1. You’ve carved out a sound that feels both cinematic and street‑level raw. As a journalist watching your rise, I’m curious what moment first convinced you that this project had its own gravitational pull?

Daniel: That’s a great question, and a moment I haven’t thought about for a while.

It happened at our first concert at Garneau Theatre in February of 2018.

I had recently had my previous rock band; Savage Playground grind to a halt, and at the time the “Daniel Martin & The Infamous” thing was supposed to be a one off.

We had just concluded what was supposed to be our only concert, and a good friend pulled me aside afterwards and said “…PLEASE don’t let this be a one-time thing”.

It was from there that I started to think about Infamous as a long-term endeavor, and here we are – eight years and three albums later, still going strong.

 

2. Artists often talk about the “spark” that defines their identity. From where I’m sitting, your aesthetic feels incredibly intentional. When did Daniel Martin & The Infamous stop being an experiment and start becoming a world you were building?

Daniel: Another great question!

Infamous was never an experiment – as stated above, Infamous was originally intended to be a creative one-off, but a powerful one.

The first album; A Taste of Madness, was written as a storybook from the universe of Rutherford Manor, who has had some incredible artists from within and without.

From there, Infamous spiraled two other full-length albums that each serve as their own collection of stories; The Pursuit of Heaviness (2022) and Gone Days of Silence (2025).

While they each have strong identities on their own, they definitely stand taller together and we love mixing and matching on a live performance setlist.  

 

3. Your tracks carry a strong visual energy, almost like scenes from a film. What imagery, stories, or cultural touchpoints shape the universe you’re creating through your music?

Daniel: All kinds!

When I started writing my own music, one of my first challenges to myself was not to become an artist whose lyrics revolve around “my exes are terrible”, my emotions, etc.

I love crafting stories about all kinds of things, both fictional and not. Most of them aren’t even about me.

From our new album: AntiStar tells the story of a malevolent entity come to Earth, and reveling in how easy human beings are to provoke to war.  

Say My Name is a song of rebellion against adversity, a message that is all-too needed today.

And The Spider loosely references J.R.R. Tolkien’s monster Shelob!

Courtney: I think, for most of our songs, we are not trying to push specific imagery but rather have the listener go to a world of their own.  When it comes to influence however, we do have many. Anti-war, the importance of self-expression, government greed and the importance of addiction support are some touch points we have tried to convey to our audience. 

 

4. Collaboration is rarely as effortless as it looks from the outside. As someone who’s watched plenty of partnerships implode, I’m curious how do you two navigate creative tension without losing the soul of the project?

Daniel: I’ve also watched too many bands I love fall over due to avoidable conflicts.

The metaphor I use for the band’s leadership is like a ship. I am the captain; I take care of all the management things, make the decisions, etc.

 However, that isn’t to say that the band is a dictatorship.

There are definitely LOTS of places where the bandmates can contribute, both musically and directionally, and feel included in the process.

But ultimately, the final say will come to me – that is how the band stays inclusive and yet true to its core.  

Courtney: I think it is firstly important to be open to ideas. Sometimes trying something you’re unsure of turns out to be the best part of a song! But organizing our conversations is also key. Discussing the overall theme and sound we are trying to create is always a good start so everyone is on the same page before the ideas start flowing.

 

5. Edmonton has a reputation for producing artists who don’t fit neatly into genre boxes. From your vantage point, how has the city’s landscape or music community influenced the way you write, perform, or think about sound?

Daniel: Edmonton is home to thousands of wonderful artists of all genres. I’m so glad to find new ones and meeting these very talented people always inspires me. 

When I think about Infamous’s identity contrasted to all of these wonderful people around us, I try to do what isn’t being done already.

Filling voids in sound, ideas, and doing things that haven’t been done before.

A good example will be the story-based music video that we will be releasing this summer – I have never seen anything like it, and that excites me.

That comes back around to what made me create this band the way I have: I created the band that I wanted to see.

Courtney: Our music community is so diverse and I think it’s important to have a little something to offer for all music-lovers. Daniel Martin and the Infamous does a good job of ensuring that each song is a new experience from thrash metal to pirate shanties! 

 

6. Your production choices are bold textures, distortions, unexpected turns. As a journalist who loves hearing artists push boundaries, I have to ask: what’s your guiding philosophy when you’re shaping a track from the ground up?

Daniel: I ask questions.

Eg. “What’s the most kickass intro riff I can come up with within x sound?”

“What’s the most devastating way to say this sentence?”

“What kind of highs and lows should this song have?”

“How can this riff be better?”

“Does section F flow well into section G? If not, how?”

If you aren’t QC-ing your own product, you aren’t growing as a musician. A first draft should rarely be the one that gets used.

 

7. Your live shows have developed a bit of a reputation. When you step on stage, what emotional experience are you hoping the audience walks away with?

Daniel: A good reputation, I hope!

Oh there’s so many answers to this question.

We hope you FEEL.

I hope fans, new and not, leave our concerts feeling like they had an emotional rollercoaster.

They sang any songs they may have known, they heard something new, maybe we said a phrase that they can relate to,

and that they liked us enough to go look us up on Youtube or Spotify after they get home safely.

If you go to an Infamous concert and say “holy s***, this thing resonated with me”, then YOU are the target audience and we love that we made you feel something.

 

Courtney: I hope to get the audience to feel introspective but, most importantly, I hope to have them feel musically inspired! Whether it makes them want to keep the party going, dance in the kitchen to our songs or write a song of their own. 

8. Every artist I interview has a “next chapter” brewing beneath the surface. What evolution, experiment, or collaboration is calling your name as you look ahead?

Daniel: As we continue to delve into our 2025 release of Gone Days of Silence, we are preparing to release a B-Side to the album; our first ever recorded cover.

There were a lot of good ideas floating around for what that should be (we’ve had some very good reactions to our cover of Megadeth’s “Symphony of Destruction”)

But ultimately the song we chose to cover in tandem with this record was Metallica’s “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” off of 1986’s Master of Puppets.

From John’s very regal piano/organ playing, to Paige’s expertly executed drumlines, to Diego’s production choices throughout, this cover is a very strong performance:

Different enough to stand by itself OR alongside Gone Days of Silence, and yet a loving tribute to a band that has inspired for decades.

Definitely hoping the lads in Metallica notice us, and possibly even listen to some other things from our discography!

I bet they’d like our Goth Girls song.

Closing thoughts:

Thank you SO MUCH AltYEGMusic for taking the time to work with us, for everyone who is reading this now, and for everyone who is helping this band move forward.

That can be anything from following us on our socials, watching our music videos, spinning our music on your favorite streaming service, buying a shirt, coming to a concert, or telling a friend that there’s this cool Canadian band who is working really hard on things that hopefully you like. 

We see you, we love you, and appreciate you. 

Thank you for supporting Canadian music. 

Love, 

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