We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Martha May a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Martha, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I am currently working on my debut EP; which means quite a lot to me as I’ve been planning on doing this for years, but it finally feels like it’s the right time. It took years to develop and discover my complete brand identity, and I finally feel like I’m headed in the right direction. I always wanted to make up-beat, up-lifting, and yet emotionally charged pop music, and that’s exactly what this EP is going to be filled with. Having discovered my popstar mermaid persona, the EP will also contain some of that seaside magic and I can’t wait for everyone to hear it.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am Martha May, a self-proclaimed popstar mermaid that moved from the sea (Split, Croatia) to land (London,UK) to fulfill my slightly delusional dreams of popstardom. With my syren’s voice I make emotionally charged pop music inspired by Lorde, Marina, Tove Lo, Olivia Rodrigo… Having been in the music world for a couple of years, some of the things I’m most proud of are: 1. Accumulating over 120k Spotify streams on my music catalogue. 2. Competing in the Croatian Eurovision National Selection (Dora) twice – in 2023 and 2025, and 3. Playing lots of gigs in London with the latest one being a sold out full-band headline at Servant’s Jazz Quarters. I’m so excited for all the projects the future is bringing me as I am obsessed with music and am never not working on some sort of project!

How did you build your audience on social media?

One important thing I’ve learned about music and social media in general is developing a brand and a full story that goes with it. People are no longer interested only in the music, they want a world to dive into. For me, that’s the world of Martha May – popstar mermaid. Everything I post on socials paints the picture of this aquatic world full of big feelings, sparkles, and delusion, and draws the viewers/listeners deeper in it!
What I’ve also learned is that it’s okay to take breaks from social media when necessary. Life seems to be perfect on Instagram and we know it’s a construct yet it’s hard not to strive for this kind of perfection. As musicians we have to constantly be active on social media, engaging the existing fans while also finding ways to attract new ones; and this can be particularly difficult on a bad day. On days like this I realise I sometimes tend to make it more difficult than it really is – in trying to come up with an idea for a reel or a post, I get lost in my thoughts when really people just like to hear stories that are simply human and ordinary and that help them connect – such as thoughts on heartbreak, day jobs, friendships…

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I really hope my music can manage to make people feel less alone. I write and sing about all sorts of heavy feelings, and the reason I wrote these songs in the first place was to put my feelings into these immortal pieces of art. If hearing my song makes someone realise their experience is normal, human, but also, kind of beautiful (finding beauty even in sadness is kind of magical!), my mission has succeeded.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/martha_may_music/?hl=en
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@martha_may_music?si=xNg0kGuXNv9x-It4
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/53cceVtscntcZcSRWGwFUh?si=WW0U9EOrQQuZ7aMmkRUvaQ

Image Credits

Phil Procter