Douglas Martin: acoustic guitar, electric guitar, tambourine, viola, cardboard box, harmonica, toy piano, quiro, melodica, shakers, pots & pans, vocals, harmonies, and production.
(and whoever Douglas can round up at any given moment.)
Influences
[miscellaneous influences:]
stray words and phrases.
rainy days.
andy warhol.
scrabble.
career criminals and civil disobedience.
desolate city streets.
[musical influences:]
the neptunes.
tv on the radio.
nirvana unplugged.
the microphones.
andre 3000.
the velvet underground.
sonic youth.
jesus and mary chain.
[lyrical influences:]
charles bukowski.
donald goines.
oscar wilde.
shawn carter.
chuck palahniuk.
ralph waldo ellison.
chuck klosterman.
christopher wallace.
Sounds Like
corroded, art-damaged folk-pop.
"douglas martin takes two genres of music that couldn't be farther away from each other-- folk-pop and ambient noise-punk-- puts them in a blender, creating a sound that sidesteps the 'singer/songwriter' tag without completely abandoning it, making fresh cherries from yakima somewhat of an anomaly in his chosen genre."
"douglas martin is a promising singer/songwriter with a sense of dark humor and knack for detail that recalls charles bukowski (one of his many influences) more than any musician that's influenced him."
"just when you thought the singer/songwriter genre was a dead horse, every few years, another moody introvert comes along and kicks it back to life. enter douglas martin: stage left."
"on the surface, buttons for north caroline, fresh cherries from yakima's debut, is a collection of songs about girls. later on, it becomes evident that these songs about girls-- overly confident visual artists, alt-porn models, serial killers, almost-drunk drivers, and amnesia victims-- are written with more verve, wit, charm and emotion than one kid in his early twenties should be allowed to possess."
"fresh cherries from yakima, the bandonym of seattle-based singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer douglas martin, gleefully perverts most preconceived notions of the 'singer/songwriter,' with narrative fiction laced with dark humor (and occasional, if unexpected, moments of tenderness) and copious use of electronica, found sound, and effects pedals (and, presumably, hallucinogenic drugs)."
"with airy ambiance and gurgling electronics providing a foil for the heartfelt, quasi-literary lyrics and singer/songwriterly disposition that accompany them, fresh cherries from yakima is deftly straddling the line between emo and eno."
"buttons for north caroline is the antithesis of easy listening. it's concerned with exploring the weird fringes of sound. there's a good chance you might not like it. hell, i'm not even sure how much i like it."
sometime during the summer of 2004, a scruffy bookworm drove home from his part-time job, passing by a man selling fruit from the back of a van. he noticed there was a sign that read "fresh cherries from yakima," swaying in the summer breeze. two weeks went by, and finally, after much deliberation, the bookworm decided to buy some cherries.
as the scruffy bookworm pulled up to the back of the van, a nearly-translucent young man in a sailor suit turned around. in exchange for buying some produce, the sailor implored the bookworm to have a seat and listen to a story or two. the scruffy bookworm was so enthralled with the sailor's storytelling, the two would sit in the back of the van with the doors open every day for the duration of that particular summer. the ghost would tell his tales, and his scruffy friend would transcribe the stories and later turn them into folk songs.
soon, the scruffy bookworm had enough songs written to start a band. he asked his sailor friend, who initially declined. after two straight weeks of fending off an invitation into the band, which actually bordered on annoyance, the sailor accepted his friend's offer, but there was a condition. more accurately: a challenge. in order for the sailor to join the band, which was to be named fresh cherries from yakima, the bookworm would have to play him for the name and his services in an old african board game called mancala.
the competition was vigorous, but the winner, by one single bead, was the bookworm. thus, fresh cherries from yakima was born.
if you'd like, you can stream the entirety of buttons for north caroline and the bourbon and bedsheets EPhere and here, respectively. i also keep a hilariously long-winded music blog; you can find that here. go here or here if you'd like to purchase the album as an mp3 download. for any questions about booking, press, etc., inquire within for my e-mail address.
Fresh Cherries from Yakima's Friend Space (Top 16)
I'm glad you liked the post, my man. I've befriended alot of interesting musicians and most don't do interviews or blog much, so I figured "what the hey?"
I'll get you on one, brother. All in due time.
I'm home from work today so I'm gonna knock out "Stay Clean." Got a great premise. And Nico laid his verse last night for "Dead Queens"
i enjoy the challenge of unwrapping my mind to let in what may be difficult for others to open up to :) (that may or may not sound smarter that i actually am or am not :p)
Also, I haven't heard the Scarlett/David Bowie track as whatever site is hosting it is pure racialist, like, but I have heard the title track from the album and it's DIRE.
:] well, I only deleted you because I was purging my list of any non-personal contacts... but because I still love your music and your bulletins/blogs are always interesting, I made an exception..
read aloud that makes it sound as if I'm implying it's some kind of honor to be on my friends list, ahahah..
it's not bad. i like it. even if your voice does crack. it's good practice with the rest of the world that can't be there to cheer you on when you're killing it onstage!
Well the living room's warmer, but we'd fit more people in the kitchen - it's seriously massive.
You look such a natural with that gee-tar. Which sounds like the lamest comment ever, but since it's the first time I've seen you "play", as it were, forgive me?
Atlas Sound?! Really? That record made no impression on me whatsoever. Shit, even We Are Scientists made a better impression that AS (and the WAS record only has like 1 good song on it)... :s
White Denim record blew me away - totally blew me away... Jaguar Love is also another fantastic record. Born Ruffians cover isn't great - the album is too fucking good though man. Warp are never down & out.
No no - I actually should be much more descriptive with my love for the album... Tomorrow I will totally lay it out... You emailed me the Wolf Parade cover before dude - it's on the pod... :)
Hi there!. I visited your music blog and I like it very much.For me is also very interesting to read music blogs made for musicians. In fact, my bandmate Cheky has one (http://chekyster. blogspot. com), it's in spanish, but you can translate it with google or something like that.
I want to hear your music, but i don't have flash in this computer. Do you have another website where I can listen to it?.Thanks.
