Bulletproof Messenger’s Scott Martin sat down and answered a few questions about himself and the band. Also you can go over to their website(link at the bottom) and follow the tracker to the countdown of new music to be released
Why did you pick your band name?
Well, we used to be called Gone to Earth, and it never really meant anything…so we were
throwing around ideas for a more meaningful name, and we were toying with the phrase “don’t
shoot the messenger” (in reference to how bands/music carries a message) and it was pretty
much an immediate “YES!” for all of us.
What’s the best and worst thing about playing clubs?
The best – they tend to be really intimate venues, where the separation from your audience isn’t
very far at all. I love that feel to a show, and I think that’s really the way rock and roll was meant
to be played and experienced. It’s a community affair, you know? It’s music for everyone in that
room – we’re all singing it, playing it, believing it, and we’re all right there together, able to see
and interact with each other.
How would you define the word “success”?
You know, it’s funny – over time, my definition of that term has most certainly changed. I used to
think it meant selling a million records, being on endless arena tours, whatever and ever you
picture when you picture the quintessential rock star. But honestly, success is really, truly, the
fact that I get to make a living doing what I love (making music) each and every day. Everything
that I dreamt of doing when I’d picked up the guitar as an angsty 15 year old kid has somehow
happened, and for me, that’s about as successful as you can get.
What are your fondest musical memories? In your house? In your neighborhood or
town?
Well, there’s always going to be this one from when I’d kinda first started playing. I was living in
South Jersey when I started playing, and I had some friends who would always spend the
weekend at their houses “down the shore”, at places on the Jersey Shore like Wildwood, Sea
Isle, Ocean City, etc. So, my first summer of playing guitar, I went with my best friend Scott
(another Scott, yes), and we went down to Ocean City, posted up on a boardwalk bench, and
just started playing every cover song we could think of. People threw money in the case, took
photos with us, and all through the evening just gathered around and listened to us. I remember
us getting ready to pack up and this older gent was like “one more song!” and we were making
our excuses about how it was time for us to be going, but he was insistent and said “What else
in life do we have but to be entertained?!” Never forgot that line or that guy.
Why did you decide to play the genre or genres you do?
It all pretty much comes down to the guitar. I mean, you pick it up, start learning it, and then you
start hearing music in a completely different way. You DO start listening to songs “like a
guitarist”. And so your ear is constantly being surprised by new sounds, chords, structures,
etc…and the ones you like, you learn, and work into your repertoire. It’s almost as if the music
chooses you – you don’t really make a conscious choice. And so, if you keep listening, you keep
learning, you keep expanding. I’ll play anything – because everything at this point has something
musical in it where I hear it and go “yo, I HAVE to learn how to do that”.
Which instruments do you play?
I actually started out playing trumpet in grade school (and still do, from time to time, depending
on the gig or the song I’m recording). Guitar came later, when I was about fifteen. Along the way
I’ve also picked up a bunch of other instruments from my time working as a music teacher –
things like the piano, the bass, the uke, trombone, drums, violin, voice, flute, etc. I’m not GREAT
at all of them, but I can play ‘em.
Describe your first instrument/other instruments.
So, my first guitar ever was my Dad’s old Harmony Sovereign from the sixties. Awesome
acoustic guitar, but at the time, it was in pretty beat up shape. The action was really high off the
board, it was missing a saddle, and definitely was a challenge to play. But, that in of itself had
value – I was tearing my fingers up over and over on that thing, and that kind of pretty much told
me that I really WANTED to do this guitar playing thing. My second guitar was a Rickenbacker
copy that my mother bought me for my 15th birthday. I loved that thing. That’s where guitar
started getting interesting and where I started really getting good. Unfortunately, it was broken a
few years later during a move, and never really played the same after that. But it was most
certainly the guitar that really started it all for me.
Were you influenced by old records and tapes? Which ones?
Oh, absolutely. One of my earliest memories concerning records is this record player I had in
our basement, and I had all of these records and 45s that belonged to my folks that I would put
on. “Help” by the Beatles was one that I remember being pretty partial to. Don McLean’s
“American Pie” was another song that I simply couldn’t get enough of. My parents had a lot of
homemade mixtape cassettes, too – and I was always stealing The Eagles one. So, yeah, old
music for me is really everything – man, I could wax endlessly on this.
Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting
process?
It can come in a few different forms. Sometimes, you’re walking down the street, and a phrase
just pops into your head and hits you the right way, and you go “Yeah, that line is a dope hook,
let’s see if we can make that into something”. Or a melody will come through – you know, like
when you’re just walking down the street whistling or humming to yourself. And you go “ahhh, I
like that one!” Then again – there’s a lot of walking down the street in my life as I live in NYC, so
this may not be how it works with everyone. But also, sometimes, you start with just the music.
I’ll pick up the guitar, start playing around with it, and it’s kind of like waiting for rain on a cloudy
day…eventually something will just come and the skies open up. Some days, not so much. But
every so often, you hit on a lick or a progression and think to yourself “now, THAT’S gonna be a
song.”
What inspires you to do what you do?
I don’t really know how to explain this one well. Like, there just came a point where I felt like the
world of music was so beautiful and interesting that I said to myself “I’m going to do this, I HAVE
to do this” and it’s been my thing ever since. Yeah, since about 14 or so. With playing, it’s just a
great, great feeling, especially if you’re connecting with other people. Humans are tribal beings
when it comes down to it, and we like to connect with each other. We’ve had song and dance as
long as we’ve had the ability to have some form of civilization. So when I’m playing, I’m tapping
into that tens-of-thousands-of-years-old experience that’s in all of our DNA. And as far as
writing…well, when you write a song, and suddenly you’re hearing what was once just an idea in
your imagination playing back to you on the radio…well, that’s about as close to real magic as I
think I’ll ever get.
