Martin Courtney
Biography
Martin Courtney is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Ridgewood, NJ, United States.
Courtney is known for the laid-back, melodically sweet, psychedelia-influenced indie rock he has created on his own and as leader of the band Real Estate, in addition to a short stint as keyboardist for indie punk rock group Titus Andronicus in 2006.
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Raised in Ridgewood, New Jersey by parents who were both real estate agents, Courtney got his real estate license after finishing college, around the time he was putting together a band with former high-school bandmates Alex Bleeker, Etienne Duguay, and Matthew Mondanile.
In the fall of 2008, with Courtney on lead vocals and guitar, Real Estate began playing live, and early in 2009 they released the Suburban Beverage 7-inch, which introduced the group's brand of surfy, lo-fi pop. Their self-titled debut followed in the fall via the Woodsist label. The quartet joined the Domino Records roster in 2011 for its sophomore album, Days.
After touring and a couple of lineup changes, Courtney, Bleeker, Mondanile, keyboardist Matt Kallman, and drummer Jackson Pollis released 2014's Atlas, which cracked the Billboard 200's Top 50. In October 2015, with collaborators including Kallman, bassist Jarvis Taveniere of Woods, and lo-fi musician Julian Lynch, Courtney released his solo debut, the mellow Many Moons, via Domino.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.