Candid conversations and music about things that matter, with people that matter. Curated by Dimplez. Powered by IJEOMA.

John Martin, the son of a stuntman was born and raised in the Southern suburbs of Stockholm, Sweden. He got his first guitar at the age 13 and formed his first band.  They played Nirvana cover songs and at the shows John usually wore a dress.

At home John sang Alice in Chains songs and his vision of life as a star grew stronger. Gradually, the covers were replaced by his own songs and the creative drive to write took over.

John worked for his family buisiness and played with his band during the weekends, performing at every bar and club that offered free dinner and drinks. However, a conflict of creative interest was leaving John with a feeling of being held back. The band was signed and after working on an album for several years the project was stopped by the record company.

In Spring 1999, John Martin performed with his rockband at a party in central Stockholm and Michel Zitron, an aspiring young songwriter and producer, attended the show. Afterwards they were introduced by a mutual friend.  It was ten years before John and Michel’s paths s crossed again.

A summernight in 2009, Michel Zitron who by now was an established songwriter/producer, was DJaying at a club in Stockholm. A drunk John Martin was in the crowd, having left his friends at the rockclub on a quest for housemusic. After closing time John and Michel ended up at the same underground club and were re-introduced by a former eurodisco artist. The duo discovered their common passion for melancholy, big melodies and clubmusic. They had a long conversation about the lack of sadness, meassages and stories in contemporary dance music.  It was decided that they should work together.

Their first songs emerged rapidly and were like prophecies from their own lifes. They realized that they were both at the same crossroads in life and musical soulmates.

Michel felt that John’s voice was bigger than the group he was currently playing with and after a number of long nights including a lot of wine, philosophy and debating about the meaning of life, they decided to make an album.

They both broke up with their girlfriends and locked themselves in the studio.

 The story of UB40, and how this group of young friends from Birmingham transcended their working-class origins to become the world’s most successful reggae band is not the stuff of fairytales as might be imagined. The group’s led a charmed life in many respects it’s true, but it’s been a long haul since the days they’d meet up in the bars and clubs around Moseley, and some of them had to scrape by on less than £8 a week unemployment benefit. The choice was simple if you’d left school early. You could either work in one of the local factories, like Robin Campbell did, or scuffle along aimlessly whilst waiting for something else to happen.

By the summer of 1978, something else did happen, and the nucleus of UB40 began rehearsing in a local basement. Robin’s younger brother Ali, Earl Falconer, Brian Travers and James Brown all knew each other from Moseley School of Art, whilst Norman Hassan had been a friend of Ali’s since school. Initially, they thought of themselves as a "jazz-dub-reggae" band, but by the time Robin was persuaded to join and they’d recruited Michael Virtue and Astro – who’d learnt his craft with Birmingham sound-system Duke Alloy – the group had already aligned themselves to left-wing political ideals and forged their own identity, separate from the many punk and Two Tone outfits around at that time. The group had nailed their colours to the mast by naming themselves after an unemployment benefit form. Their political convictions hadn’t been gleaned second hand either, but cemented in place whilst attending marches protesting against the National Front, or rallies organised by Rock Against Racism.

By the time Chrissie Hynde invited them to tour with the Pretenders during the summer of 1980 and their debut single "King b/w Food For Thought" had sailed into the UK Top 5, all the essential elements of UB40 were already in place. Their line-up will remain unchanged for almost thirty years, and they will continue playing a mix of original material and inspired choice of reggae covers in a style that’s instantly accessible with its bright melodies and sweeping horn arrangements – one that’s allied to a formidable rhythm section, capable of holding its own with anything from Jamaica.

UB40’s first album was released the following September, on Graduate Records. Their deal allowed them more creative freedom than if they had signed with a major label. The cover artwork memorably duplicated an unemployment benefit card, with the title "Signing Off" rubber-stamped in red, but it was the music that quickly worked its way into the affections of a young, mainly student crowd with its knowing lyrics, solid reggae rhythms and dubby, instrumental passages, offset by warm horn solos and Jamaican style scatting. There was nothing else like it at the time. As a multi-cultural band from Birmingham, UB40 weren’t drawn into trying to sound "authentic," and there was considerably more depth to their music than that of many punk and 2Tone bands. "I’m a British subject, not proud of it, whilst I carry the burden of shame," they sang on one of the tracks. Accepting the truth of their own situation amidst a sea of other reggae songs proclaiming black heritage gave us a valuable insight into where UB40 were coming from. They were unafraid to stand up and be counted, and British audiences instinctively loved them for it. "Signing Off" duly went to No. 2 in the UK and stayed on the nation’s album charts for 72 weeks.

On September 2nd, 2013, UB40 released their latest album ‘Getting Over The Storm’ on Universal/Virgin Records.

Our music is scientifically formatted to help you exceed your fitness goals, motivating you to work out longer, harder – and have a lot more fun doing it. WorkoutMusic.com - Motivation To Move!

NickBolding is following