For the two hundredth edition of the Mantissa Mix series we invited along someone who we have an immense amount of respect and admiration for; Martha.
Martha is an incredible DJ among her seemingly endless amount of other passions and endeavor’s, shortly after recording her mix for us we had a chat to talk through a career few could match at the age of 27.
G: Thanks for recording your mix for us, it was awesome. Very calming and soothing I found.
M: Thanks, I wanted to try approaching a mix a little differently. When I’m asked to record a mix I always find myself mixing really quickly so I tried to tell myself to just not do that for once. I got quite excited halfway through as you can probably tell, I was trying to build something which I could come back to and have to accompany myself letting my thoughts grow and be.
G: Do you want to introduce yourself and maybe explain what it is you do as your profession?
M: I’m Martha, I’m from Peckham and now live in West Norwood. My first love is radio. I play every Friday on NTS at 3pm. My show is just an expression of how I’ve been feeling that week with a focus on new music. I also make radio and podcasts, the stories I try to tell across those are mainly about music and sport and where those two things meet.
Last year I did a season at Sky for my podcast Sidelines with Big Zuu. We talked about communities around sport and interviewed lots of professional athletes but also amazing people making changes at grass roots level.
I have freelanced for RA for a few years, at the moment I am doing a lot more with them. I run a podcast every week for them called the ‘Exchange’. I am in the process of shaking up the format but it is essentially an in-depth conversation with one artist or figure in electronic music culture. I also make some more documentary style features, recently one about the musician, Pauline Anna Strom. She had a new record out this year and I had planned to interview her for the podcast but she passed away. I decided to make a tribute for her in an audio format , interviewing people who worked with her at RVNG International, and other artists who were inspired by her music. It became this portrait in audio , a tribute, which was amazing to work on.
I also curate the mix series for RA now. I do a lot of other things behind the scenes. I do some radio mentoring, it is something I have done for a while now but in the last year have joined a few more formal mentoring programmes and am loving meeting young people who are bursting with ideas and talent, it is so exciting helping them take their first steps into the world of radio.
Something I’m not doing much of right now is Tempo which I started in 2018. It is a run club for DJs and creatives. Normally there are nearly 40 of us on the streets of Peckham on a Tuesday night. I’m patiently waiting for us to be able to do that again.
G: What an answer. A lot to talk about. Firstly wanted to ask you about the RA Exchange, that is where I first discovered you. How did you get involved with that and I wondered if you wanted to maybe mention your pen pal idea and maybe explain if those two concepts link at all?
M: Pen Pals was really fun and something I have tried to continue doing on my NTS show. Pen Pals is basically when I connect with someone across the world and ask them some questions and get them to send me four songs. It helps me build a small portrait of their local music scene. I have always been interested in radio production,. I worked at Radio 1 for five years
G: What was before all this freelance work and NTS?
M: I think I am shy, shy is maybe not the word people would use, quiet? It is funny that I do radio and presenting when I was 16 my friend Freya and I loved music, some people at our school had a show on Reprezent Radio. We went there out of curiosity and they explained it was a radio station ,shadowed for a while before doing a course on radio and went on to have our own show called Forecast. I have done radio every week of my life since I was 16.
When I left school I did a foundation course in Art. I was working Mondays at BBC London. It was the year of the Olympics so they were looking for reporters. I worked at Reprezent for a year before doing an apprenticeship at the BBC which is actually open now.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/careers/trainee-schemes-and-apprenticeships/production/production-trainee
It was called the Production Training Scheme and it was placement heavy. I was put at Radio 6Music straight away which was really cool.
My next placement was 1xtra Stories. It was a slot on 1xtra on a Sunday. I worked there for a few months, made a programme with Jamz Supernova who is a great friend of many years. I really wanted to just show her off, celebrate her and the music she is passionate about. she is incredible. We made this programme about the Story of Future RnB. It was cool to be a part of that step in her amazing story. I was at Radio 1 and began working for a production company called Grape. I helped produce Annie Nightingale’s show for a few years. She was a huge inspiration, the first woman on Radio 1. I absolutely loved working with Annie . I learned so much about programming and about pursuing what you want, as well as telling stories and connecting to an audience.
With RA I produced a Radio 1 guest show they did so I met them there. They were looking for someone to make a podcast for them, and so I helped them out with ‘The Hour’ one day a week. Initially the show was once a month but now I look after the whole thing (as of this year).
G: How is the process of organsing that podcast? Running a mix series ourselves it can be a challenge sometimes convincing artists we enjoy to speak to us or record a mix for us, I assume having RA’s name makes it a lot easier to host mixes by established artists?
