Marc Martel – Thunderbolt & Lightning
Release Date: October 26, 2018
You may have seen one of his viral YouTube videos. You may have seen him performing during one of the Queen Extravaganza or Ultimate Queen Celebration shows. Or maybe you are one of his nearly half million social media followers. In any case, you know that he can sing. He can sing so well that when he does a Queen song, he summons the memories of Freddie Mercury and sends shivers up and down ones spine. If you don’t believe me go watch his audition of SOMEBODY TO LOVE
Marc Martel has made his mark with not only his videos but also for his performances in the Queen Extravaganza and Ultimate Queen Celebration shows. He also confirms the information about the movie Bohemian Rhapsody in the Rolling Stone article. “Most singing scenes in the movie rely on either vocal stems from Queen master tapes or new recordings by Marc Martel, a Canadian Christian rock singer whose voice is practically identical to the late frontman’s. “Literally, you could close your eyes and it’s Freddie,” says King. “And that’s a very tough thing to do.” High praise from the producer of the film, Graham King.
His new album, Thunderbolt & Lightning consists of eight Queen songs. I asked him how he decided to do an album featuring songs by Queen. Marc says, “I think it was a little bit for me and mostly for the audience. I’ve been wanting to do a Queen covers record for a while now and people have been asking for it. I just tried to walk that line between what people want to hear and maybe a couple of songs that I want people to hear. I think we found a pretty good balance there. Some of the tracks are the more predictable ones and a couple not so predictable.”
These are not just mere cover songs. Marc and his team have put a creative spin on these songs while still amazingly, keeping the integrity of the original recordings. A great example of this are the two versions of We Are The Champions. There’s a great full musical version at the beginning of the album but then there’s a stripped down, laid back version, to close out the record. You get to hear Marc’s vocals mixed with a soft electric piano that come together beautifully. Marc tells me how this second version came about. “The second one came as sort of an afterthought after I was done. My producer Ben and I had just gotten done for the day and it was like 4 o’clock and we normally stop at 6. I was getting ready to leave and he was like, Hey man, do you wanna see what else we can come up with? So he started noodling on We Are The Champions, but like super chill. And I was like, “aww man, yeah, let’s do that.” So the second version is a reprise, a revisiting of the song. It’s sort of a really chill version.”
Marc sounds fired up about his record coming out on the 26th. I asked him if he is getting any extra buzz from the movie, Bohemian Rhapsody, that is coming to theaters on November 2nd. Marc tells me, “Oh yeah, definitely. I think the fact that my Facebook page alone has grown by 100,000 followers in the last three months can probably be attributed a little to the movie, even though I haven’t really advertised it much at all. It also had to do with the videos that I posted. I had another video go viral a couple months ago for We Are The Champions, which was TOTALLY unexpected, oh my goodness! I thought people were sort of over that. Low and behold, I just sort of threw it together one afternoon because we were about to embark on an Australian tour. The promoter was like, Hey can you film yourself doing a Queen song on the piano, just real quick? I’m like, “okay, sure.” Million views later..” I tell him, emphatically, that from where we sit as fans of what he does, that we are certainly not over his renditions of these songs. Marc definitely appreciates the people that listen to him and the support he receives.
If you go to Marc’s Facebook page, it’s clear that Bohemian Rhapsody is special to him. I asked him to break down that song and what it means to him. Marc says, “Bohemian Rhapsody is obviously special to everyone, even an outside Queen fan. That is really the first song that made me aware of Queen in Wayne’s World, (laughs) but for good reason. It’s such an out of the box masterpiece. It’s really an anomaly, just that fact that something like that could be played on the radio is mind blowing. Especially me having spent fifteen years in the music industry trying to get my music played, I know how hard it is to get something that is remotely artistic to pass through the gatekeepers. I mean there’s a difference between now and 1975, but I kind of relate to the fact that wow, this somehow made to the public consciousness. In the early 2000’s, when I was just sort of discovering Queen, after my bass player.. I knew there was a band called Queen but it never really dawned on me that I shared any similarities with their lead singer. That was until my bass player told me one time and I remember vividly we were on the road in our fifteen passenger van, driving through Chicago. He said, you know you really ought to check out Queen because you’re just kind of a natural mimic and I think you could just learn a lot in a short period of time about what your voice can do and the potential you have.”
Marc continues, “I said “wow, okay..” and then I really dove deep into Bohemian Rhapsody. Then naturally, I think this was 2003 or something, I sat down in my little bedroom studio at the time and decided to record Bohemian Rhapsody as best I could and play every single part and all of the choir vocals. I still have that recording. It’s fun to go back and listen to it to see how much I’ve learned since then, how far I’ve come as a vocalist and even just recording/engineering. (laughs) It’s such a huge undertaking to record that song. It was good to go back and listen to it and say, man, I’ve come a long way. It’s a special song to me.”
I was intrigued to hear it. I asked Marc if that version will ever see the light of day. Marc tells me, “It might, you know that would be really fun to release that someday. It got into some peoples hands, I gave it to a couple of people, just on a thumb drive or whatever, years and years ago. It got into the hands of some people that book shows and I’ve gotten some show bookings just based on that thirteen year old recording. But yeah I think that’s a really great idea and I should think about releasing it somewhere.” I’m sure Marc’s fans would love that.
With the album coming out on the 26th, his tight touring schedule and the excitement of the movie coming out, Marc has to feel like a kid in a candy store. A busy kid, but still that sleep deprived excitement, many of us felt as children. To add to that excitement and wonder is the fact that Marc doesn’t know which parts, vocally, are his parts in the movie. Marc says, “I honestly don’t even know how much I’m in the movie until I see it. (laughs) I’m looking forward to seeing it on release day just like everyone else. It will really be a trip for me, man!”
We are excited to continue watching Marc Martel’s journey. It’s still moving forward at a rapid pace.
Look out for our podcast that is coming soon, that will include the rest of my interview with Marc and will also reveal some of his favorite singers. A list that might surprise you. We will also talk about a covers album that I wish that Marc would record. Stay tuned.
Until then, enjoy Thunderbolt & Lightning, out Friday, October 26, 2018.
-Tommy Marz
Follow @Tommy and @SoundVapors on Twitter
For More On Marc Martel and Thunderbolt & Lightning Visit:
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER |
Here’s a one take version on Bohemian Rhapsody that Marc put out today.