Catching Up With Ronnie Martin (Joy Electric, Dancehouse Children) On The Release Of A Long Lost Treasure [Plus an EXCLUSIVE early spin!]

Before Joy Electric, even before Dancehouse Children – the trippy and innovative project Ronnie Martin pioneered with his younger brother Jason (who went on to form Starflyer 59 and many other noteworthy projects,)  the ambitious teens, along with friend Randi Lamb on bass, formed a dreamy, dark, new wave band called Morella’s Forest. You can read the whole story, written wonderfully by former True Tunes writer (and current Bandcamp music director) J. Edward Keyes at the bottom of this post. It’s a good one. The punchline? The band’s only recorded work never saw the light of day. Their label folded before it could be released. But now, 30 years later those masters, long believed to have been lost or destroyed, have been found, gifted back to the Martins, painstakingly restored, and released by our good friends at Velvet Blue Music who – it just so happens – released their first album 25 years ago this year by an Orange County duo called, wait for it…. Dancehouse Children. True Tunes sold that record.

Isn’t life grand?

Hardcore True Tunes and Dancehouse Children devotees may recall a bit of a kerfuffle surrounding a less-than-favorable assessment of the band’s debut handed out by this magazine. The review commented significantly on the album’s – let’s call them “bold” liner notes. Ronnie Martin took issue – writing a letter to the editor, which was published. The whole thing got out of hand, leading to a face-to-face conversation at Cornerstone 90-something, at which all hatchets were buried, goodwill was restored, explanations were given and received, and onlookers walked away disappointed that fisticuffs failed to materialize.

While bold assertions made by unproven teenagers may come off as cocky, history has certainly proven the Martin brothers to be exceptional talents of extraordinary grit. It has been said that it’s not bragging if you can deliver. These guys have delivered. And now, to have the opportunity to hear an artifact such as this is a real treat. When Morella’s Forest hit the famed Casbah studio with Chris Colbert (then of Breakfast with Amy and other underground bands, but later to come to fame as a producer and live engineer for international stars,) they were just kids. But you can clearly hear their creative fingerprints already forming in their sound.

While the vinyl and CD copies of this reissue sold out in the pre-order phase, the digital and streaming versions drop on May 14th. Velvet Blue has given the True Tunes community a sneak peek early listen to one track. Enjoy this early spin of “Honeylands” as you wait for the entire project to be unveiled. And as enjoy the glorious, echoing, romantic, new-wave sounds, join us as we catch up with Ronnie Martin to get a glimpse of what this project means to him, and what he has going on these days.

(And in anticipation of the question, no. This band had nothing to do with the Dayton band that “borrowed” the name several years later. There is a bit of a connection there, in that Colbert was also an early producer of THAT Morella’s Forest. But by the time Sydney Rentz, Shawn Johnson, and the McCorkle brothers came along and started working with Colbert, Steve Hindalong, and Tooth and Nail, the Martin Brothers had already evolved. To avoid confusion, however, this release is being credited to Morella’s Forest 1988.)

True Tunes: When you listen to these tracks all these years later, how do they strike you? What do you feel first when the sound hits your ears and your emotions?

Ronnie Martin: It’s hard to put into words. Up until I heard the finished master, I hadn’t revisited these songs in so many years that it was hard to feel a connection with them. It was more of a rediscovery than anything because I couldn’t have recalled half of these songs if you’d asked me about them. To be honest, I was really impressed with the drum and bass tracks. Jason had incredibly good timing for someone who had only been playing the drums for a short time. Our intent was for the drums to have a very drum machine-like quality to them like New Order, and I think we achieved that on some level. Randi Lamb’s bass lines were so melodic and rhythmic as well. He had such a great ear for writing parts that complemented the songs. If I wanted to, I could probably be overly critical about my guitar and vocal tracks, but given my age and the era we were in, it’s fun to listen to. My main passion has always been songwriting, so that would be my strongest contribution to the record, I think. It’s hard to listen to the record and not imagine how the group might have developed into the future, so there’s definitely some regret and sadness mixed in there as well.

You were so young when this was recorded. Tell us about the experience you must have already had. What were you listening to? Who were you inspired by? How were you learning and working on your craft so that, at just 16, you were already functioning at such an accomplished level?

Well, I was 18 and Jason was 16, but I had been writing songs for a couple of years at that point and was fiercely dedicated to improving my craft. Some people work on becoming better musicians, but I had already finished 10 years’ worth of piano lessons and was only interested in songwriting. I was listening to bands like The Smiths, New Order, Depeche Mode, LSU, Mad at the World, Daniel Amos and 441 religiously, so that’s where those influences came from. For me, it was about writing the catchiest and most melancholy choruses possible, and those bands really excelled at that. A song like “Sweet Sweet Charity” was a milestone because it really captured the kind of songs I wanted to write, and I’ve essentially been writing that song ever since. I was really fortunate to have Jason and Randy be as good as they were at the time.

What do you remember about your intentions when you guys were writing these songs and then in the studio? What were you hoping to accomplish?

At the time, the Christian music world still had a limited number of bands, so you really had the opportunity to do something that stood out. There really hadn’t been a group besides Mad at the World who had overtly British influences. We were listening to New Order and The Cure and thought we could offer something in that vein. I’m pretty sure we would have become more electronic and dance-oriented in places had we carried on, but we really thought we had something unique to offer the church culture we were in. The studio time is a blur for me, other than we just did what Chris Colbert told us to do and played the songs how we’d been rehearsing them for over a year. My recollection was that it was a fairly quick and pain-free process, although I’m sure we had our fair share of arguments. It was an exciting time and we were hopeful for a future that was never to be.

Narrowpath was one of those underground alternative labels that worked with artists who were Christians – or at least leaned into Christian ideas – but wanted to present their music to the whole world as opposed to just the “Christian Bubble.” Breakfast With Amy, The Lonely Now, and The Crucified are a few that come to mind. I know we were big fans at True Tunes back then as that was what we were all about, too. Even though that label failed – what did you learn during those early years that helped propel you into the rest of your career?

The experience just inspired me to keep moving forward, which led to our time with Blonde Vinyl and then Tooth and Nail Records. I’m grateful to have met so many kind and gracious people over the years, some of whom changed my life forever. By God’s grace, I avoided some of the bitterness and cynicism that a lot of artists dealt with during their time in the “Christian Bubble,” as you put it. I say that with a lot of understanding and compassion, too. Making music is filled with so much difficulty. We not only create from the depths, but we entrust these creations to others who may or may not handle them with the kind of care we hope for. When money and marketing and touring and promotion all come into play, the picture can become incredibly blurred. Although I would do a lot of things differently if I had the chance to do it all over again, the Lord has used every detail of it to bring me to the place I’m at today.

What are you up to now? How can fans keep up with you?

I have my first solo record coming out this fall on Velvet Blue Music. And by solo, I simply mean I’m using my name for the first time. You can follow me on Twitter at @ronniejmartin. Thanks so much!

Here is the full album story, written by former True Tunes regular, J. Edward Keyes: