Si Martin is one of my favourite people in the pop-punk scene right now. Not only is he the drummer of Junior, a band who's recent album 'Beautiful Life' absolutely blew me away (You can check out my overwhelmingly positive review via Invicta mag!), but he's also the co-founder of mental health non-profit 'Heads Above The Waves' which is such an important cause and something that means a lot to me and many others.
I had the opportunity to speak to him about both of these things, and hear his thoughts on drumming, mental health, touring and more!
So, you play the drums in Junior, I've seen you say that drums are what you always go to when you're struggling with mental health and as a drummer, I can definitely relate. Do you mind telling me a bit more about that?
Yeah! Aw dude, it’s the best. I wish I could look back and say I had some sort of light bulb moment of inspiration that drums was the thing that could help in dealing with stuff, but honestly, it was more of a gradual process. I’d been struggling with self-harm for a few years as a teenager, and now with the benefit of hindsight, I can look back and see that I was feeling a lot of anger and frustration and didn’t really see any way for dealing with those and processing those emotions other than taking them out on myself. But then gradually over time, I found myself thrashing my drums every time I felt those feelings, and it helped, cuz I was doing something with all that frustrated energy, and actually creating something out of it instead of it hurting me. It was awesome to see progress too - I went from not being able to play something to being able to play it after practising, so that feels good too. Ooh! And doing the rudiments (so like, patterns with your hands and feet that you do instead of scales in drums) is something repetitive to focus on, and particularly if you’re learning a new rudiment, or playing along to something particularly tricky, it takes up all your concentration, and means you’re focussing on what all your limbs are doing rather than all the other stuff that’s going on in your life. So yeah, drums are sick.
Junior just released their first album and did a release tour, how did it go and how are you feeling in the aftermath of all that?
It was great! I know we’ve probably said it about other tours in the past, but this was legit the best we’ve done. Even the shows that we were a bit worried about turned out to be great. Well attended, well received. There were people singing along to all our songs, which considering the album had only been out for a few days by the time we were playing those songs to folks is actually quite impressive..! I just wish it could’ve lasted longer! I’m well keen to get back out and do it all over again!
What's your best advice for staying happy and okay on tour?
Truth be told, I had a bit of a breakdown not long before we went away on this tour. I’m very lucky to be around a super supportive group of people whenever we tour; the other two guys in the band and our crew that we go out with are all really understanding. I shot the guys a message before we left to just give them a heads up that I might need a bit more time and space on this run, or that I might not be up for partying every night (which is fine cuz none of us are really party animals anyway..!) and they were amazing about it. So I think honesty is super important. Touring is such a weird bubble where you spend loooooads of time with the same small group of people, usually in quite close quarters, so I think it’s super important to be up front & honest with them, and honest with yourself too for that matter. Know what your limits are - physically, mentally, and emotionally. Oh, the other tip that I’ve realised is great is to have a pair of ‘God Tier’ socks and underwear in your bag. Save these for the day that you feel not so sparkly and need a lil pick me up that no-one knows about apart from you. It might not make everything better, but it’s a nice little thing that helps you feel a bit more special and is just for you. I’ve found myself doing this loads while touring recently.
The album "Beautiful Life" has a lot of very positive lyrical themes, do you have a favourite lyric and why?
I recently had to try and pick one - we do these posi lyric posts from HATW and I did a Junior one for the day the album came out, and picking just one was really hard..! I’m gonna cheat a little in this, and go for the line “Press yours to mine; feel from the inside; it’s ok to not feel alright” - not necessarily because of the lyric itself (though I do think that ‘Girls and Boys’ is one of the most posi songs, and def one of my favourite Junior songs we’ve ever written), but because of the way that bridge section feels. I can’t really put my finger on it, but that whole bit just gets me, whether I’m playing it or listening back to it!
Linking to the positive lyrics, you also run a mental health non-profit called "Heads Above The Waves" can you tell me some more about that?
Yes! Heads Above The Waves is a non-profit Community Interest Company (which is basically like a charity but not a charity), and the whole vibe is to try and improve young people’s mental health. But specifically we do a lot of work with young people dealing with self-harm, and trying to introduce the idea that self-harm is a coping mechanism, but a harmful one, so we try and introduce more positive coping mechanisms to people as a short term fix, and try to give them a space and enable them to feel equipped to have conversations to get to the root of what they’re trying to cope with in the first place. We do school workshops, we’ve got an online presence, and we sell merch with a message to help fund our work, and hopefully start conversations - we do that out of our shop in Cardiff, and at all sorts of events, from national festivals down to local art shows.
I know it very closely links mental health with music, do you think the two go together?
Yeah, 100%. I think a lot of folks who perhaps struggle with their mental health are drawn to the alternative scene. I wouldn’t like to give a proper cause as to why, but it strikes me that a place where you can be accepted as you are (which is generally a little different to mainstream society) and be around people who understand you for you, that’s gotta be appealing - especially if you’re struggling with how you fit into this crazy old world of ours. I also think that music can be such a cathartic process. Whether that’s creating songs out of painful experiences, or just using it as a way to vent feelings (like me ragging my drum kit), as a creator of music, it helps hugely. But then as a consumer of music too; for as long as I can remember, I’ve had songs that make me feel something, or even just being able to relate to someone on the other end of a speaker who’s been through a similar experience and it’s made me feel less alone - those are some powerful moments.
What is your favourite part of running Heads Above The Waves and what are you most proud of?
Well, it’s funny. I’ve never really seen myself as a businessman. I never actually ever had any intention of running my own thing; I always assumed I’d go down that “traditional” route of getting a job and working up the ladder. So I think legit to just be running HATW alongside Hannah, who’s been in it from the start, is something I’m quite proud of in itself - and the fact that it’s still going is pretty cool to me. But since day one, we’ve always said that if we can reach or help just one person then it’s all been worthwhile. I’d say my favourite part is knowing that we’ve done that. There’s been people we’ve reached with our message or our content, and it’s encouraged them to reach out and get help, or to try new things and kick self-harm, or to just become the version of them that they want to be. It’s the most frustrating bit too, cuz it’s not so easy to measure that sorta impact, but anecdotally, hearing that someone who’s in the same position I was in when I was younger now feeling better cuz of HATW? Man. That gets me out of bed in the mornings.
Where do you hope to go with it in the future?
Honestly, I’d like to be able to make it a full time career, for myself and for others. I’d love to be able to bring in a bunch of new folk to be able to help lead more workshop sessions and do some hands on stuff in schools, as well as growing the online side of things. I’d REALLY love to branch out and open some more shops, but managing one is enough of a job in itself at the moment haha. But who knows!
Finally, what's your advice to anyone else struggling?
You have no idea what amazing things are waiting just ahead of you. This rubbish you’re feeling stuck in right now - it won’t last forever. Things can, and do, and will get better for you. Just don’t give up and keep on fighting, for yourself. Don’t do it because anyone else tells you to. Do it for you. For your future. And for the amazing person you’re going to become. This difficult time right now is gonna make you stronger, and once you’re out the other side, it’s going to be something you look back on and know just how strong you are.
You can check out the Heads Above The Waves site here - which includes resources, merch, advice, playlists and more!
and you can stream the new Junior album, Beautiful Life, which is out now!
