Helen Martin profile picture

Helen Martin

About Me

I always loved musical and percussion instruments and singing and when I was little I used to make drumkits out of my mums pots and pans and would get out all her glasses and fill them with various levels of water until I had (completely wrecked the kitchen) and had a full octave of semitones to play on! Another favourite was making guitars out of shoe boxes and elastic bands! I finally managed to pursuade my parents to let me have piano lessons - the look on their faces when I ask for an electric guitar is why I never even bothered to ask for the drumkit. I still play piano now, though mostly in church as I feel insecure without my dots so I shy away from keyboards at jams, although I'm working on this...

I finally got the opportunity to play drums when I was introduced to Ciara Lavers through a mutual friend. Ciara was studying at ACM and was looking to learn some piano - we spent about six months "swapping" lessons and I've never looked back. I absolutely love my drums and the never ending challenge they present.I spent my first months practicing on the church drum kit and then eventually got my own. After about 18 months I got together with Barry Dalchow and Dave Wheeler and we became "Twelve Bars from Mars" and started a jam in Carshalton which ran successfully for 18 months. Then there was "Turtle Recoil" followed swiftly by "The Joe King Band" which introduced me to my wonderful husband Rik Martin and we put together "The Rik Martin Band" which has been my main project ever since.I also love recording and am improving with each attempt! All the recordings on this page were done using my newly acquired Alesis I/O26 (fantastic value for money by the way - highly recommend it).I am so grateful for the fantastic opportunities I have been given - God given opportunities - and now my wonderful husband and best friend , Rik, to share it all with. It's like all my dreams have finally come true! Yeah!See you somewhere soon! Helen
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Member Since: 02/06/2007
Band Website: www.helen-watt.co.uk
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Influences: To summarise; My main influences are anything to which I simply have to shake my ass, scream enthusiastically or which covers me in goose pimples along with the people who have introduced me to it!My sister introduced me to Queen and David Bowie in the late 70s, David Bowie and Freddie Mercury between them got me through the worst of being 15 and when Freddie died I cried. I got into Fleetwood Mac, Genesis, Phil Collins, Pink Floyd, Led Zep, Rolling Stones, the Doors, Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Black Crowes and I suppose I'm a bit of an old rocker at heart! I didn't really discover blues until I started going to pubs to check out live music then I realised that a good dose of the blues and rock'n'roll was what I had been missing my whole life. I like Freddie, BB & Albert King and Albert Collins, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Allman Brothers, Bonnie Rait, Robert Cray, Delbert McClinton, Keb Mo, Tab Benoit to mention but a few. I love the new orleans drumming style and have discovered the joys of Stanton Moore, Johnny Vidacovich and a bit of up tempo hand clapping, butt shaking, soul stirring gospel.I'd say all my musical influences have come through family and close friends; my Dad loved Classical, Pipes and Drums and Scottish Country Dance music and so I was exposed to a lot of that growing up. My Mum listens to opera, musicals and jazz (not a love I share) - but she was a big Acker Bilk fan and I guess that's how I ended up with Clarinet lessons. Although I did inherit her love for beautiful big, deep black voices.It wasn't until I got out of my teens I began to appreciate the classical music I had studied in my piano lessons, Chopin, Mozart and Beethoven in particular but I had always enjoyed the ragtime stuff I played outside of the classical lessons.
Record Label: Pelly Records

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