Welcome back to Joker in the Pack, where our mission is to help you discover incredible music, both from the vibrant independent scene and even from the catalogs of well-known artists who have inspired us. In this new interview series, we’re excited to share our conversation with the electrifying Fireghost, aka Marta, who joined us at Joker’s Flight HQ for an inspiring and thought-provoking discussion.
I figured a good place to start, was, ah, at the start, so I asked Marta to take us back to her first time on stage.
Stepping into the Spotlight
To take you back to my first time stepping on the stage, that was many years ago, when I was only 8-9 years old. I was part of a children’s choir and ensemble, we used to perform at school but also took part in contests around my county. My teachers also were sending me to some kid’s contests as a solo singer and I was performing on my city’s theatre stages. To be honest, I don’t remember much, only a few flashbacks. Little 8 year old me in a ponytail in front of a big audience. I was a very playful kid that was always laughing loud, so I treated my singing as adventure and something fun to do. To be honest, it hasn’t changed much since then. I’m coming back for more, because it’s giving me good energy.
Having seen Fireghost perform at several different venues her stage presence is immediately impressive, so the experiences gained from those formative years are really paying off.
The Songwriting Alchemy: Chords, Vibes, and Letting the Song Lead
The source of songwriting inspiration has always felt like a mysterious thing to me, almost appearing from nowhere. Deconstructing it feels a bit risky, but it’s such a fascinating topic that I asked Marta to share her songwriting process.
When I create on my own, I just grab a guitar and pick random chords. I start humming melodies and whatever sounds good to me, I try to work on that. Then I write the lyrics.
It’s a refreshingly organic approach, driven by instinct and emotion, taping into the intangible forces that drive creation. There are no rigid rules, which can be freeing. I often say that you have to get out of your own way, be your true self to create something authentic to you. Marta agrees.
Yes, I just let the vibe of the song decide how I build it. I’m not great at music theory, I just let the song go, how I feel it.
“My songs were too cryptic, too darkly driven, I was no longer capable of doing anything radically creative with them. It was like carrying a package of rotting meat. The glow was gone and the match had burned right to the end.” – Chronicles Volume One By Bob Dylan.
Being a creative person inevitably means there are times when inspiration doesn’t flow or we feel stuck with that same old chord progression. I was interested to hear about how Marta navigates those times.
I try not to force myself to do anything. Some nice time off at the beach or in the forest helps. Also I listen to other artists to see how they coped with similar problems.
Self-care and a bit of musical detective work – sound like good ways of staying connected to the creative flow. And what about those rituals that help with the creative process (a bag of liquorice allsorts always helps me).
Lots of my ideas come while I’m walking. I like to explore new places, it gives me unexpected inspiration.
Lovely advice! Time to lace up those boots, folks
And do your lyrics take their inspiration from anything in particular, or can you write about anything? I read recently about someone creating a song from the text on a baseball card.
My life is my inspiration. I have had so many life changing situations, so many hard to explain things going on… I think I will never run out of ideas
“A lot of people don’t realise that you’re an independent artist until you tell them. They don’t know how the industry works. They think all independent artists are equal—in terms of financial stability and creativity and might think you have another job. It’s important that people realise that there are levels to this as some artists are doing everything by themselves, while some have an entire team behind them.” – Nikitaa
Independent artists face a range of challenges, and Marta has some defiant words of advice.
Finding the right people and the right places is essential. I had situations when people were trying to take advantage of me too. I was also terribly misunderstood several times by people who later on had influence on my career. My biggest battle was to find a real me. To stand up for myself when everyone around was trying to make me do things against my own heart. People will try to give you advice and criticise what you’re doing, and you know what? If I listened to any of that, I wouldn’t be in the fantastic place I am now. Just go with how you feel and what makes you feel happy. Try to make it the best way you can. And you will get to good places.
“I could write a book about it and it wouldn’t be the most positive book.” – Fireghost
I have followed Marta online for a while and she often posts about her sometimes shocking experiences whilst performing in venues across the world. I asked her about the additional challenges of being a woman in the music industry.
Ohhhhh. I could write a book about it and it wouldn’t be the most positive book. Let’s put it this way; you are a performer and your job is to gather attention, unfortunately, as a female you will receive lots of ‘bad kind of attention’. Although I keep joking about what happens on my messenger, sometimes I feel it really drains my energy. You get a message notification from a stranger and you never know if it’s an exciting project offer or a creep behaving really nasty. Second thing is safety in venues. Although it has changed for the better in the last few years, I’ve still had my drink spiked numerous times, and had to leave the venue on several occasions because somebody made me feel very uncomfortable. Lastly, just working with different kinds people, sometimes you get the project with someone who doesn’t know how to treat women. I have plenty of stories – people tricking me with gigs, songs so they could sabotage me into dating with them, bands telling me to be half-naked on stage, because that’s what they wanted. Treating me in a patronising way, etc. I have a friend, who is a very talented drummer and the agency told her she wouldn’t get any projects from them because she might be too weak to play… There’s still plenty of work to do I’m afraid.
The stark reality is we seem to be living in a culture where criminal acts like drink spiking and sexual harassment have been normalised, and people, let’s face it, mostly men, feel emboldened to say and act however they like towards women online. Marta’s experiences seem all too familiar and I’d like to see more done to protect people, as playing music should be safe for everyone.
But amidst the struggles Marta still finds the joy in being a musician and freedom in doing things her own way.
