Agnes and Lui met at The Six Bells in Cambridge during the Buskers’ festival in June 2015, when Agnes stage-crashed a Hope Brothers gig, for whom Lui was depping. They both joined the Hope Brothers the following weekend for a gig at the Saffron Walden Fete de la Musique, clicked musically, and haven’t looked back. With surnames like Martin and Di Martino, and playing a couple of Martin guitars, much head-scratching was required to come up with the band name!

 

United in their love of upbeat songs, they rapidly assembled a repertoire of well-loved covers, spanning several decades, from which they strive to capture the essence, before applying their own stamp. With only two guitars and two vocals, many audiences have been surprised by their ability to create a full sound with a driving beat for dancing. They are often complimented for selecting songs that aren’t usually played by covers bands, from Satellite of Love by Lou Reed to Turning Japanese by The Vapors, via a ukulele version of ELO's Mr Blue Sky.

 

The Martinis also include a selection of upbeat originals, penned to exploit their two lead vocal styles, with a demo recording in progress, although admittedly momentarily delayed by a hectic gig schedule. Sample a taster of their music here.