Martin WM

Martin WM
Martin with playing with The Lunatic at the Riverwoods in April 2011
Birth name	Martin WM
Born	1990
Genres	Alternative rock, ambient noise
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass, drum programming, synthesizers
Label	Luna Records
Associated acts	The Lunatic, Lumo the Cosmonaut, Two Pale Zeros, Brutha, Poor Ghost

Martin (aka "Jonas," "M," "Amadeus Handsome," "Liam," "SpacemanM," "Macaroni Peacock," "Mars," et al.) (b. 1990 in Royal Oak, Michigan) is a founding member, guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer in The Lunatic, Sonorized, Lumo the Cosmonaut, Humming Bird, Est Lunaticus, Two Pale Zeros, and Den Lunatic. Many of his bands never released actual music. Along with Jack Mergist , he created Luna Records.

Aside from music, he is a learned scholar of English, Greek, and Latin literature; in addition, he writes poetry and is an internet sensation from his critically acclaimed Instagram page. He has an inclination toward several identity crises and paramnesia episodes, which is undoubtedly the result of decades spent reading Batman comics. He currently lives in Scotland, far away from his fans.

Personal life

Early Years

Martin was born in Royal Oak, Michigan—a suburb of Detroit—and has lived in the same house in West Bloomfield his entire life. At a young age, while watching The Jetsons , he realized there was something inherently wrong with existence and that things weren't going to turn out the way they were supposed to.

High school years

Most of Martin's high school years were overshadowed by a haze resulting in surgeries and lack of interest. It was in high school Martin first discovered Entropy. Everything here was a complete disappointment because, contrary to what Martin believed in his younger years, high school was nothing like Batman Beyond.

Academic Life

Dandyism, Martin Inc.

In late October of 2010, Martin began to lay the foundations of what would be his dandy phase, which was likely a reaction to a mid-October existential crisis. In the wee hours of the morning on November 18th, Martin sat in Jack Mergist's back room and began reading Batman Inc, which—given Martin's inability to separate fiction from reality—prompted him to capriciously fly to Las Vegas and begin living the life of a penthouse billionaire. Upon return from Las Vegas, Martin next roved to Detroit, Michigan, where he and longtime friend Maxwell Wassmann began to empty their bank accounts on black clothing and purple paisley. It was, in some respects, a pre-emptive attempt to live the life Martin observed in Talking With Gods.

Resulting Aftermath, Existential Crisis, and Final Crisis

The short lived dandy phase and its associated associations left Martin in a wake of attachment he wasn't quite sure how to reconcile. In the danger days, Martin was able to handle downtrodden emotions through the purchasing of designer clothing, but with his lack of finances and somewhat Beau Brummellian aftermath, he found himself wearing lots of leather jackets with fingerless gloves and hoods. During March, he began work on an unnamed solo album, which reflected his returning obsession with cyberpunk.

In April 2011, he returned to Detroit and took a job writing at a local magazine. He began to increasingly be Clark Kent by day and Terry McGinnis by night. Most of this time was spent trying to futily sever previous attachments and gain financial stability.

Identity Crisis and the Return of Martin

Upon returning to Utah in September of 2011, Martin found himself in a bizarre limbo of newborns and band hiatuses. During this phase, Martin's MacBook Pro died, leaving him with no way to stationary way to the internet or to record music. All projects were put on hold. In a weekend of capricious attempts at happiness, Martin formed Humming Bird with Jack Mergist and tried to fill the hole.

With no sense of identity, Martin suffered withdrawals from the Danger Days and, in an attempt to reclaim the glory of November 2010, capriciously purchased a one-way ticket for London. He spent his remaining weeks in Provo chasing Japanese girls (a hobby he had long stopped since high school), chasing blondes, and cursing out people whom he met on the street.

In November 2011, The Lunatic took third in the Battle of the Bands finals, Martin began experimenting with fifth dimension interaction (usually with Kody Yardley present) while working on short fiction, Two Pale Zeros material, and essays about Deconstruction.

In December 2011, Martin began cross dressing. Humming Bird played their first and only show. At the show, Martin received a very special gift from a very special blonde. He also smashed his first electric guitar he ever owned to pieces during the final song ("Coats of Sunshine").

