school, I was lucky to have teachers who were also musicians, so they didn't really teach the classical way. And they didn’t let me read music which I kind of wished they had. I now just kind of bang on the piano. But yeah, I've tried trumpet lessons, and just ended up getting told off like every lesson and never did my practice. But I still play and a sound comes out. But, being taught is just never really for me cause I don't want to bore myself with what I love. I also think it kind of stunts your creativity when you're being told what to do and what you want to do.
What made you come back to the trumpet and find it for yourself?
Because I just loved the instrument so much, and I loved watching it. Like Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie. I always had a vision of me on stage playing trumpet, and singing. So, yeah, I don't think it's something I'll ever stop whether I'm shit at it or not. I think it's just a thing I love. But I do want to get better.
I can’t wait to see more of it, thank you so much Bea!
Bea is wearing vintage Moschino Tiger Print Dress and Vivienne Westwood Draped Blazer Jacket by Archive Six
You can listen to “Dual Natures” here, watch Bea’s music videos, or follow her on Instagram to find out what she does next.
READ NEXT
