KEYBOARDS
Martha Johnson is multi-JUNO-winning Canadian pop singer and songwriter who is best known as the vocalist for Martha and the Muffins . Her career , spanning more than 30 years and 10 albums , three of which were co-produced with Daniel Lanois , has had many highlights : the worldwide success of “ Echo Beach ,” playing UK dates with Roxy Music , reaching number 2 on the U . S . Billboard Dance chart , and more . In 2001 , Martha was diagnosed with Parkinson ’ s disease but continues to perform and use her platform to raise awareness about the condition .
By Martha Johnson
The Keyboard Primitivism Of Martha and the Muffins
On January 12 , 1977 , I entered The Music Shoppe in Thornhill , ON , put down $ 200 , and walked out with a used Ace Tone Top-9 combo organ . Little did I know that three years into the future , a pulsing one-note intro played on that instrument would propel Martha and the Muffins out of Toronto ’ s embryonic Queen Street West punk and new wave scene into a record contract with Virgin Records UK , a worldwide hit , and a lifetime career in music . The song was “ Echo Beach .”
I bought my Ace Tone without really knowing how to play but I was determined to write songs and be a member of the bands my male friends were forming for fun . As I could add simple keyboard parts to songs like “ Palisades Park ” as well as sing back-up vocals , I was asked to join Oh Those Pants , a cover band made up of beer drinking art students centred around the Ontario College of Art . The thing was , most of the band members seemed more interested in spending time on Queen Street West at The Beverley Tavern than completing their art assignments .
The Instruments When Martha and the Muffins formed in May 1977 , the Ace Tone helped to give us a distinctive sound . Since the introduction of relatively affordable synthesizers , 1960s combo organs had been out of fashion but were starting to be cool again with bands like The B-52s , The Stranglers , and Elvis Costello . To widen the Ace Tone ’ s sonic palette , we ran it through an MXR flanger , which I suppose made it sound more otherworldly . The now whooshing Ace Tone was soon augmented by a weedy Galanti Insta Strings owned by bass player Carl Finkle with the band ’ s guitarist , Mark Gane , adding various squawks and bleeps
26 • CANADIAN MUSICIAN on his recently acquired EMS Synthi A , the keyboard-less suitcase version of the VCS3 , a favourite with prog and art rock bands Pink Floyd , King Crimson , and Roxy Music . ( This synth can be seen in the 1984 “ Black Stations / White Stations ” video as Mark floats across the screen “ playing ” the solo by twirling the Synthi A ’ s joystick .)
There was a huge Roxy Music influence on the songwriters in the early band , so when the opportunity to buy a used Wurlitzer 200A electric piano came along , we snapped it up , immediately paying homage to our avantrock heroes by adding a cover version of “ Editions of You ” to our live shows . A few years later , a Mellotron M400 joined our collection , though not for touring . While it was far too finicky and cumbersome to lug to gigs , it did appear on several of our albums , notably This Is The Ice Age and Danseparc . The Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 was another favourite , although we could never afford to actually own one . Its $ 5,500 price tag at the time was just too steep .
The Approach As keyboard primitivists , our general approach has been to play simple lines or emphasize texture over proficiency – a classic DIY , art school approach ! During recording , we would hire a real keyboard player only if we had ideas that required a conventional part that lay beyond our own abilities . Most of the time , we would simply find clever tricks to mimic competency or avoid conventional keyboard approaches altogether . This attitude went hand in hand with treating many instruments in such a way as to make them less generic and identifiable . It was not enough to just plug them in and play something . Mark often processed his guitar through the Synthi
A to mimic keyboard pads or we would take a grand piano and lay wood , chains , and whatever other objects were at hand across the strings to create dissonant percussive parts . Synths that had preset buttons would often actively involve two or three people , one playing the actual part , the second rapidly running a finger across the presets so that the sounds changed abruptly , and a third processing the output through various pedals and devices , all in real time . We would go through several takes until we got something we liked . Often , the end result was unrecognizable , just the way we liked it . Was it a mashed up guitar , keyboard , vocal ? Who could tell for sure ? This was an excellent way to mangle the widely used sounds of a Prophet 5 or DX7 .
The Result Martha and the Muffins has sometimes been labeled as a synth band , which in my mind is not accurate but perhaps understandable . Sounds that are assumed to be some sort of synthesizer have more often than not been treated guitars , field recordings , sung vocal pads , or samples trapped and processed on an Electro-Harmonix 16 Second Digital Delay , a pedal we have used for decades as a texturizer , processor , and songwriting tool .
These days , I ’ m writing with GarageBand , where anything can be changed and “ corrected ” immediately ; however , I ’ m still seeking out unique sounds by manipulating the obvious in pursuit of new musical possibilities . I never wanted to sound like anybody else and I believe I have stayed true to this desire . Hopefully , you will find some of these old school organic approaches to changing up your “ regular ” keyboard ( or anything else !) as stepping stones for your own sonic adventures .