Martin was born in Rochford, Essex, England in December 1958 and immigrated to Perth, Western Australia with his family in January 1968. Martin played his first ‘gig’ in a school hall (Morley High) in 1972 with fellow students. He can remember playing Apache & Peace Pipe by the Shadows, I’m a Believer – The Monkees and some Beatles songs.

The above is taken from his own website and WOW, it is worth looking at in detail right HERE:

By age 14 he was doing professional gigs playing songs by The Beatles, Stones, CCR & hits of the time. Around age 15 or 16 Martin was playing professional gigs with some older guys (they were around 20 or so) often playing 5 gigs a week. He recorded some demos and played in various bands until 1979 when he went to London for a year. He joined original pop/rock band Urban Clearway with whom he recorded a couple of demo tapes that were shopped around the record companies. The band had some interest from Island records in London, but tired of eating baked beans, he returned to Australia & played in various Perth band line ups.