I decided to go solo for a bit because my life can be busy and it’s really hard to work around band’s schedule when you have to cope with millions of other things. I do everything in my own time, I plan things how I like it and I don’t need to compromise with anyone. Also, I have my quirky ways of doing things, some people that I worked with in the past didn’t trust the process, so now I have my freedom and I don’t have to worry that somebody will judge me for doing things in an unusual way.
“There’s room at the top they are telling you still
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill
If you want to be like the folks on the hill
A working class hero is something to be.” – Working Class Hero by John Lennon
Aware of John Lennon’s cautionary words on idolisation and the dangers of fame (so starkly illustrated by his death), I’ve always struggled with the concept of “musical heroes” and elevating individuals. However, I’m always intrigued by who inspires musicians, and Marta’s response was wonderfully iconic.
You know what? I hate this question, haha. I’m kind of a weirdo, I never had idols, never listened to certain artist or genre for the sake of it. I always listened for songs. I loved the variety. And if it happened that few songs that I liked were written by one artist – then I started being interested in his other works, his story. Not sure if many people have that kind of approach. I do appreciate people’s talent though. And I listen to singers that are technically great, so I could learn some lessons from them. It’s really great way to work on your technique. There’s one artist that made me rethink my songwriting approach thoug. There’s that Polish singer called Edyta Bartosiewicz, if you check out her music, you’ll see that her and my acoustic set have many things in common. There’s that one song she wrote ‘Tatuaż/Tattoo’. It’s basically a ‘cheer up song’ and there is something about it, I don’t know, every time I hear it I feel like someone patted my back and said ‘don’t worry Marta, you’ll be ok’. And I decided I want to write that kind of song. So, maybe there is one artist that helped me to build my style. I can’t think of any more.
The Emerald Bird: A Song of Healing
I first encountered Marta live at The Guildhall in Gloucester and was blown away by her original song, ‘Emerald Bird,’ performed with a vocal power that reminded me of Grace Slick, with poetic lyrics and a haunting melody, it made quite an impact. Marta takes us into the story behind the song.
Ohhh, that’s kind thank you. So there was a time a few years ago when I was feeling very sad and very unwell. One night I had a dream that a small green bird sat on my window and started singing. As it was singing, all my sadness and pain went away, I felt so much better when I woke up. I decided to write a song about it. A song about a bird that when it sings, it heals your pain.
That is such a cool backstory for a song, it shows the incredible power of music.
Fighting the Algorithm: The State of the Industry
The music industry can feel like a battlefield, and these days, the biggest enemy often seems to be the algorithm. Marta’s take is powerful.
I think we really overslept a few really essential moments when we could have made the industry more friendly for independent artists. For example, streaming platforms – there was such a great opportunity for us to earn good money on streaming, but because we were too busy complaining, big companies overtook financial aspects of industry and now situation has become ridiculous for musicians who would like to live off their hard work. I think our only option is to stick together, support each other and seek for opportunities to create our own space that gives us respectful conditions to create. I know we love to complain, we love to treat other artists like competition, but there’s no time for it anymore. We have giant companies against our needs, we need to focus on that.
It’s a call to arms, a classic indie underdog call for unity in the face of corporate greed.
And another big challenge in this area is the rise of AI, which has raised further questions about the value of human creativity. Marta’s view is one of balance, seeing both the merits and pitfalls.
AI can be useful, last month I used it quite a lot, it really can help you to get your music and marketing to better level, if you’re using it correctly. But you know what? I don’t argue with people anymore. I just act, I’m showing people consequences. They don’t want to pay? I can switch it off and walk away, let’s see what that person can do with his opinion now. Don’t waste your time with people who don’t value what you’re doing.
The Colour and the Shape, well actually the Feeling
To end our Joker in the Pack interview I like to use some reflective practice, mindfulness to take a sideways glance at things and encourage my guest to think outside the box, there’s a reason I like the Joker, I’m a fan of the trickster in literature or theatre, whose role is to change the narrative. So I asked Marta if her music was a feeling, what feeling would it be, and what colour would it be?
I would love it to be the feeling of relief. Some bright colours, like you are ready for the action.
And if you could travel back in time, like in the great Aubrey Plaza film, My Old Ass, what advice would you give to your younger self.
Well, actually I had a good few years of a break from music, so I would tell myself to never stop. Just take those lessons, go to places, meet people and don’t listen to people who tell you that music is pointless.
And can you think of some great feedback you’ve had about your music?
Actually, one of my dreams come true. I have a few songs which are telling you that despite life sucking sometimes, you just have to keep going and good things will happen eventually. After one of my gigs one man approached me and said ‘I really love your lyrics, I’m having a hard time at the moment in my life and your songs were really what I needed to hear today’. That was exactly what I wanted to achieve and the ultimate lifetime compliment.
And what’s on the horizon for you?
I’ve got songs I’m working on, I’m hoping to have a band by the next year, there’s loads of things going on in the studio. Hopefully I’ll be able to release everything very soon.
That’s awesome, thank you Marta for talking with me. So folks, keep your eyes peeled. Fireghost is a force to be reckoned with, and her journey is only just beginning.
Fireghost in the Machine
Want to dive deeper into Fireghost’s world? Here’s where to find her:
Until next time, keep it loud, keep it real, and keep supporting the outsiders, the activists, the uniquely iconoclastic independent musicians – the true Jokers in the Pack!
Support for Victims and Survivors
If you’ve been affected or worried by anything in this article, there is help out there. If you’re in the UK you have rights under something called the Victim’s Code, and you can get free and confidential advice from Victim Support.
If you live in the US you can visit the Victim Connect Resource Centre.
The World Outside the Window 