Martha May McKay talks to Euan McGeechan about bending genres, glueing hair and taking the leap from the bedroom to the studio.

By Euan McGeechan (he/him)

Sitting down with Martha May McKay, frontrunner of the 7-piece ensemble Martha May and the Mondays at their headline gig at the Rum Shack in February, I’m not sure what to expect from their performance.  On the couch in the spatially challenged green room of the venue, Martha has their fringe glued to their forehead with rouged cheeks to match their blood-red gown.  I’m offered a chilled can of Tennents, which I cordially accept, and quickly get comfortable talking to the animated McKay. 

Their previous EP Lovers and Fools was an acoustic pop project Martha recorded in their bedroom.  Talking about their change in sound, Martha notes: “We all discovered that we’ve all got the exact same music taste—which is kind of like more punky stuff—so we decided to make it kinda catchy punk—now it’s orchestral punk cause we’ve got the violin”.  The construction of their band has indeed been very organic, (the bassist is a chef I worked with in a West End bar until recently), and they are all about the music. 

Genre is something Martha cares little for of course. “There’s artists now not sticking to one genre.  I think we’re an okay example of that,” they explain. “We’re blending a classical music taste with punk rock, and I don’t think you would have got that back in like the 80s”. 

Describing their newest release, SPIT!, as “shit your pants punk”, Martha tells me the EP’s influences range from Mozart to Soft Play to Joan Jett.  For Martha, the democratisation of music production and the ability for bands to record music on the tech that many have at their disposal, be it a smartphone or a laptop, means “There’s so much more leeway for bands and artists to blend the lines and blur everything so that you can do whatever the fuck you want”.  And that they do. 

SPIT! takes this punky sensibility, collaborating with Blair Crichton of Dead Pony on production and packing punchy lyrics about cat callers, sportsmen and misogynists with painted nails, making for a brash, smart project – providing a taste of what we can expect from the group in the future.  Working with Crichton in the studio was a new experience for Martha, one they claim was: “Just so much fucking easier.”

“I didn’t have to do anything other than show up and sing my part, and kind of give a bit of advice and direction,” the singer added.

Discussing having a studio and collaborating with another Glasgow musician led me to ask Martha how important they think it is to be recognised as a Glasgow band. “Very, very. My biggest fear is when Scottish artists lose their accent or like they kind of lose where they are from when they start to succeed”. 

Martha has experience in the London scene too, one they describe as “Just full of so much misogyny and the music is all the exact same, but they all just kind of compete with who’s got the coolest hair—I’ve literally got my hair gelled to my face right now—but I feel like in Glasgow it’s so much more laid back and people are always, they’re not striving to compete it’s so much more supporting, it’s so much more of a community”. 

Talking with Martha it’s clear they have a vision for their band and their career. Wishing them luck and making my way back to the audience which has started filling the Rum Shack basement, I get settled to enjoy their performance full of energy. It’s a rose-covered stage adorned with smartly dressed punk-rockers and Martha dances around it, at one point head-to-toe in stage blood, belting out those catchy, fiery lyrics. Charismatic, smart, and driven, I believe we will be hearing a lot more from Martha May and the Mondays.

SPIT! is out now on Hot Surf Records and you can check it out here. You can also find a music video for the title track here, directed by Beth Johnston.

Euan McGeechan

he/him