"When I was a kid I remember my mother saying it's OK to be a non-conformist. I thought that was somewhere between a capitalist and a communist..."

ARCTIC - the band and/or solo project of Marcus Martin - is all about duality. His childhood in Yellowknife, a small gold mining town in the Arctic region of Canada's Northwest Territories, was a stark contrast to his experiences in a private UK boarding school. He grew up in the land of lakes, trees, rocks and ice with true wilderness spirit and is equally at home sharing his ARCTIC adventures in any big city, where there are more people on one street than in his whole hometown.

Coming from the Tom Morello school of guitar texture, he has learned to challenge the listener by layering unique sounds usually found only in the electric guitar world. As a loop-based acoustic artist he tours with an 80 lb. effects pedalboard - not traveling light compared to most acoustic singer-songwriters.

His live set is where this duality takes flight, as he constructs each song before the audience, piece by piece. Influenced by both 70's progressive rock and conventional songwriters of the day, ARCTIC bridges a world of opposites together. He layers haunting melodies on top of his arrangements, improvising like a jazz artist, intertwining vocals and guitar into a chilled and airy soundscape.

"I think it's hard not to be an environmentalist, growing up on the land."

His environmental message is not watered down and mixed into his music: they are separate entities. His music is an introduction; it is the common ground between him and the listener. As many will attest, he does his best to meet everyone after his show to say hi. You never know where the conversation will go, but people always want to know more about the ARCTIC - both the region and the band.

Marcus is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

•  Compliment

REZA's other pages :

• REZA on Myspace
• REZA on Amie Street
• REZA on Sound Click
• REZA on MP3.com
• REZA on WAT
• REZA on Last.fm

BIO

* January 2004
Songwriter REZA starts recording some of his songs using a small pocket machine at his place in Paris.

* April 2004
Writer and close friend Sotiris living in Birmingham-England sends a poem called "somebody else’s paradise" to REZA. This is the beginning of an important collaboration. REZA will compose and sing about twenty songs composed on Sotiris poems in the following couple of years.

* January 2005
Back from Birmingham-England where he’s been working on new songs with Sotiris, REZA starts looking for musicians to record these songs and play them live.

* Summer 2005
The team is ready : REZA + Stephane (ex-SevenHate lead guitar) + Ghislain + Gautier. 6 songs are recorded by Grégory Fradin at his own studio in Poitiers. One of them is I'm your man, a cover of L. Cohen's song.

* November 2005
First EP: Somebody else's songs is out. It has the famous red octopus on its cover ! Spring 2006 REZA on stage in Paris in small venues like: POP IN, le Kitch’up, le cannibale, l’espace B, le café de la plage, etc. Cello player Julien joins the band !

* Summer 2006
It’s time to work on the first LP. 13 songs recorded by Gregory Fradin in the middle of nowhere in an old abandoned house in la Vienne. November 2006 Second EP: Flying girl is out including some of the songs from the LP recording session. Flying girl, remake, etc. Some of the songs are broadcasted by indie radio programs: planet claire radio aligre, indepen-dance radio pulsar, radio Neo, radio campus paris, etc. The EP has also good reviews in specialized webzines: indie rock mag, indie pop rock, froggy’s delight, etc.

* January 2007
New Paris tour on stage: le Klub, en marge, kitch’up, pomme d’Eve, etc. The LP mixes are getting ready, REZA is now part of the French Toast music collective together with bands like New Pretoria, The Chiltons or Saïbu ...

* April 2007
First LP broken kite is to be out, new gigs comming soon !.

•  All of the tracks
•  Great indie folk ballad
• a great indie folk song
•  Do the Swim!