Overrun – brand new video and single from Cris Martin
Overrun – brand new video
and single from virtuoso rock guitarist Cris Martin
Overrun’ is the
new single from Cris Martin - a stunning slice of instrumental classic guitar
rock from the virtuoso musician.
Cris Martin
received critical acclaim for his 2016 solo album ‘Rock Dawn’, which featured
former Iron Maiden front-man Blaze Bayley and former Samson drummer Barry
Graham Purkis (Thunderstick). The single ‘Overrun’ is drawn from the album
and a brand new accompanying video has also been launched to coincide with the
release.
Cris Martin
started playing the guitar aged 16 and found that he had a talent for playing
fast in a similar style to his guitar hero, Gary Moore. After several years
playing cheap, hard-to-play guitars, Cris fortuitously won a sum of money and
purchased his first Gibson Les Paul guitar and a classic Marshall amp. Aged 21,
Cris joined his first pro band Thunderstick and recorded two well-received
albums and an EP. After Thunderstick, Cris did session work and then spent several
years in various bands recording, writing and gigging. In 1997, disillusioned
with the music business, Cris stopped playing and sold all his guitars intending
never to play again.
In 2008 after
many years of friends telling him he shouldn’t have put aside his guitar
talent, Cris purchased a guitar curious to see if he could still “shred”.
However, he was in for a nasty surprise as he realised he would have to learn
to play all over again in order to regain his once formidable technical
mastery. He briefly joined a rock covers band but needed
to be able to compose his own material and began working on a solo album. ‘Rock
Dawn’ was released in 2016 and featured former Iron Maiden member Blaze Bayley who
contributed vocals to three of the tracks.
Talking about the
new single, Cris Martin comments: “Overrun originated back in 2013
when I was thinking about recording again after many years out of a recording
studio. I was using a small studio in Streatham and as the studio sessions
progressed the track seemed to take on its own character. I wanted the music to
evolve rather than conform to fashion or any particular style or genre. This is
one benefit of making independent music, one can express oneself freely. I
wanted a bluesy, rock feel coupled with a smattering of virtuosity which I think
we achieved. Being an instrumental track, the lead guitar line has to be as
strong as a lead vocal line. The title came from an incident at the studio
where myself and the engineer had popped out to go to the shops. As we were
crossing the busy main road, a fast Mercedes sped past almost hitting us and it
was the result of almost being run over which gave me the idea of swapping
round the words around to Overrun!
“This track also has a more poignant
story behind it as I was helping to care for my elderly mother whose health was
failing and the recording sessions helped with the stresses and strains of
being a carer. Unfortunately she passed away and I was unable to continue with
the sessions for a while in order to deal with my bereavement. However, after
several months, I felt able to finish off the album. I am a great believer that
creating music can be a great healer. This track, especially, definitely helped
with my recovery.”
The video was
filmed at Black Cat studios in Leicestershire owned by James Scott who also
mixed the Rock Dawn album.
Talking about the
making of the video, Cris adds: “I roped in some colleagues to
appear as the ‘backing band’. I wanted the video to have a humorous element so
we came up with the story-line of a hipster engineer and his self-obsessed
millennial vocalist recording in a studio, and their comical conversion to metal-heads.”
The single and album
are available via the website at http://www.rockdawn.co.uk/
NH
