In conversation with Norma Jean Martine
How are you doing, how are you spending your time nowadays? Hey ! I’m great actually. I’m currently living back in my hometown with my family, and it’s been so nice to be close to them again after almost 10 years of living an ocean away in London. Lately I’ve been spending my time writing a LOT of new songs. I know that for every 10 songs you write one is amazing, so I’m just keeping myself open to collaborations and creating space each day to throw song spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. I’ve got a few new ones that I’m really excited about. Besides that I’ve been continuing with my local activist work, and fun sewing projects.
You wrote the global #1 hit ‘Head Shoulders Knees And Toes’, what inspired the track and its lyrics? This is actually a funny story! I was about 20 minutes late to that session, and I remember when my friend Tim (Hight) answered the door to let me in, he was so excited and said, “I think we wrote a hit!” I of course was skeptical because being a songwriter for many years you know that the word “hit” gets thrown around a lot in sessions, and that they rarely materialize! So I walked into the studio and Tim and Josh and Janik from Quarterhead played me their idea, which was the general beat of the song with the melody and lyric as everyone knows, “I feel it in my head, my shoulders, knees and toes my bones….” At that point, that was all that was written. My initial feeling was, “This is either the worst thing ever or the best thing ever and I can’t tell.” Because it was a nursery rhyme, and could be seen as a little cheesy, my approach to the writing on the rest of the song was that it had to be cooler, and from a deep and real place. So I channeled an emotion that I have had in the past of feeling so attracted to someone that it feels almost all encompassing in its body response, and we referenced "Dance Monkey" for the bluesy type of melody in the verses. I grew up going to blues jams so the blues thing comes really naturally to me. It was a great collaboration, and I think the fact that all of us are very different writers on our own, was the key to this song being so unique. This of course was then brought to life with Ofenbach’s undeniably radio friendly pop production which I’ll be forever grateful for.
When writing a new song, what is the first thing you do or process you turn to? I really love writing songs about my own life because I feel I can free-write and get really deep and honest lyrically. Someone once told me that it’s best to “write what you know”, so that’s my general approach to most songs. I struggle writing songs that are vague and sparse lyrically, but I believe that is a big skill in itself and I have massive respect for pop writers who are able to do that consistently. The songwriting process used to be more methodical for me, but lately it’s become much more intuitive. That growth has come through writing a lot for other artists like Girli, and a new artist called Aidan which I’m really excited about, and being a conduit and witness to their creative process. I used to write music thinking, “What does everyone want from me?” and now my approach is much more like, “What do I love, what moves me, and what do I want to make?” It seems like a silly realization from the outside, but when you’ve been in the industry for so long, feeling the pressure of “making it”, finally finding that freedom within yourself to just create for you is really pivotal. I feel that it’s like a creative skeleton key, and has opened doors to some of the best songs I’ve written to date.
Tell us about your new EP ‘Visiting Hours’, how did it come about and what inspired the ‘Visiting Hours’ track? Visiting Hours is a song that I wrote with Rob Harvey (Joel Corry’s Head & Heart) and Jakwob almost 4 years ago. It was a few months after my lifelong friend Brock had passed and his mom had posted a meme on her Facebook about wishing “heaven had visiting hours”. I thought it was a really cool concept and kept it in my back pocket for the right session. Rob and Jakwob created that really safe space I needed to feel the pain of the loss and authentically write this song. Rob is an amazing writer and came up with the line, “I wanna call god up and ask for an appointment,” which I just found so genius. The song has sat for a while because I’ve been in-between record deals, but it’s an older one that has always stuck, and through the years since I wrote it, has brought comfort to me in times of grief and loss. I sang it at my brother's funeral last year, and I’ve had many people come up to me crying after singing it live telling me how it resonated with them and about the losses in their lives. It’s a song that I’ve found really connects people on a base level because loss is something we all experience. MOTi has done a brilliant remix as well which I’m really grateful for and I'm hoping it will connect with some of the Ofenbach audience.
The EP also features a very personal cover of the Beatles’ ‘Hey Jude’ which you recorded for your father’s late cousin. How does the song relate to the rest of the EP and what message do you want to get across with it? There is indeed a cover of "Hey Jude" on this EP, which I sang for my late cousin Tony who passed this summer. He was a massive Beatles fan, and actually auditioned for Beatlemania back in the day. When I saw him for the last time I was too choked up to sing for him as he was passing, so when I went home that night I immediately started recording this version to send to his sons to play for him remotely. When I was recording it a huge thunderstorm rolled through. I was breaking down while singing the song, which was really difficult, but I decided it was the right thing to keep those moments in the recording. My mom sang some of the harmonies at the end with me, and it felt like a really beautiful way to process the impending loss. I sent a rough version to his sons Vincent and Anthony as soon as it was done. They texted me back an hour later saying he passed during the storm, and that it was so serendipitous that I chose to sing him "Hey Jude" because it was the first song they played to celebrate his life after he passed. It felt like such a spirit moment, and I know even though his physical body never got to hear it, his spirit did. I even like to think that he was there with us jamming out during the recording and that he put that song in as a special request from heaven.
