Interview with Martin Rafferty: ‘I can’t believe the similarities between boxing and music’

Armagh, Northern Ireland singer-songwriter Martin Rafferty writes the kind of punchy, anthemic songs designed to be played in big stadiums, taking inspiration from places as far afield as Australia.

Earlier this year, he released his second EP, ‘Atlantic Crossing’, which he jokes isn’t a reference to the Rod Stewart album of the same name. Rafferty’s EP consists of six tracks that all tell a personal story: ‘A lot of the songs I write tell stories, the ups and downs of relationships and life, in a positive way, so that people can dance to it,’ he said. ‘They’re stories of what has happened to me or my mates.’

‘Wasting Time’, the opening track on ‘Atlantic Crossing’ is a great example of that. On the surface, it appears to be about a romantic relationship where you feel someone is wasting your time but it turns out to be about something else entirely: ‘A contact in the music industry came to us a few years ago, promised us studios and the earth, moon and stars, which didn’t materialise, so it’s about the anger and disappointment we felt about him,’ he said. ‘If you’re feeling angry or frustrated, you can vent it out via your songs. When you’re writing songs like that, there’s a lot of emotion to it, which I think makes it easier for people to connect to. It was the first song that we recorded locally in Manor Park Studios.’

It’s a massive track that launches straight in with a hooky guitar line, pounding drums and a huge, singalong chorus, with the anger coming through in the chorus: ‘I just wanna scream, shout it out, where have you been? Don’t you love me, don’t you love me? Are you wasting my time.’

That theme carries through to the next track, ‘Don’t Make A Sound’: ‘It’s about disappointments in the music industry and relationships,’ he said. ‘Anger at relationships not working out and wondering if you’re in the right place as a musician or life in general, you know?’

His frustration is very apparent from the lyrics: ‘Tell me what I’m doing wrong. Help me write a different song ‘cos I’m losing all my faith and now I’m afraid. Time is moving on and on. Changing me and everyone. Would you give me one more chance or is it too late? ‘Cos I’m praying on my knees for all my mistakes.’

‘They’re highly energetic, when we play them live, people have smiles on their faces’

One of Rafferty’s main aims is to write songs that draw people in and offer them a bit of escapism: ‘People go out at the weekend and want to party after a mundane week at work, so the songs were geared towards that. They’re highly energetic when we play them live and people have smiles on their faces, which is all you want.’ He can clearly work a crowd, too: ‘On our UK tour in 2018, we had the opportunity of being on the same bill as the Pigeon Detectives, Feeder and Reef at the “Lee Stock Music Festival”. No-one knew who we were, so no-one was close to the stage when we first started. As the set went on, gradually people got closer and closer until most of the crowd was close to the front barrier and that’s when we knew we were onto something,’ he said, sounding delighted.

Other tracks have interesting and unexpected provenances, such as ‘These Empty Pages’: ‘That was written about Armagh, our home town. A lot of locals leave Armagh and set off for Australia in search of work, so that’s what that song is about. Some find huge success out there and never leave, whilst others don’t and eventually return home.’

One of my favourite tracks on the EP is the closing song, ‘The Last One’, which I say sounds like a potential Bond theme. ‘I thought the exact same thing!,’ he said, sounding really pleased, picking up a guitar and starting to strum. ‘I think it’s Cm, G#, F and B♭. I think it’s the wee G# that turns it into a Bond.’ He plays it and it really does. ‘Again, this song is about trying to find your way through life, wondering if you’ve made the right decisions and coming to terms with the ups and downs along the way.’

Next up is a brand new track, ‘You’ll Never be Alone’, which was written about local Armagh legend Stevie McGeown who ran 100 marathons in 100 days for local charities. ‘We’re recording the track this month, followed by a video shoot next month, then plan to release it around September or so.’

‘We all went in to have a look, gave him an EP, got a photo with him and off he went!’

Rafferty has also met some of the greats, most notably Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page: ‘We were on our UK tour in 2018 – we had 12-13 dates – we were on route to London. We stopped at a service station, we slept there in our camper van, and the next morning one of the lads went in, came back and said “No shit, Jimmy Page is in Burger King!” So we all went in to have a look, gave him an EP, got a photo with him and off he went! That same day, we met Noel Gallagher in London (they went to his house, rang the bell and he came out to see them), explained who we were and that we’d like to give him our EP. He was brilliant and asked where we were playing that night,  which was Dublin Castle. He told us that he’d played there, too, when Oasis first started out. He took our EP and said he’d have a listen. We got some photos with him, too.’

