Bella Platt
Full time student and live music enthusiast, actively involved in Manchester and Newcastle’s music scene, interviewing and reviewing grassroots bands and larger indie acts.
Ahead of the release of their debut EP ‘From The Burnoff,’ out on 5th June, we chat to Manchester band Martial Arts
We caught up with Jim Marson and Matthew Pearce of Martial Arts ahead of their headline at The Castle Hotel, Manchester. Playing their home turf, the gig was sold out weeks in advance, with some of the city’s most exciting indie rising acts in the crowd, including TTSFU and Westside Cowboy. They might just be your favourite band’s favourite band.
With a European run supporting Lime Garden on the horizon and a slot at Pretty Pissed 2026 in Amsterdam locked in, the band have a packed summer planned. We sat down to talk new label signings, their debut EP ‘From the Burnoff’, and what it means to trade the stage for the studio.
Talk to me about the new EP, ‘From the Burnoff‘.
Jim: It’s out on the 5th of June. It’s a mix of tunes we’d played at our first show three years ago here (The Castle Hotel), and ones we wrote much more recently. We recorded it down in London with producers Craig Silvey (Rolling Stones, Arctic Monkeys) and Dani Bennett-Spragg (Wunderhorse, Sam Fender), I’ve had some of their records for years, so it was an insane experience working with them. Definitely a very informative recording process. Hopefully the EP gets us somewhere.
Previously your releases have grown over an extended gig circuit – what was it like bringing them into the studio?
Matthew: Even if you gig a song over and over again, you still learn a lot when bringing it to the recording studio and trying to put it down properly. Not massive structural changes, but lots changed in the way we played them. We were used to smacking our guitars as heavy as we could, now we’ve learnt to pull back and sound more intentional.
Jim: We’ve always recorded live, normally the aim was to capture what we do at a set. This time it was the intention of changing what we do. Producers pushed that.
Matthew: More intention in producing a record instead of just a live recording.
Jim: There were lots of phrases like the ‘arc of the song’. Definitely different then what we’ve done before. ‘Warsaw’ one of our earlier releases was recorded live all in the same room, hell for leather on guitars and pushing it all through the desk. Now the EP record is more careful, in live shows we can push it more.
Was it a big change or did it feel like a natural progression?
Jim: I loved it, I was shooting down to the studio early doors. He wasn’t (Matthew), he was still cooking breakfast.
You’ve recently transitioned from independent to label, signing with 5DB in London.
Jim: Shout out to them. It’s grand, lots of work.
Matthew: It’s good to finally have a team. Lots of new people and new faces.
When writing the EP, did you have a set audience in focus?
Jim: I like writing from the perspective of people we don’t like in a way to understand their mindset. Audience wise, I’d like to think a lot of young people can relate to our songs. It’s a struggle being a young person nowadays.
Matthew: Music comes first, lyrics second. We always getting the feeling of sound to the lyrics rather than the other way round. It’s instrument focused.
How has your experience of the music industry been the more you’ve ventured into it?
Jim: The more you peel back the curtain, it seems seismic the number of doors you have to get through to access the ‘unknown plug’ that gets you everywhere. But I think as long as you’re enjoying it, and have some level self-belief, it’s all manageable. We just want to squeeze the fun out of it before we get called too old.
Matthew: Cream rises to the top.
What are some of your current favourites?
Jim: Been making Turkish eggs so much. Lots of cooking generally.
Matthew: I’m liking how the outside smells. Pre-summer smell. And voting.
Any current dislikes?
Jim: Lack of annual leave. Everyone should have double.
Matthew: I hate the benches outside The Primrose in Leeds. I sat on them after a gig last week and got wet paint all down my favourite trousers. Made it worse putting them through the wash. And no ‘Wet Paint’ sign.
Debut EP ‘From the Burnoff’ is out on 5th June via 5dB Records.
Listen to ‘Before The Fire’ here: