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By Melisa Tang

Emerging from the Why Lout? crew in Brixton, south London, Marvin The Martian is preparing to unleash his own form of hip hop on the world, ‘Grindie’ – a new breed of music fusing Grime with Indie. Having been praised by NME magazine as one of the leaders of the new school, Marvin The Martian is receiving critical acclaim in the run up to the release of his forthcoming release, the ‘Hoods And Badges’ EP.

Whilst Marvin has his roots firmly in the hip hop scene, he has proven that taking a risk or two once in a while can do nothing but boost your credibility, as the track ‘Stay Off The Kane’ (which samples Art Brut’s ‘Emily Kane’) has shown.

Blending the two different genres so effortlessly is what Marvin does best, and the ‘Hoods And Badges’ release is sure to cement his standing as a refreshing new talent in the UK hip hop scene. The Situation caught up with The Martian before he’s too busy to take our calls…

Why did you choose Marvin The Martian as your stage name?
Well, Marvin’s my birth name, and ‘The Martian’ is just ‘cos I’m different from other people, so it kind of took its own form really. [It came about] from too much television in the Eighties! I started out with a different name, but as my writing style changed and became more autobiographical, I felt I needed a new name, so after long conversations with my friends, and like I said, too much television, ‘Marvin The Martian’ was born!

What inspired you to make this kind of music?
I mean, music’s music to me; if I like something, I’m gonna try my best to make it. Obviously, hip hop’s my main love, and that’s what I’m good at, so that’s what I do. But if a form of music sounds right, and I can incorporate it into what I do, then I’m gonna do my best to do that.

When did you first get into the ‘Grindie’ scene?
About a year and a half ago, maybe two… It’s just a thing of where I heard the Art Brut song, ‘Emily Kane’, and I thought it was a great song. Truthfully, I didn’t really make the song for everybody, I made it for Art Brut, just as a sort of thing like, ‘I really loved your song; this is what it inspired me to do’, and from then it was like ‘Rah’, this sounds really good when you sample an Indie band, so why not carry on?

What kind of reception have you received from the individual scenes and their music outlets, like Radio 1 and Choice FM, for example?
Just mad! It’s really strange, ’cos I speak to people that I didn’t even know have heard of me, and it’s like, how id you even hear that song? The Internet is a very, very powerful thing; my songs seem to have gotten all over the place! I got played by Phil Jupitus of BBC Radio 6 I think it was, I’ve been played on other various radio stations, but the truth is, I’ve been so busy I don’t have the time to keep up with everything around me!

Have you found that some people from the traditional hip hop scenes are a little skeptical of your music before they’ve even heard it?
Erm, yes and no. I mean, nine times out of 10, I’ll explain to people what I’m doing, and they’re not very sure, but once they hear it, then they’re alright with it. Obviously, where I’m from, a lot of other rappers are from similar backgrounds, so when they hear what I’m rapping about, they kind of think, ‘Yeah, that’s what my life’s like too’. I can understand what you’re saying, but it’s working for me.

You sample a lot of Indie/punk rock songs on your EP – what have you been listening to recently?
I’ve been listening to quite a lot of Maccabees, Good Books, erm… D’you know what? I’ve been really stuck on my Marilyn Manson CD lately! I got out the ‘Hollywood’ CD off my shelf and I’m just hooked on it; he’s got a lot of stuff to say!

You’ve been hailed by NME Magazine as one of the leaders of the ‘Grindie’ scene – how do you feel about that?
I felt a bit shocked, ’cos I just kinda make music, so when this word ‘Grindie’ popped up, it was like, OK, is that what I do?! I mean, personally, I just make music; I don’t like to put labels on what I do, I don’t feel the need to. It just happened that I sampled an Indie song, and it got given a name, so I’m happy for it; if that’s what I’m being called by NME, then I’m fine with that.

You’ve been a part of the Why Lout? crew for a while now – how did you decide to go solo? Did you ever consider trying to make it as a group?
Nah, it was always a thing where we were gonna do our own thing. It’s always been that, but we’ve all sort of grown in the same direction; we just said we’ll do the group thing and once we’ve done that, we’ll carry on from where it finished. We’ve got another group project that we’re working on at the moment, a Why Lout? Records tape, which should be out soon. We’re still working on it, but the plan was always to go our separate ways, do what we can, and come back when we need to.

What are your thoughts on the UK hip hop scene at present? Is there anyone you’re interested in working with?
Definitely, definitely! I like what the UK’s got to offer at the moment; it’s a long and winding road, but I’m happy with where it’s going, the direction. I’d like to work with Sway, Face… I’m working with Akira The Don at the moment; that guy’s crazily talented! With me working on my EP, there wasn’t a lot of collaborations that I wanted to do, ’cos I wanted to keep it just me. At the moment I’m just kicking back and seeing what happens. I’ll keep making music, but I just see what happens, see if there’s anyone I really want to work with.

As an independent artist, what kind of obstacles have you had to overcome to get your music played?
Well, the problem is just getting it out there, and most of the time, if you can speak to somebody, and get them one-on-one, then I can get them to play it. Like I said, the Internet is a very powerful tool, so that’s just helped me so far just to get my music out there. Most of the time, I’ve had a good reception, I can’t really say that I haven’t, but that’s the big problem, just getting it out there.

I noticed you’ve got a MySpace page. A lot of artists are using that sort of networking site today; how beneficial are you finding it as a musician to have your profile on there?
It’s amazing! The amount of people that know me from MySpace is crazy! Sometimes, when I’m at gigs and I come off after performing, I’ll start speaking to someone, and they’ll be speaking to me like they know me! I’ll be baffled and then they say something which I remember from answering on the site, and then I’ll be like, ‘Rah! I’ve been chatting to you for like, three weeks! This is what you look like. Cool!’ So MySpace is a scary thing, but it’s so helpful, it’s unbelievable.

Finally, what’s next for Marvin The Martian?
I’m looking to do like I said, the Why Lout? Records mixtape, and working on a new full-length EP, and working with a few more Indie bands… D’you know what? I’ve been so busy, I can’t even keep up with what I’m doing myself!

Marvin The Martian’s ‘Hoods And Badges’ EP is out on June 5, 2006, on Universal Digital. For more information or to get in touch with Marvin, visit his official website, www.marvthemarsh.co.uk, or check out his MySpace profile: www.myspace.com/marvthemarsh.