Hodge

With his debut LP, Shadows In Blue, Jacob Martin cements his reputation as one of the UK’s most innovative producers. Si Truss catches up with him to talk synths, sci-fiand the challenges of writing an album

- Si Truss

Over the past decade, Bristol-based musician Jacob Martin – aka Hodge – has carved out a space for himself at the forefront of the UK’s underground club circuit. Having also worked as one half of house duo Outboxx, Martin’s solo project productions have always seen him gravitate towards the more eclectic and experimental end of techno, blending the genre’s bass-heavy rhythms with elements of jungle, dubstep, ambient and more.

With years of relentless touring and a string of releases for the likes of Punch Drunk, Livity Sound and Peach Discs under his belt, 2020 sees Martin branch out with his excellent debut solo LP, Shadows In Blue. We caught up with him to find out more.

Why are you putting out an album out at this point in your career?

“It’s quite hard to do an album, because everything is geared around the club for me. The reason I started was because of the inspiration of rhythm and wanting to make music that made people dance and that lent itself very well with making dance music. Especially when I was just starting out I was obsessed with going out. I was going out in Bristol every weekend. So it was just natural to write for the dancefloor. As the years progressed I started DJing out and that became my job. “Oh my God, I can make money from this.” And the music I was making during the week I was testing in the clubs at the weekend. The vibe I got then would feed back into the music. That kept me going for so long.