COSMIC ROUNDUP: JIMMY MARTIN OF TEETH OF THE SEA, ANGEL WITCH AND SUPERNORMAL FESTIVAL
I've known Jimmy for quite some time. I went to see a band called Todd play at the Wilmington Arms (not there anymore), Todd weren't allowed to play because they had a row with the venue but Teeth of the Sea played and I've been hooked since. Teeth of the Sea have had a great year with a stunning album release, he's also in Angel Witch who have also had an album release this year and if that's not enough, he's also one of the curators at the AMAZING Supernormal Festival. Let's chat to this busy chap.
Hi Jimmy, how are you?
Not too shabby thanks Rich, Still somehow staving off self-inflicted madness and bankruptcy 52 weeks at a time.
You’ve had quite the year with the release of WRAITH? Were you pleased with how it was received?
Definitely, we went all out to make this the most full-on, shamelessly self-indulgent TOTS record we could whilst still making it coherent, and it was pretty gratifying to see that people were up for that. We've had plenty of ups and downs as a band in the last decade and somehow there still seems to be an audience for this mutant racket, from a band who've never really fitted in anywhere, It's bolstered our confidence for sure.
Your album launch was completely sold out. How was it?
The whole night was kindof like an out-of-body experience, in a good way. It was rammed to uncomfortable degrees, nerve-wracking even stepping out of the dressing room, and we had an amazing bill what with Petbrick and Valve giving us more than a run for our money, and then Steve Davis and Kavus Torabi playing avant bangers til the small hours. It was a brilliant collection of heads present, and it took us a fair while to come down from that one. Playing wise, if we've learnt one thing from that gig it's make your album launch the end of your tour not the start of it.
You’re in Angel Witch now, who have just released a new album. Can you quite believe it?
We went up to Leeds in March for three weeks to record Angel Of Light, lived in a strange Monkees-meets-Groundhog-Day style enviorment with the whole band in an AirBnB then heading down the studio to graft away hard every day then relaxing watching classic horror movies and The Thick Of It in the evening - it's been nothing but a blast and an inspiration being involved with the whole thing. To be honest (basic though it sounds) the best aspect about Angel Witch is just getting to play tunes of this kind of calibre, and that goes for both the classics and the new stuff alike. One thing I should say is I'd heartily recommend James Atkinson (who's done time in Gentleman's Pistols and Voorhees amongst others over the years) at the Station House to anyone looking for a studio in Yorkshire or thereabouts -it's a great gaff and he did an amazing job on the record
I was lucky enough to attend Supernormal for the first time this year. How was it from your side?Are you plotting away at Supernormal 2020?
I feel like it's not for me to say what Supernormal is all about somehow, I'd rather leave it to the people who come and who play it. I mean I could waffle on all day about the idealistic principles creativity and spirit of this thing, but there was one moment in particular, when we burning the 10 foot tall cosmic spider that had been made by Zoe Walker and Neil Bromwich for the fest on an enormous bonfire (should be displayed above) to the strains of 'Come To The Sabbat' by Black Widow that somehow summed it up. To use a well-worn cliche, we would have had a hard time explaining to any aliens who'd landed at that point exactly what was going on. 2020 is indeed in the works, here's hoping there'll be even more difficult-to-explain situations involved there.
Best gig you attended?
I've actually been to less gigs than usual this year unfortunately just owing to being busy with everything else, but Deaf Kids at the Lexington and Björk at the O2 were both pretty special for different reasons. The latter especially took me by surprise really; I'm no big fan of arena shows in general but everything about it from the staging to the visuals to the arrangements to the emotional impact of the whole thing were absolutely off the chain
.Best festival you attended?
Done some good ones with Angel Witch; we played Metal Magic in Denmark and that was pretty cool, a bit more raw, underground and spit-and-sawdust compared to yer average metalfest and done with a lot of love. Watching Impetuous Ritual and Tormentor play at that was a right laugh. Plus at Rock The Coast in Spain we played in a medieval castle at midnight under a full moon, which was a pretty heavy metal moment by and large.
What are your favourite releases from 2019?
I've really enjoyed GAME-No One Wins (amazing '80s-metal tinged punk iconoclasm) DEAF KIDS-Metaprogrammacao (consistently the most exciting band of the last couple of years) VANISHING TWIN-Age Of Immunology, the Chernobyl soundtrack by Hildur Guðnadóttir, The Baneful Choir by TEITANBLOOD, För Meditation by CENTRUM and Mezzi Umani Mezzi Machine by KINLAW & FRANCO FRANCO, Have to give props to Noel Gardner's columns for The Quietus here, which I've discovered a whole mess of great stuff from in 2019
What the hell are you up to next year?
2020's already looking pretty mental, a lot of killer stuff I can't really mention yet but already looking forward to doing the Chaos Theory Ten Years Of Chaos bash with Teeth of The Sea plus working on new material, and Angel Witch are already booked to do Rock The Castle near Verona with Judas Priest and Saxon, plus of course Supernormal 2020 as mentioned. Growing ancient disgracefully, generally I hope.