Interview mit CHRISTOPHER MARTIN beim „Summerjam“ 2012
in Cologne, Germany

At "Summerjam" 2012 in Cologne there was also an opportunity for us to talk to CHRISTOPHER MARTIN. Since the sympathetic, modest singer emerged as the winner from Jamaican "Idol Show", his career goes steeply uphill.
In our spontaneous interview in Christopher´s dressing room I heard not only details about his collaboration with GENTLEMAN and his new album "Not the first, not the last", but I also learned, that there is a difference between German and Jamaican casting shows: In Jamaica is in fact the search for talented singers the main aspect.

In 2005 you won the "Idol Show" of Jamaica. How was that for you?

It was very good. You know, 2005 was a very good year for me. That year I started in the business. I would say "good" is an understatement, it was a "great" year for me. That competition does wonders for young talents in Jamaica. It gives you a chance to showcase your gift or your talent on a national stage. To make a long story short: Yes, I won that competition in 2005 and it´s been a wonderful ride ever since.

And was it a difficult decision for you to do that? Because in the German "Idol Show" they sometimes discriminated the people and making a fool of them.

For me personally, it wasn´t a very hard decision. My friends and my family supported me a lot. So it was cool. You know, you have people who go there as a joke, they are not very serious about it. But I was very serious about it, I knew I want it. And my friends and my family were there for me, so it was a very easy decision. I was never scared of being treated bad there. I was probably nervous sometimes, because you sing on national TV and millions of people are seeing you, but I was never scared.

You just did the song "To the Top" together with GENTLEMAN.

Yes, that was a very big song and big up to GENTLEMAN! It was a really, really nice song, a really big song and I´m just so glad to be able to do that song with GENTLEMAN. It was a wonderful thing for me and perform it live with him. I did it on "Summerjam" and we went on tour together. Yeah man, it was a great thing.

And how did that all happen? How did it start with GENTLEMAN?

He was in Jamaica in 2009, I think, and I expressed, that I wanted to do a song with him. He was working at a studio and I was working at a studio and we saw each other. I told him, that I really loved his music and that I loved his work and I said "Sometime I would love to do a song with you". And he waited some years and then it happened.

Are you just working on a own album at the moment?

Yes, it´s my second album. My first album was exclusive to Japan, this one will be distributed worldwide, so everyone can get a copy. And it´s 90% complete right now. So very soon you´ll have my second album "Not the first, not the last".

Photo: kingstone
Article: Kati Rausch