Martyrs

Forming their first high school band together in Cyfarthfa Castle, Merthyr Tydfil and reconvening many years later to reignite their musical partnership, Jon Howells (music) and Michael Hall (words) have spent the past two years creating a series of dedicatedly DIY EPs to escalating, and increasingly baffling, attention and acclaim. Writing, recording, producing and self-releasing all of their work from their attic studio overlooking the coast, the duo's dedicated DIY ethic extends to their music videos, artwork, t-shirt design and "promotion." Avowedly genre-agnostic, their recent run of releases has seen them swerve through sophisipop, indie rock, sound collage, post-rock, folk, vaporwave and metal while telling everyone, straight-faced, that it's "all pop music." Influences may include but are not limited to: Japanese pro wrestling, black coffee, John Steinbeck, Charles Schultz, The Blue Nile, Hall & Oates, Steely Dan, Cyndi Lauper, Luxury Elite, GoGo Penguin, Mogwai, Rose Gray, Talk Talk and Shellac. Recent plays on BBC Radio Wales among hundreds of other stations worldwide, combined with some quite frankly wild critical plaudits, has brought their music to a wider audience, as has their recent collaboration with The Anchoress.