Coping with the loss of a loved one is unfortunately very relevant for many people around the world right now; what do you want to say to people in the same situation, is there anything that really helped you? When Brock died, 10 months later I was at his family home and I borrowed a sharpie from his mom to write a Christmas message to him on a decoration for his grave. I broke down as I was writing it and I’ll never forget when she said to me, “Grief is proof that you loved.” Since then, with all my other losses, every time I break down and get so so sad, I remember that the reason it’s so hard is because the love was so deep. Death ends life on this earth, but it doesn’t end love. Love never dies, and I think the grief is the inability to put that love somewhere. I hope that quote helps whoever is reading this and needs that message at this time.
What does it feel like to have a #1 hit which is streamed all over the world? It feels surreal honestly. None of my songs have ever come close to this level of success and I’ve been working really hard professionaly in this business for almost 10 years. It was unexpected, but I’m very grateful for this moment, and working towards and planning my next steps with this newfound platform.
How do you keep inspired on a creative level now that it’s more difficult to get external inspiration without being able to travel to new places etc? I find inspiration in my head with thoughts I have. I get inspired by movies. I get inspired by memes on instagram. I get inspired by other songs, like “wow they wrote a song about *insert topic*, let me try to write a song about that in my own way.” Inspiration can come from anywhere, you just have to be open to collecting those messages. Other writers really help too… on some days where maybe I don’t have a great idea, 9 times out of 10 someone else in the sessions will have a brilliant idea and we can just run with that.
You’ve collaborated with Ofenbach & Quarterhead, and more recently with MOTi on ‘Visiting Hours’, are there any other DJs/producers you’d like to collaborate with? Or any artists from different genres? In the dance world I’d love to collaborate with Calvin Harris, Kygo, The Chainsmokers, Flume, Mura Masa…. Just to name a few. In other genres, I’m very open and it’s a list I’m still compiling in my head. TBA 🙂
What can we expect from you in 2021? More dance songs and more me songs. I’m just working to release very consistently. I had a lag time between deals, so some of the songs that will be released soon are actually from a few years ago, but my goal is to be in a much quicker create – release flow… I don’t want things to ever sit this long again. I think consistency is key and honestly as a creative what you pay attention to in the process changes so much that I’d just like what I’m releasing to be more in synch in real time with how I’m growing and changing as a person.
You often speak out online in support of the BLM movement and environmental issues, are there any plans to use your music to spotlight these causes? This is something I think about often. Besides posting information and facts about it all the time to help spread awareness and making it very known publically where I stand in my beliefs, I do often think, “How can I channel this passion through my music?” I actually recently wrote a song called “Love is the Future”, which was inspired by the movement and marching over the summer. Last year I worked with an artist on a song about his experience as a bi-racial man, and I feel that with an awareness and curiosity about these topics it means that I can be a safe person to explore these emotions with on the writing side for other artists. It’s something I’d really like to do more of, and I’ve found this goes beyond race, as I’ve also collaborated with artists who are from the LGBTQ+ community and have been a conduit for them in writing songs about their very specific experiences as well. When writing for other artists I love to be the listener, or stenographer which I often joke about, who asks questions and just writes down every word they say to get to the heart of their emotion. I feel on these topics the key is listening to others’ experiences, because without listening, there will be no understanding or empathy. I love helping artists turn these emotions and experiences into songs that will resonate with others that have the same experience, but also to shed light on that experience for others who maybe have less of an understanding about it. On environmentalism, I wrote a song a few years ago called "American Beauty" that I hope to release soon that was inspired by the power plant next to my house. That situation has obviously been extremely devastating for my family, as it’s ruined my childhood home and literally has made it unsafe to live there anymore. I’d love to release that song with a music video that’s sort of like a documentary about the plant to bring awareness to the impacts and corruption involved. It’s all a process and I’m really just at the beginning of a new chapter, but it’s certainly something I want to weave in more and more as I move forward, and I see it as very important for my future. Another way that I’ve gotten involved in activism via the music industry is through Lauren Aquilina’s “Girl & Repertoire” which is a networking and Mentorship non-profit to help up and coming artists and writers build connections, gain knowledge and discover opportunities in the industry. I’m currently a mentor in the program, and it feels really nice to be the role model I needed when I was just starting out, sort of a music biz big sister, to someone now.
Do you have any inspirational words for our readers about what this year has in store for us? I think this year holds a lot of hope for the future, so I guess the most inspiring thing to say would be to hold on, and that we’re nearing the light at the end of the tunnel in terms of Covid…..and that next year at this time we will be at a NJM concert looking back at this time when we were all quarantined in our houses.
Last but not least, what is the first thing you will do when all is ‘back to normal’ again? I really miss traveling. I’m looking forward to coming back to London and sorting my storage unit and visiting some places in Europe that I haven’t had a chance to yet… and seeing all my friends over there. Time away from London has really made me realize how many people I love on the other side of the pond, and how much I love the lifestyle and culture.
