A local indie music songwriter and producer has secured funding to record and release his first full-length solo album.
Marc Hepburn writes lyrics that draw on personal experience, with themes of freedom, travel, and finding a sense of purpose in modern life.
He is one of seven artists to have been awarded a development grant as part of ArtHouse Jersey’s latest quarterly funding initiative.
Marc discussed his new musical project, The Peach Motel, with Express…
What can you tell us about The Peach Motel?
“The first song I released as The Peach Motel was right at the end of 2024, so the project is still relatively new.
“I’ve been releasing music steadily throughout this year too, and with each song I’ve grown my audience more and kept developing my sound and my skills as a producer and songwriter.
“This will be my first full-length album I’ll have released under that name.”
How does this project fit into your overall artistic journey?
“It’s great to now be able to dedicate a lot more of my time to my own music, as it’s taken a lot of work to get to this point. I’ve been a musician all my life but this is the first time I’ve really taken my own songwriting seriously enough to put it out to a wider audience.
“I’ve been gradually defining my own sound more and more, and this feels like a great point to have a finished piece of work I can be proud of.
“As for key moments, I’d say just releasing that first song was the biggest milestone to get past… it’s hard to put your own work out there but once I got past that point, each song I recorded and released became easier and easier.”
What impact do you hope The Peach Motel will have on audiences?
“I’m so pleased to actually have people I don’t know listening to my music already… for certain songs I’ve had people go out their way to send messages and to encourage me to keep going and release an album.
“Hopefully I’ll be able to make a positive contribution to some of the great music that’s being released at the moment and inspire people to be creative and see the world in a positive light.”
How has the development grant helped you in ways which may not have been possible otherwise?
“Being awarded a grant for this album has given me the peace of mind to know I can actually see this project through properly. To have the chance to record the music to a really professional standard is very motivating.
“Up until now I’ve been writing and recording as best I can around other commitments, but now I’ll have the chance to block out a decent amount of time in a professional studio to create this, which is really liberating. I think it’ll make for much better [quality] music too.”