We chat for a bit about Oasis’ bad reputation in the press versus the great stories everyone who’s actually met them recount and how approachable they appear to be. Our chat turns to what it is about particular songs that resonate with you, even if they’re in a language you don’t understand or if the lyrics don’t appear to make much sense: ‘It’s like that Oasis song, ‘Some Might Say’, which has that line: “The sink is full of fishes, she’s got dirty dishes on the brain”. It doesn’t really make sense but you can rock out to it anyway!,’ he laughed. Rafferty has also had the opportunity to meet U2: ‘A friend of mine’s uncle writes for The Observer in London and has interviewed U2 many times so they became great friends,’ he explained. ‘When they were playing in Belfast he gave us two back stage passes to their show, so we got to meet Bono and the whole band, get pics with them and give them our EP. It was an unforgettable experience.’

On YouTube and social media, Rafferty has posted sweet videos of him singing with his six year old niece, Aoife, and his ten year old nephew, Cillian, who plays a guitar that is almost as big as he is and I ask him if music has always run in the family: ‘I own my own music school in Armagh called M.D Rafferty Music School, we teach people of all ages from five to seventy-five,’ he said. (The school offers lessons in guitar, bass, piano, mandolin, banjo, ukulele, drums and singing.) ‘I was teaching him from the age of six. He wrote his own song about lockdown and it was honestly so good. (It’s a lovely track with great vocals and lyrics.) He started busking when he was seven in Armagh and has performed at many of our school’s live events. My niece Aoife has such a  great voice on her, too, and has begun doing her own natural vibrato. Most vocalists have to be taught how to do that kind of stuff, but she’s been doing it naturally from the start. She’s going to be amazing, isn’t she?!’ I say that she is and that maybe they’ll all be touring together some day and he laughs and says that he’d love that.

Rafferty clearly loves teaching and is acutely aware of just how much playing an instrument, singing and music in general can lift people’s spirits: ‘We’ve 13 teachers at the school and a general manager. It’s so fulfilling when you teach students of all ages how to play and sing. You get the same buzz out of that as you do performing live.’

‘Boxing’s to do with rhythm, it’s like you’re dancing in the ring’

As a boxer, he’s also a strong proponent of the benefits of music and sport combined: ‘Even as tutors, we’d stress the importance of mental health and physical fitness,’ he said. ‘It’s the endorphins from music and sport. I can’t believe the similarities between boxing and music. I remember my boxing coach, Sean Duffy, telling me how Joe Calzaghe, the famous boxer, trains to classical music. Boxing’s to do with rhythm, it’s like you’re dancing in the ring and you’re using the same parts of your brain as music.’

Luckily for the children he teaches, sport is already a part of their lives: ‘There are a lot of football teams here locally, so a lot of our students play football, rugby or attend swimming lessons.  They’ve all got hectic schedules!,’ he said, laughing. I think it’s great though, as music and sport connect people.’

Growing up in Armagh, which he describes as ‘a small town about 40 minutes outside Belfast’, Rafferty says that there’s not much of a music scene: ‘Our bass player, Jordie Kelly, is in a band of his own called We Are the Trees. I’d definitely recommend checking them out. Jordie is based in Belfast, one member is in Liverpool and the other is in London. They write, mix and produce a lot of their stuff online and then get together every so often for live shows.’

Rafferty cites former New Jersey, US rock band, The Gaslight Anthem, as having inspired him, particularly their lead singer, Brian Fallon, as well as Arctic Monkeys and Bruce Springsteen and we chat for a while about how great Springsteen is: ‘My favourite album of his is Magic,’ he said. ‘The music starts and it’s so recognisable. It’s that voice as well, he starts to sing and you know it’s Bruce!’

The music industry has shifted since the pandemic struck last year and Rafferty is grateful that more and more people are embracing new music, to the extent that it’s no longer necessary to spend money on expensive advertising campaigns or music videos: ‘You could spend thousands on a music video or pick a location and get a friend to film it on their phone, which we’ve done, and you’ll probably get more traction that way. It makes music more accessible and something that anyone can do from their own bedroom.’

If he could tour with anyone, he is quick to say Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds: ‘He made me pick up the guitar at the start. It would be a dream come true.’ And while he couldn’t afford guitar lessons as a kid, he found creative ways around it: ‘I bought an Oasis chord book for six pound in my local music shop when I was 11 and there was no stopping me then! We didn’t have internet at home but I knew a kid at school who did and he said he’d print me off songs and bring them in, it was like a drug deal going down every day, haha!’