Andy Martin (English musician)

Andy Martin is a musician, lyricist and writer who lives in London, England.

During the 1980s, he was the singer, lyricist and occasionally drummer for The Apostles, a group that was founded in 1979 by four North London schoolboys, William 'Bill' Corbett, Julian Portinari, Dan Macintyre and Pete Byng-Hall and played a prominent part in the anarcho-punk scene in London. Some of the band's recordings appeared on the record label Mortarhate run by the group Conflict; other recordings, many on cassette,were released by The Apostles themselves. Members of the group published their own zine called Scum, and the Anarchist classic Precautions essentialles pour la bonne. During this period Martin and various associates, including at times members of the band Crass, helped run several different anarchist venues in London for performances, films and meetings, including "The Autonomy Centre" and "The Zig-Zag Club". During the time he was with The Apostles, Martin began to express his views about his own homosexuality and the topic in general in his lyrics for the band, emerging as a forerunner for the nascent Queercore scene. The Apostles, as well as Martin's next band, Academy 23, were both on the J.D.s Top Ten Tape, the first queercore compilation, issued by J.D.s zine in 1990, and were interviewed in Homocore zine.

During the 1980s Martin and fellow Apostle Dave Fanning had sought to go far beyond the typical manner of releasing records. Each of their releases came with booklets or pamphlets written by Martin and artwork and comics by Fanning. Eventually they ceased to perform live in order to concentrate on this aspect of the band. Disillusioned with the punk scene, their interests in art and in other forms of music such as folk and industrial began to surface.

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