Interviews

Mike Marlin Interview

• 4th Feb 2011

“My biggest disadvantage is that I don't have a catalogue of hits from back in the day. But that's also an advantage. I would love to have a musical past but I would hate to live in it.”

With 25 Years Experience in the industry it’s INCREDIBLE to see the release of Mike Marlin’s Debut album “Nearly Man” set. I caught up with the Man himself to find out about his past, Debut album, future plans and a sneaky insight on his Film Sync Deal.

Hey Mike, How’s Everything Going?
Busy, That would be the main thing I would say. It’s going well, there’s a lot coming up, I have got the stranglers tour in March all over the UK, but before that I have the “HMV Next Big Thing” gig which will be at the Jazz Cafe on the 9th February which is exciting, it will be the 1st time that I would be going out with a brass section so we need to rehearse that up, I have got brass on the album 2 which is exciting. That’s going to be a big gig because Boy George is guesting with Josh Weller. So I suspect the jazz cafe is going to be ram which is great, and then it’s the album launch the following week which will lead into the Stranglers tour which will literally be the whole of March. After that I will try to step out of the heat for a while and try catch up on some sleep. Haha.

So, New Year, New Album, Can You Tell Us A Little More About It?
Well the album’s called “Nearly Man” it comes out on the 14th February, it’s the album that I have thought about making for years but have never actually made, but I finally got myself to a place where I could get it made, I actually finished recording the album at the end of 2009 which is quite a while back but at that stage I had no thoughts of going out to play it live I just wanted to make the record.

What’s The Meaning behind the Title “Nearly Man”?
What the title means to me is that musically I had nearly got myself together to the point where I could have become a musician and focus on that in life but I never quite got there because I was always distracted by other things, it’s 1 of those coulda, woulda, shoulda situations. But definitely happy & confident about this album, I worked hard on it and can’t wait to put it out.

What Can Your Fan's Expect From This Album? Any Big Name Features/ Exclusives?
Well my roots are I am ridiculously old so my music roots go way back, so the songs have a classic rock feel to them, I also got brass on half the album so there’s quite a rich traditional sound all but 1 of the songs were written a year before recording the record, so the songs are new but the sound is old and I think that makes if Fresh & Unique.

Are You Excited About the “HMV Next Big Thing” Gig? That's a major achievement for any Band or Artist, have you got your set ready? Yeah I Mean it is a Big thing, literally it’s the Next Big Thing, it’s funny because when I was told I made it onto the list I thought they were kidding, I really did think I was being wound up so it is great, in terms of being ready, the reason I didn’t put the album out last year is because I realized that I had a record that I wanted to play live, I didn’t know before I made it that I wanted to do that and so I put my band together and we went out on the road and played, we played quite a lot and so I am reasonably confident we got a great live sound & a record ready to play at the gig. But before I get on stage I never feel confident it’s a faze us artist’s go through Haha.

What Are Your Goals For 2011?
I Don’t Have Unrealistic goals what I always say is that I have low expectations and very high standards, most of my goals this year would be to get my 2nd record written & recorded that would be incredible if I can find the time and the space, that’s a huge thing for me because I want to keep doing this, most of my goals are not to sell a lot of records, I want to get in a van and drive across Europe and play just find the people that like what I do, I don’t think what I do is for everybody but some people really love it and I just want to go find them.

So I Hear You Will Be Touring The UK In March, What Cities Will You Be Hitting?
We Will Be In a lot of different cities, 1 of the best cities to perform in is Glasgow I always receive a lot of love and great feedback there but we definitely will be trying to hit every city in the UK We are ready to tour and just want to get out, have fun and play. I Mean 1 thing I noticed is you see the cities different when your touring so I am excited to be back on the road with my new project.

Personally I Think your website is Incredible, do you feel like the internet has played a big part in your career?
Definitely, I think if you want to be a musician now you need to know that part of your job is to get online and make sure that your presence is well respected, you can’t just say I am a musician my job is to make records because you got to keep up to date with your fans and that’s what I do, you can find me on all the social networking sites.

www.mikemarlin.co.uk
www.facebook.com/MikeMarlinMusic
www.twitter.com/marlinnews
www.youtube.com/MikeMarlinTube

Can you give us any exclusive news about the Film Sync deal you bagged this year?
All Will Be Announced at the Album Launch Party So Can't Give Away Too Much Information right now, but it's definitely an incredible feeling to hear my music in a film.

Great Speaking with you Mike, Hope the album is successful and that you have an Incredible Launch Party, Any Last Words/Shout Outs?
Thank You & Yeah Make Sure You Come To the Album Launch Party on the 16th February. Also Big Shout out To the Jazz Cafe and everybody at HMV.