Beyond the Valley 2024 has a strong lineup, and British indie-folk singer-songwriter Billie Marten is one of the artists to watch.
Marten will follow up her festival performance with her first-ever headline tour of Australia and New Zealand in January. Fans can expect intimate, emotive shows in Melbourne, Sydney, and Auckland (see full details below).
Ahead of her big trip Down Under, Marten released a new single, “Crown”, recorded live in Brooklyn with producer Philip Weinrobe. It followed last year’s album Drop Cherries, which was positively received in the British press. (“After an uncharacteristic third record, Marten returns to folky naturalism,” The Independent wrote in a five-star review.)
Beyond the Valley will take place at Barunah Plains from December 28th-January 1st. For more information, visit beyondthevalley.com.au
Rolling Stone AU/NZ: What’s got you most excited about touring Australia and New Zealand for the first time?
Billie Marten: A brand new culture! Honestly I can’t wait to get there and explore and inhale all that the south of the equator has to offer. I’m a stranger to it all, and I’ve always wanted to go. I can’t wait to swim in a new sea, breathe brand-new air, look at a world I haven’t yet seen.
Are there any Australian or Kiwi artists you’re into or anyone on the Beyond the Valley lineup you’re keen to check out?
There’s a great scene out there. I’m lucky to know a few: Maple Glider, Stella Donnelly. I’ve been a huge fan of The Middle East since forever. Marlon Williams also, Courtney Barnett, The Beths. On the flipside, I’m a recent lover and admirer of Ice Spice so it’s an honour to share a stage with her. I will most definitely be watching and finding all those new bands I haven’t yet heard.
Hope you get some time to explore while you’re here! Anything you’re keen to do while you’re Down Under?
All of it please – I’d like to do all of it. You tell me! I’ll be taking lots of advice after the shows with what to do, what to eat, where to swim. I’m keen to find the best horse riding trails – it’s something I like to do on tour to really get into nature fast and get to know the place.
Local artists Ullah and Roy Irwin are supporting your shows. Did you help pick them?
Of course – I’m a big advocate for support slots, they are a gateway. I love picking openers and would be very upset if I wasn’t aware of who was playing before me. Plus it gives me a chance to delve into a new area’s scene. I’m a huge fan of both Ullah and Roy, so I can’t wait to share a show with them.
Your new single “Crown” sounds raw and natural – what inspired you to write it while sitting in your garden?
I suppose it is raw, in the way that it was initially conceived – the guitar riff came very quickly from some ambient noodling, and the melody and lyrics not long after that. Maybe the key to songwriting is to stare at your pet incessantly until they give you the answers that you need.
Your sound’s shifted over time, weaving in folk and alt-rock. How do you figure out what direction to take next?
I think it tends to be the thing that I’m most aware of ‘lacking’. I choose the word lacking from my perspective alone, meaning I don’t wonder what the listener is potentially missing. For example, what I missed from the first album was simplicity; the stripped-back tape recordings, minimalism, Elliott Smith-y, capturing small sounds. So I made that happen on the second. This one then lacked that ‘umph’ and power from the space and expansiveness that we had on the first. During the second record, I felt weak as a performer and I needed to work on my voice and presence.
So I then tried to work on this on the third album, which subsequently filled me with a deep anxiety of having strayed too far into the modern musical world, so I needed some crusty dusty-ness again – hence Drop Cherries returning back to just that. I wanted to make a classic record that you could listen to in the ‘60s. No modernity other than the world we were living in. I think like anything, music is cyclical, and an artist always returns to the thing they know of the most, and think about the least.
Perhaps the subconscious ultimately overrules us, and we are powerless, rudderless without it. Whether we listen to it or allow it to speak is a different thing entirely.
With Drop Cherries being recorded live in one take, how do you think that connects differently with your listeners?
I’d like to think there’s a noticeable difference between artists painstakingly getting the right take and layering upon layer, but in reality none of us can really tell or are particularly affected by any sort of recording style. The listener just requires truth and I think it’s really obvious when an artist doesn’t give that. Having worked with many producers, who all have their different and respected ways of working, it’s always interesting working with Dom (Monks) because he rarely lets you do more than 4 or 5 takes, and will without fail pick the ‘worst’ one to go on the record.
There’s a lot of reality in those recordings, warts and all, and I think that’s something the arts doesn’t necessarily allow. When I think of film and how clean and surreal everything looks and sounds for example – no one’s blowing their nose mid-line or stuttering, just like records don’t allow false starts or huge fuck ups. There’s more room for that now, we’re all relaxing into it a bit.
Nature seems to be a big influence on your music. How does it shape your songwriting?
Nature will always be a huge part of me. I grew up in a pretty rural town and surrounding villages in North Yorkshire, where there’s a huge identity of respecting and adoring the natural world. We’re a very proud region that puts nature at the forefront. It’s where most people have their livelihood, where most writers draw inspiration, where some of the world’s best art has been birthed. I grew up reading a lot of natural poetry (W. H. Auden, T.S. Eliot, Ted Hughes, Philip Larkin), often discussing ‘the divine’ and the eternal nod to the natural world, which took me from a young age. Nature has secrets and it has the answer and I suppose that’s all I’m ever trying to get to when I write.
One of the first characters I ever fell in love with was Cathy from Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. But I soon realised it was Emily’s voice that took over that novel, so really I was obsessed with her. I deeply empathised with being a young female writer who wanted to be born in a different time, was ostracised creatively, yet felt emotionally cradled by the elements. She also grew up not too far from me, so I’ve visited the Brontë house a few times. I wrote a song that came out on my first album literally called “Emily”. It was a simple time, but I felt seen.
What can fans look forward to from your shows in Australia and New Zealand?
It’ll be an intimate show as I’m travelling on my tod. It’ll also mark the very first few days of the year, so we can all help each other start it right. I’m looking forward to being able to play tunes that early on into 2025 and I think it’s just the ticket we need to set ourselves on the right track. Music unites more than ever right now. I simply cannot wait to meet the fans out there.
What’s next for you after this tour? Are there any new projects on the horizon?
Most certainly there are, but I’m just adding the finishing touches to that now. I can say that I think there’ll be plenty of trips to you again soon. And more music even sooner than that.
Billie Marten Australia & New Zealand Tour
Tuesday, December 31st, 2024
Lardner, VIC @ Beyond the Valley
Tickets via beyondthevalley.com.au
Thursday, January 2nd, 2025^
Melbourne, VIC @ The Corner Hotel
Friday, January 3rd, 2025^
Sydney, NSW @ Oxford Art Factory (SOLD OUT)
Sunday, January 5th, 2025*
Auckland, NZ @ The Tuning Fork
^ w/ support from Ullah
* w/ support from Roy Irwin
