Martha are a rock band from Pity Me, a village in County Durham in the North East of England. After singles on their own Discount Horse label and Odd Box Records, their debut album Courting Strong, was released on Fortuna Pop! and Salinas Records in 2014. As of 2025 they have released four full-length albums and a compilation album on cult UK and US based independent record labels.
They have described themselves as queer, straight edge, vegan and anarchist. They have no designated frontperson and all contribute vocals. Two members of Martha previously founded (and still play in) the band ONSIND, and another leads the band No Ditching.
They have variously cited The Housemartins, Motown, Billy Bragg, The Thermals, Ted Leo, power pop, The Replacements, Heart, The Marked Men, Big Star, Masshysteri, and The Exploding Hearts as influences.
Martha formed in the village of Pity Me, a suburb of Durham in the North East of England. Formed by J.C. Cairns (guitar/vocals), Daniel Ellis (guitar/vocals), Naomi Griffin (bass/vocals), and Nathan Stephens-Griffin (drums/vocals) in the early 2010s, they released their self-titled debut EP in February 2012.
A year later they released the "Sycamore"/"Lost Without You" single on their own Discount Horse label. The band played Indietracks festival for the first time in 2013. After releasing a split single with American artist Spoonboy (David Combs of The Max Levine Ensemble) Martha headed to the studio with MJ of Hookworms to record their first album.
Courting Strong was released by Fortuna Pop! in the U.K. and Salinas Records in the U.S.
