About

ARCTIC (Marcus Martin) draws much of his sonic inspiration from the vast expanses of the northern landscape where he was raised. Growing up in Yellowknife, Martin would join his father, a pilot, on trips to remote settlements and camps in the Northwest Territories of Canada. “There are some things that stick in your mind forever like a first concert, a first date, a first prize,” recalls Martin. “For me it was the first time I truly saw the world from the front seat of a DC3 plane, looking at the endless openness of the north, its beauty, its shape, its air, its syncopation with all that existed in its hands.”

Martin’s flightpath carried him to Toronto, where he honed his skill as a guitarist in styles from acid jazz to heavy metal. The coastal beauty of Vancouver drew him west in 2002, and ARCTIC emerged from the rain as his solo project. Using a looper and effects to sample and layer his live guitar performance, drawing from diverse and contrasting influences, he developed his own distinctive style of haunting and evocative melodies and textures that the Georgia Straight would later call “the most captivating oddity to come out of Vancouver this year”.

In 2006, Martin expanded ARCTIC into a full band, which has toured throughout Canada and France. Eventually evolving into its own sound and style, the band was renamed One Arctic One in 2012, and has released tracks recorded with Shawn Penner (Mother Mother, Hannah Georgas). ARCTIC continues on as Martin’s solo exploration, in parallel with One Arctic One.

News

ARCTIC solo tour this August/September

August 2, 2013
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This month, Marcus Martin will be heading out on a cross-Canada solo tour, performing as ARCTIC, with stops in the following cities and more to be announced:

08/09/13 – Revelstoke, BC – The Last Drop

08/15/13 – Sault Ste Marie, ON – Loplop Lounge & Gallery

08/17/13 – Ottawa, ON – Avant-Garde Bar (With Georgian Bay and Sarah Bradley)

08/22/13 – Windsor, ON – Phog Lounge

08/24/13 – Toronto, ON – The Sister

09/01/13 – Toronto, ON – C’est What?

09/14/13 – Kamloops, BC – The Art We Are (support for The Caspians)

09/21/13 – Squamish, BC – Howe Sound Brewing

For more details and to find out about more shows as they’re announced, stay tuned to ARCTIC’s Facebook page or keep an eye on the ARCTIC website at http://www.projectarctic.com.

Same name, new ideas

May 23, 2013
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Some of you may know ARCTIC as solo acoustic music, and some of you may know ARCTIC as a full band. The two projects started off as one, but they’ve each grown to sound very different, and it’s time to distinguish them from each other.

The full band version of ARCTIC is now named One Arctic One and you can find out more about it at http://www.onearcticone.com.

Marcus Martin’s solo project will keep the name ARCTIC, and the website http://www.projectarctic.com.