Martin Carr (born 29 November 1968) is an English musician and writer who was the chief

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

and

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

ist with the band

The Boo Radleys The Boo Radleys are an English alternative rock band who were associated with the shoegazing and Britpop movements in the 1990s. They originally formed in Wallasey, England, in 1988, with singer/guitarist Simon "Sice" Rowbottom, guitarist/songwr ...

. Born in

Thurso Thurso (pronounced ; , ) is a town and former burgh on the north coast of the Highland council area of Scotland. Situated in the historical County of Caithness, it is the northernmost town on the island of Great Britain. From a latitudinal s ...

, Scotland, he was raised in

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the mouth of the River Mersey, on the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Peninsula. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county bou ...

, England.

Life and career

Carr was born in

as his Mancunian father was working at the nuclear facilities at

Dounreay Dounreay (; ) is a small settlement and the site of two large nuclear establishments on the north coast of Caithness Caithness (; ; ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutena ...

at the time: the family moved to Merseyside when Carr was at a very young age. The first single he bought was " Message in a Bottle" by

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...

. Martin attended St. Mary's College,

Wallasey Village Wallasey Village is a district and suburb of Wallasey, in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, England. At the 2001 Census the population of the area was 8,550. Wallasey Village is the most westerly suburb of Wallasey and borders the other subu ...

, and played an early gig with The Boo Radleys at The Grand

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

in New Brighton. After the breakup of the Boo Radleys, Carr launched a

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity * Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character * Napoleon Solo, fr ...

career, taking the name bravecaptain from a

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

by the U.S.

rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

Firehose. His solo work has largely been more electronic based than his previous work, and mainly features himself on

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

, whereas in The Boo Radleys he rarely sang (despite writing the

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...

). In 2008, Carr announced that he had recorded a new album in Cardiff with producer Charlie Francis and a few 'friends'. Martin Carr told music website

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...

about his plans to release the album via the Bandstocks scheme. By the start of the following year Carr had abandoned the Bandstocks project, later commenting to music industry website

HitQuarters HitQuarters was an international music industry publication and contact database founded in 1999. It was noted for its in-depth interviews with industry figures, as well as its A&R and manager contact directory, free artist promo pages and song ...

that "it needs a lot of work and commitment to try and find investors and I couldn't offer either." Instead he released the album ''Ye Gods (and Little Fishes)'' in July 2009 on his own new imprint Sonny Boy Records, using the company State 51 for distribution. Carr explained, during a September 2014 interview for BBC 6music, that he had all but given up hope of a career as a solo artist, and was working on TV themes and other commissions, when German label Tapete Records had contacted him. The label staff had enquired whether he had any material which they might release. This, and especially the relaxed nature of the request, led to his 2014 album ''The Breaks'', and its debut single, "Santa Fe Skyway". In October 2017, Martin released ''New Shapes of Life'' on Tapete Records. The third album released under his name and his second with Tapete Records. Carr was diagnosed with

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and emotional dysregulation that are excessive and pervasive, impairing in multiple con ...

and

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

as an adult.

bravecaptain discography

Albums

* ''Fingertip Saint Sessions Vol 1'' (14 August 2000) * ''Go With Yourself (Fingertip Saint Sessions Vol II)'' (9 October 2000) * ''Nothing Lives Long, He Sang, Only The Earth and The Mountains'' (2001) * ''Advertisements For Myself'' (14 October 2002) * ''All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace'' (2 August 2004) * ''allonewordsmallbee'' (December 2004) * ''Distractions'' (January 2006)

Singles

* ''Better Living Through Reckless Experimentation'' (single) (19 March 2001) * ''Corporation Man'' (single) (6 April 2001) * ''Captain America'' (single) (20 August 2001) * ''I Am a Lion'' (single) (29 November 2003) * ''Distractions'' (30 January 2006)

Solo discography

Albums

* ''Ye Gods (and Little Fishes)'' (13 July 2009) * ''The Breaks'' (26 September 2014) * '' New Shapes of Life'' (27 October 2017)

Singles and EPs

* ''Eating the Afterlife'' (EP) (28 June 2004) * ''Sailor/I Will Build a Road'' (single) (28 May 2012) * ''Santa Fe Skyway'' (single) (31 August 2014) * ''Gold Lift'' (single) (30 March 2017) * ''Future Reflections'' (single) (11 August 2017) * ''Three Studies of a Male Back'' (single) (January 2018)

References

External links

Martin Carr biography from BBC Wales

Interview with Martin Carr/bravecaptain

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Martin 1968 births Autistic musicians The Boo Radleys members British musicians with disabilities Britpop musicians English male guitarists English male songwriters English people with disabilities English rock guitarists Living people People from Wallasey People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder