Wrest Point, 8.30pm, Fri, July 22: Martika

When the earth moves in Tasmania we can thank Cuban creativity!

I phoned Marta Marrero earlier this week. Marta is better known as singer/dancer/actress Martika who burst onto the music scene in the 80s with her self-penned song ‘Toy Soldiers’, following with other hits ‘When the earth moves’ and ‘Love, they will be done’.

Martika will be in Tasmania in late July as part of ‘Totally 80’s’, where she joins a number of artists in a tribute to 80’s music. Martika has visited Australia before on music promotions but has never been to Tasmania and her knowledge of the state mainly revolves around the Tasmanian devil. Martika tells me she loves Australia and is eagerly looking forward to the upcoming visit. Like most musicians touring is mainly confined to travel to the country, travel to the hotel and then travel to the venue but Martika is hoping to see something of both Australia and our Tasmania when she visits.

The musician says she has always thought of herself as ‘a singer who could dance’ or ‘a dancer who could sing’. The two she says are intertwined and she can’t imagine one without the other. Even though Martika has worked as an actor she believes her real acting is most clearly observed in the emotions she brings to a song. It was always going to be a performing career for Martika although she tells me, if she hadn’t followed that course, perhaps she might have been a psychologist or a lawyer! She tells me her mum had aspirations to be a dancer so it was almost a sure thing she would honour those ambitions. In her immediate family Martika’s uncle, a drummer was the one who chose music as a career but more than any familial connection to music it is the strong Cuban cultural thread that saw her become a musician.

As a composer Martika says songs arrive in many different ways to her, a chord or lyric might pop into her head without her consciously seeking it. Some half-finished songs might, after a period of dormancy have the ‘missing piece of jigsaw’ finally fly into place. Martika’s muse of music has endless ways of integrating her inspiration, including collaboration.

When a song is covered by other artists with their own interpretations Martika says that its ‘cool’ to see another take on your song and so continue its evolution.

From a culture that’s vitality sees guitar players in the streets and families creating music together the old fashioned way Martika still welcomes the advancement of technology that allows everyone’s ability to be an artist citing the fact that a few years ago we wouldn’t have imagined that today we can all be photographers.

You can see Martika perform in ‘Totally 80s’ at the Wrest Point Entertainment Centre Friday 22nd July at 8.30pm.
Paula Xiberras