Brown Leather Jacket

On Black Friday, 2011, Martin purchased a new leather jacket, which he claims will usher in the new age of cool. Unlike previous jackets, this one is notable for not being black. The jacket was purchased just before his departure to London.

The Lost Weekend

From January 2012 until May 2012, Martin lived in London where he faked his death.

The Dandy Returns

In April 2012, Martin returned to the USA where he once again took up residence in Provo and began learning Latin. It was at this moment that he founded a new band with Jack: Pale Rooster, a sashaying, homoerotic, '60s throwback band known for their several covers of David Bowie, The Beatles, Blur, Oasis, and The Kinks. The band was known for their onstage antics, which included wearing silk scarves, saying "Oh, I say!!!" and playing the wrong notes. A Pale Rooster album was never released, though fans will never forget cult hits such as "Peacocks! Fashion! Youth!," "Garlic," and "Entropy Rock".

The Second Lost Weekend

It is uncertain what Martin did from the fall of 2012 until the fall of 2016.

The Move to Scotland

In the midst of his third or fourth midlife crisis, Martin moved to Scotland and released an album under the name Sonorized. He is currently working on a follow-up album.

Feuds

Martin has beef with Provo-based bands White Elephant and Neon Trees. His feud with White Elephant began after a few personal entanglements and a battle of the bands. His feud with Neon Trees is with Tyler Glenn, who Martin has criticized as someone who "can blow [him]." At one point, Martin had beef with local club/venue Muse Music. Martin threatened to throw "a rainbow trout through the window of the venue" but never did.

Since December of 2010, Martin has had beef with Provo's local record store, Graywhale, and their employees (specifically the two managers, who have both screwed him in one sense of the word or another.) Martin also has beef with most of the female employees in most of the stores at the local mall, except the Barista who makes him his "gay latte drink" and the people who sell shoes at Nordstrom.

In the fall of 2011, another feud began between Martin and another Martin, who worked at Muse Music Café, and Collin (who owned the Café). Martin was kicked out of the venue when he, after claiming antagonization, began to loudly yell and curse out the two Muse workers (in addition to making several insulting slurs and threats). The next night, The Lunatic played a Battle of the Bands round at the venue and won. The night Martin left Provo, he attended a Muse dance party where he claims he "buried the bad blood."

In the spring of 2013, Martin and Jack had a feud that would last until the spring of 2014. During this time they did not speak. Since rekindling their relationship, the two have sworn to name their next children after the other and have, on occasion, hinted at a new Lunatic or Humming Bird album, though it is unlikely that either will ever do anything.

Recording career

Early Recordings

Martin's earliest recordings were done when he was a prepubescent eleven year old, covering Nirvana songs on an acoustic guitar and a PC mic. At the age of 14, he began to give serious dedication to songwriting and recording. Early monikers include Dead Baby Animals, Tunnel Vision and Brutha. Most recordings were done on a TASCAM four track, until Martin got an M-Audio box for Christmas at the age of 17.

The Lunatic

Martin co-founded The Lunatic with Jack Mergist in September of 2009, after the two met on a Weezer message board a year earlier in the late summer of 2008. Martin has written, co-written, and sung on a number of Lunatic songs. He originally wanted to call the band "Milk" (other names he liked were "Shredded Lettuce" and "Pussy" [pronounced "puh-see", like "a pussy zit"]), but continual affiliation with the then-recently released movie Milk as well as the existence of a '90s punk band (that no one has heard of) forced Martin to relinquish the name. "Milk" was later used as the name of the band's debut EP.

In addition to writing and performing in the band, Martin takes strong interest in the non-musical direction of the group—continually stressing the importance of band image and affliation. He has made music videos, album artwork and posters for the band. He also pesters friends of the band to film every performance the band does.

Lumo the Cosmonaut

Lumo the Cosmonaut is the running artist name for all demos Martin records. It is more of an alias than a band or solo project. The name has been in use since early 2010, but comes from a song written in the summer of 2009.

Two Pale Zeros

Two Pale Zeros iswasa new project, which emphasized a heavier, darker, more ambient style of music than The Lunatic. The name comes from a line in Infinite Jest. The band never released music, but does maintain a Twitter account.

