Martin Bemberg releases full-length solo record

Memphis Pencils frontman Martin Bemberg has a new record out.

What began as a Valentine’s Day recording project he was working on for his (then) girlfriend, has grown into a 10-track, full-length album now available for download from his Bandcamp page.

“My original plan was to just release the track Joy Or Its Jumping as a single, a Valentine’s Day present for my now-ex-girlfriend in Turkey. The positive feedback I got from that single made me realize that I should record all the songs I’d written,” Bemberg said.

The single track grew into a 4-track EP back in February, and as of March 28, had expanded into a full-length record.

“At first I considered this album three separate projects, but a couple of days ago I got really excited about the idea of having a full-length album, especially one whose genres are so sporadic, or at least eclectic,” he said.

The album features some experimental-sounding tracks of Bemberg’s poetry, and also includes his first foray into experimenting with hip hop.

“Gideon Haden (Basement Brew) and I had been wanting to collaborate on a hip-hop project for a long, long time, and when he told me he had composed a few rap verses about Ronnie Floyd it just clicked and I recorded Rotten Boy Floyd, he said.

Bemberg and Memphis Pencils drummer JD Paul (Messy Sparkles) performed some of the solo material at a show at Maxine’s recently, and several of the tracks from the record could end up as part of the setlist at the next Memphis Pencils show.

“We’ll definitely be playing the singles from Sills as Memphis Pencils,” he said. “I love my band so much that I can’t imagine performing them any other way.”