M: I’m most interested in showcasing upcoming artists. I think they often record the most exciting mixes. I only recently started curating RA’s weekly mix series but I think you will slowly start to see my taste come through with the artists we have on. In terms of the organisation side of it I just work well in advance.
With the Exchange, I am looking for stories which are yet to be told. People who have had incredible lives, and artists in the middle of their journey. I hope it is looked back on as a useful resource, as well as a documentation of a special moment in time in an artist’s career. With my documentaries, the subjects end up being whatever I am drawn to. I’m thinking my next one will be about sleep and electronic music. I have been thinking a lot about the relationship between those two, especially in lockdown.
The Exchange is an incredible resource, a seemingly endless supply of fascinating conversations with some of electronic music’s most renowned and interesting figures.
G: How old are you?
M: I’m 27.
G: It seems like everywhere you have been throughout your career you have done really well. How have you found the challenges of being a woman in that industry?
M: In radio I have had a bit of a warped view. When I first joined Reprezent it was essentially a youth club first. It had a 50/50 gender split. My first introduction at a radio station was surrounded by women so I didn’t know any different. The DJ’s who I’ve worked closely with have also all been women, Jamz, Lauren Laverne, Nemone who runs the late night electronic Radio 6 show and Annie Nightingale.
I think with my DJing it has been a bit different, certainly when I was younger it was a space I felt I had to be quite brave. Now, It doesn’t seem to be so much like that, even at Tempo, part of what we do is anyone who comes to us as a runner or creative in a different field gets the opportunity to learn how to DJ. We teach loads of girls to DJ and they are all doing incredibly well now which is so nice to see. There are exciting times ahead, the challenging issues are things like are they getting paid the same, things aren’t as openly disclosed as they could be. This new generation though, feels really bold and confident.
G: Wanted to ask you about DJing. I haven’t had the chance to hear you play in a club, how does it compare to what you play on your radio show? Do you have many DJ highlights of your career so far?
M: It has been a while, I was able to go to TOLA last summer and we were able to film something in there. That was the last time I was in a club actually. I feel disconnected from it all, am very curious to see what things are like when I return to that setting. I genuinely don’t know what I will play in a club. Playing radio from my home, it has felt like a very intimate thing, I am choosing songs I have been listening to that week at home and playing them from my home. People are visiting my space, whereas when I return to a club it will be more of a neutral space for the ravers and me. I am really curious to see what comes out, I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself and plan it loads.
The last big show I played before the pandemic was with Jamz in Colombia, we came back from that and then entered lockdown, which was pretty mad. That was incredible, we were there for her radio show: Selector Radio, part of the British Council. They got us to showcase some British music in Medellín. It was quite a crazy one to be the last one.
I have loads of highlights, Warehouse Project is always a really special gig for me. I’ve been going there since I was 18. Getting to play there more than once is incredible.
Another highlight was playing a Hyperdub party at Corsica Studios on a weekday night. The room 2 soundsystem at Corsica is my happy place. I played there before Fatima Al Qadiri which was amazing. We had just come from J Hus’ first ever show.
G: What a day.
M: Yeah ahaha. I’ve played back to back with Air Max 97 a few times. First time playing in Fabric was with him and we played together at Cakeshop in Seoul and Club Comfort in Dublin. It is always really special playing together.
G: Where does the bass focused music you might play come from? Who are some artists, producers and DJs who have inspired you a lot? Who are also some upcomers we should look out for?
M: I don’t really know. The internet really. I don’t have an older sibling playing me stuff. I am a consumer of information… I love stories and finding out about artists and what they are trying to do, it is why I love interviewing people. I have always had a big radio family around me and they are still people who I really admire today. When we were 16-18 the people around at Reprezent were Kenny Allstar, Jamz Supernova, Snoochie Shy, Kamilia who is on Capital FM formerly fromFoundation FM, an Afrobeats DJ called Neptizzle, Afro B, CassKid, so many. Reece Parkinson, Jeremiah Asiamah. I don’t want to forget anyone. We all had this mentor called Gavin who was a DJ on 1xtra for years and has started teaching. He has been so supportive and helpful to all of us in a really remarkable way. That is probably why my music taste is varied, it will be the influence of London I guess as well.
All those DJs have inspired me with their work ethic and career paths as well as everything they have achieved. Someone like Kode9 obviously, a huge inspiration. The first time I played on the same lineup as him was at the ICA and it was an art installation showcasing The Nøtel. Lawrence Lek and Kode9’s visual installation. Both Annie Mac and Annie Nightingale definitely. Mary Anne Hobbs. Too many people to mention.
In terms of new people! I would like to mention some people who I think are really cool. The Tempo DJ’s first of all, Samia is doing amazing, Waaw twins. We played together at TOLA for LWE’s virtual festival. Basically everyone from Tempo, they are all amazing. Vanessa Maria, she is an amazing DJ for club stuff but also a great and intuitive interviewer. Freshta is a 140bpm DJ and is also a software engineer ,I think she is teaching girls to code at the moment which is really cool.
G: Let’s chat about Tempo, how did that start and why did you start it?
M: Tempo started as I wanted to be with my clubbing friends but not in that environment. I love being around people who are into music, I wanted to try an activity outside of that sometimes-hedonistic club environment. Something healthy!.
We started Tempo in 2018 and have had an incredible time. We ran 220km across the Netherlands in a relay race, that was a really defining moment for me. We have done campaigns with Tommy Hillfiger and Nike. Some of the girls went to a high altitude training camp in St Moritz Switzerland and ran in high altitude conditions which looked amazing. We have taught lots of our runners to DJ and we play every month on Foundation FM. We programmed the music at the Hackney Festival of Fitness, and had all our DJs sountracking the half marathon. We had our own room at RA’s 24hour party at FOLD.
It is the best. I love it and have missed it terribly. Essentially every Tuesday at Peckham Levels we run 5km around the local area, with the girls run at the front – that is something I just made up and is really empowering. Not much else I can say about it other than it’s the best thing ever and anyone who’s in London should come and give it a try. It is not at all about running fast or being a really good runner, Tempo is about giving running a go, and being part of the creative community that comes with it.
G: Just to finish, NTS to myself and many is kind of the epitome of all radio stations, I wondered how you began your show there and how does it feel to host a weekly show on such a platform? One final question, you seem to have achieved so much do you have any future plans or goals or aspirations?
M: NTS is the best of the best, every week I enjoy it so much. I love my community of listeners and the chance to interact with them every week is so special. It is very important to be particularly during the pandemic. Everytime you turn on NTS, something different is being played and it’s hard to put into words what brings the whole thing together. It is so well curated and the team are so supportive which is something I really appreciate.
I joined three years ago, I had spoken to Femi (the founder) quite a few times before that and really appreciate how much he’s believed in me over the years.. I started out on Thursday nights, as soon as I had that slot I felt like I wanted to do something different and thought I wanted to try broadcasting in the middle of the day. Thursday nights had been for party stuff and I wanted to be able to speak to people when they were present, or keep them company when they are working – just be in their lives in a different way. Ended up doing afternoons, one hour and I love it. Sometimes people in the chat room say ‘oh I wish you did two hours’ but actually I love my hour of energy. I fit a lot into that hour and really love it.
I’ve lived through some really significant moments of my life whilst maintaining my connection to radio. My grandma died of corona this year and I only found out two hours before my show. I thought am I going to do the show today, not sure I am up for it. Then I thought i’d give it a go. As the live broadcast went on, it was all over the place and near the end I just decided to explain the situation and everyone was so sweet. It was the most special radio moment I’ve ever had. My Grandma used to say ‘Alexa play NTS’ so she could hear the show -she didn’t always like the music but she liked hearing me talk. I explained that on my show and played a Frank Sinatra song she would have liked. Whilst the song was playing, there were hundreds of messages in the chat room from so many people explaining they had been through something similar over the past year, it was such a special and powerful moment for me.
In terms of future stuff I am not too sure. A lot has changed for me in the past year, this time last year was really tough. I had to really evaluate how I feel about myself outside the context of work related achievements. I have done a lot of that work now and I feel so… solid.Good. Anything from here is a bonus. My ambitions now lie with sharing what I’ve learnt so far, making sure all these super talented young people around me , who I believe in, have access to a platform, putting people in positions of creativity.
Martha was someone I was excited to speak to and her story is one with such depth and detail. At the age of 27 she has inspired so many and been such a positive force in London’s musical landscape, catch her every Friday, 3pm on NTS radio.
Help support Martha directly by subscribing to her Currens FM page and follow Martha’s social to keep up to date here:
https://open.currents.fm/current/u4C9ePZ3TDGOxWKPofX7
Martha (@martha_radio) • Instagram photos and videos
https://www.instagram.com/tempo.ldn/
Interview by: Angus Whitfield