Humming Bird

Humming Bird was founded by Jack Mergist and Martin while watching TV in October of 2011. They wrote and recorded the entire album, as they boast, "in one weekend." Martin has hinted at a second album several times, including touting an "8 minute masterpiece called 'Scent of Persephone'", though nothing has ever surfaced.

Sonorized

Martin wrote and recorded music from 2014 to 2016 under then-unknown-name while living in Detroit. The music was finally finished when Martin had a nervous breakdown and moved to Scotland. The album charted at number one (out of one album) in St Andrews, Fife, where he lives and writes poetry while standing near a ruined castle by the sea.

Musical style and influences

Martin has, at one point or another, tried to write a song in most genres. He has a strong interest in the messy, jangly, "find it hard to care" sound of alternative acts like Pavement and grunge bands like Local H and Nirvana. Martin has a strong interest in bands that use effects to create mood and atmosphere and, especially now that his effects arsenal is growing, tries to do the same. He is drawn to overlapping, ambient noise albums by shoegaze and goth bands. Late '80s and early '90s alternative metal is also close to his heart. The melodies of '60s pop writers like Brian Wilson, John Lennon and Ray Davies interest him. The wall of sound, especially walls of fuzz like Smashing Pumpkins (and anything touched by Butch Vig, Alan Moulder and Flood,) are a personal favorite. The last three years in the '90s contain a sound incorporating a perfect blend of everything Martin holds dear in life (albums like Adore, Ultra, 'The Fragile, Downward Is Heavenward, Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, etc,) and that sound keeps Martin alive. He, more or less, detests indie music, but finds himself buying Arctic Monkeys tickets whenever they come to town because Alex Turner is the new Jagger. Billy Howerdel's guitar work and stage presence also influence him. Martin likes things reverberated, run through a bitcrusher, fuzzed to death, drenched in chorus, and oozing delay.

Batman has a large influence on Martin's music. He repeatedly says he wants things to sound like certain Batman stories, or as soundtracks to certain cities and characters from the Batman mythos. Another common statement regarding musical taste is "it made me feel like I was growing up in Gotham city" or "I want it to sound like living in Gotham city."

Aside from music, Martin is strongly influenced by the work of Romantic poets, particularly the second generation. Byron's poem Manfred, excerpts from De Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium Eater and various Keats poems are his favorites. He greatly enjoys the aesthetes as well, especially Oscar Wilde. He is very caught up in the poetry of Yeats and other works from Modernism (and its subgenres Dada and Surrealism) because he has an unhealthy obsession with entropy and that everything is completely meaningless. He also enjoys Post-Modernism, and reads Jerry Cornelius stories in almost all of his spare moments. At a young age, his mother introduced him to Carl Sagan, which had a profound impact on him. Pale Blue Dot is among his favorite books.

Since he was litte, he has had a love of comic books. His favorite comic book writers include Grant Morrison, Matt Fraction, James Robinson, Neil Gaiman and Jack Kirby.

Other interests include art deco architecture, physics, James Bond, cosmology, fringe science, the moon, history, classical mythology, fast cars, leather jackets, Beau Brummell, hockey and baseball.

Discography

• 2011 - Milk (with The Lunatic)
• 2011 - Hey, There's Tommy! Hey Tommy, Where's Mom & Dad? (with Humming Bird)
• 2016 - Deep Blue Oceans & Sleeping Potions

Equipment

Main article: Martin's Equipment

Guitars

• Custom navy Stratocaster
• Gibson SG Standard (used on most Brutha recordings)
• 2009 Martin OM-1
• Ovation CC24-4Q Black

Amplifiers

• Orange TT15 Tiny Terror 15/7 head
• Custom "Rocket Cab" w/ Celestian Rocket 50 speakers.

Effects

• Ebow
• Devi Ever Rocket
• Electro Harmonix Nano Holy Grail
• Electro Harmonix Memory Boy
• GFS Black Hammer
• GFS Fat Flanger
• Biyang Time Machine
• GFS GFT-90 Tuner
• Custom pedal board

Other

• Dunlop 1.0mm and 0.6mm Nylon picks (gray)
• DR Tite-Fit BT-10 strings
• Elixir 80-20 Bronze Nanoweb strings
• Martin 80-20 Bronze strings
• Gibson Lightning bolt guitar strap
• Guess black leather jacket

See also

• List of songs written or co-written by Martin Michalek