Joseph Martone - An Italian-American crooner

Italian-American singer-songwriter Joseph Martone is a crooner through and through. The kind of guy you might run into in a dusty Texas saloon, sipping whiskey at the bar before grabbing his demons and hauling them up on stage. After years spent travelling the world with Travelling Souls, Martone launched his solo career last year, debuting with “Honey Birds”. It's a record steeped in sweltering heat, mixing blues chords with a narrative that's gentle and fiery at once, only seemingly laid-back. Martone tells of his own wanderings in a raspy voice, lost like a drifter caught between torment and hope. The album was also recently named best 2020 record in the “indie, blues, americana” category by Rolling Stone France – a well-deserved crowning for a musician who feels out of time. We caught up with him to hear his story and his singular artistic path between the States and the Italian provinces.

You've travelled the world and played everywhere. Is there one club or stage that left a deeper mark on you than any other?

So far I've been lucky enough to play in many venues and different countries, always receiving a warm welcome and an attentive audience; but I remain viscerally attached to “Mr Rolly's” in Vitulazio, my hometown, where everything feels more natural, shared and intimate at the same time.

Here we are: from the States to Vitulazio. What does Vitulazio have that other cities don't?

I moved back to Vitulazio with my family in the '90s from the US, where I lived in a small town in New York state, and from where I could only get a distant sense of all the Italian traditions. I came back to a reality that was definitely more visceral, made up of a different everyday life. For instance, over the years, the grape harvest with my grandfather became part of who I am. Out of this experience our little movement was born, the development of a certain mentality, maybe an Anglo-Saxon one, that allowed us to go beyond the boundaries of our town.

Taylor Kirk of Timber Timbre on guitar, Richard Reed Parry of Arcade Fire, sound direction by Pietro Amato, the pure voice of Ilaria Graziano, Francesco Forni, Jonathan Maurano of EPO, English songwriters Pat Dam Smyth and Sam Beer, Ned Crowther on bass: “Honey Birds” is an album rich in illustrious guests. How did these collaborations come about and what did they leave you with?

“Mr Rolly's” was really the engine behind these collaborations, where we hosted so many artists and musicians, both Italian and international. That's how I got in touch with all of them. What I carry with me is the human connection and a professionalism I wanted to explore, the humility of so many talented people in their approach to music, something I sometimes struggle to find elsewhere.

“Same Old Same Old”: could you tell us how this song came about and what lies deep within its lyrics?

I've been working with Ned Crowther for 10 years, and this track is a product of our chemistry. The lyrics talk about loneliness and depression as an old character, almost a friend, who comes to visit you every so often. In our long conversations we often ran into subjects like happiness and wellbeing. Everyone today seems to be chasing wellbeing through friends, family or work, which seems to be everyone's reference point and end goal; but happiness isn't a permanent emotional state. The feeling of happiness exists only in relation to the perception of sadness. Happiness isn't about running away from sadness, but welcoming it when it arrives and trying to understand it.

The Travelling Souls: a very long and intense experience. So, if you had to describe the pros and cons of being in a band versus what a solo career demands of you, what would you bring up?

The Travelling Souls was a meeting of friends from far away, an almost family-like dynamic, out of which came recordings and shows, and we often worked on ideas I'd come up with on my own, with all the limitations that situation imposed. Now I'm trying to put together something more stable, with a more defined sound.

Listening to your songs, one is often reminded of “cursed” singer-songwriters like Lanegan or Cave. Do you feel cursed too? What are your demons, if you have any?

I don't feel cursed, maybe also because of the lifestyle and cultures I was telling you about. I do think my life has a dark side, which has perhaps sharpened my sensitivity toward certain horizons, but everyday life is also made up of other things, of banter with friends. Why not, of lightness too.

“The Deal” was the first single from your debut. Why this song in particular, and where do its words come from?

Compared to my experience with the Travelling Souls, on this new album I wanted to tell the story of a particular, darker period of my life. Listening closely to artists like Nick Cave or Timber Timbre led me to look for a sound that could properly express this feeling I'd had inside for a long time. Before, the sound was more folk; I think “The Deal” is more of a break with the past. I imagined a story with my brother, and the lyrics come from the memory of that experience with him, my companion in life.

What's your relationship with the web? Do you spend a lot of time online, or, like a good bluesman, do you prefer to keep your distance from all this “fucking” technology?

I remember posters and college radio, no social media. It's a distant era by now, but I have a vivid memory of listening to and sharing music with friends, the spirit with which we used to go to concerts. I find social media pretty invasive, even if the tool itself isn't evil.

If you had to choose a “master” who left a mark on your musical development, who would you choose?

Bob Dylan has influenced me more than anyone else.

Who are today's true crooners? Do they still exist, or do you think they're now destined for a kind of extinction?

The first names that come to mind are Mike Patton or Richard Hawley. We're lucky to still have them around, and that gives us hope.

What's in the works for the future? Once this pandemic is over (hopefully), will you be putting together a new tour? How are you experiencing this period?

I hope to bring “Honey Birds” back on stage as soon as possible. In the meantime, we're working on new material. We spent lockdown at home with family and a bit of wine, using it as a chance to reflect on society and the world around us.

Could you put together a playlist of 5 songs you've been listening to a lot lately, and tell us what connects you to each of them?

Khruangbin & Leon Bridges – Texas Sun

Vincent Gallo – When

Bob Dylan – I’ve Made Up My Mind To Give Myself To You

Neil Young – Separate Ways

Bill Callahan – Breakfast

The melancholy in these tracks isn't necessarily something sad, but a memory that evokes happiness. And I find myself in those feelings.

What would you recommend to a young person approaching the world of music and songwriting? If you could only give one piece of advice, what would it be?

The ability to look inward, free from outside pressures, and the courage to go beyond. There's a real need out there to tell true stories, to feel authenticity.

If you had to introduce your music to someone who's never heard anything of yours, but could only play them one song, which one would you choose and why?

A simple track, stripped-back in both arrangement and lyrics, immediate and direct, with no distance at all, hence “Declared War”.

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