Talented though scary bloke Tricky undoubtably is, it is difficult to imagine his music without the vocal contributions of the often overlooked Martine. Tim spoke to her about Tricky, 'Maxinquaye' and her dungarees.

You are often described in the press as Tricky's "sidekick", or "foil". Are you happy in this position?
I don't know what a foil is. What's a foil?

Erm...
It's a fencing term, isn't it? Sidekick, pal, mate, cohort, that kind of thing, yeah? I think it totally devalues what I've been trying to do, but if that's how people really perceive me then I guess I can't argue with that. But I don't think it's a particularly flattering picture really.

It was said of you at Reading that that was where you came into your own on stage. Why do you think they picked it out?
I don't know....I don't know, different vibe, I s'pose. I don't really remember it so much. I guess...some days you feel like just staying on the mic and standing still and delivering something which is totally focussed that way, but you can put your energy in other directions as well, I s'pose.

What contributions do you make towards the songwriting process?
It usually happens this way. Usually there's lyrics and some form of backing track in whatever stage of development and then I just go in and do a vocal. So my contribution writing-wise is a melody, but it's nothing that's written beforehand. I don't write the music out or anything and go and sing it, it's just whatever comes off the top of my head really.

Have you any aspirations to write more?
Yeah. I'd like to be able to write really easily. Tricky can just somehow...he's amazing, he just churns stuff out, he can just write. I don't know how he does it and he won't tell me either. I've written some lyrics, but there's lyrics and there's lyrics, I guess. Some stuffs just not appropriate for songs. I usually get into the habit of doing the whole "I, I, I", totally self-obsessed, kind of "this is how I'm feeling" thing, but that's not really what I think good lyrics are about.

Tricky's media image is very narcissistic and self-obsessed. Is this true of him?
I think so. But then I think most artistes are kind of like that though, aren't they? I suppose so. But his lyrics aren't self-obsessive at all. And with the media there's a certain persona- you do one, maybe two interviews and that creates an impression and then people come to do interviews with certain preconceptions about you from then on. And they ask questions that lead you into certain answers, if you see what I mean. It's a sort of snowball effect. But he, or even we in a way, are in a position where he's forced to talk about himself, reflect on himself all the time. Everyone works for him- the management cater to his needs, the record company want to know what his next move is, what he's all about. It is all about him and his output, so it's only natural that he's got a thing about what he's doing next and him. And he's got to make himself comfortable, because if he's in situations where he's struggling to keep things together he's not going to be able to work, produce music.

If you had the opportunity, is there anyone else you'd like to work with?
I don't think there is anyone else I'd like to work with. There's friends of mine who are musicians, who I like some of their songs, or the way they play or whatever, but there's no-one else capable of being a soloist in their own right who I'd like to work with.

You have a very distinctive vocal style. How did that develop?
I don't know, just off the top of my head, really, if that's what it is. I didn't do a lot of singing. I met Tricky when I was about sixteen, then I'd see him about every six months or so for the next couple of years and when it came to doing 'Ponderosa', I just decided by then that the music was so good and so interesting and new that a different approach was needed. It would be invalidated by something that was a totally standard vocal, a soul vocal or something like that. I just wanted to try out new ideas vocally as well, so it was compatible with the music. It was difficult to be objective about it in some ways, I didn't really know how to put a judgement on it, so working with Tricky was brilliant, because basically he just goes on how he feels, he doesn't think "you can't do this and you can't do that, if it makes him feel a certain way, he's like "yeah, wicked". So that's what it's all about, vibe really. Not worrying about technical sides of things.

'Pumpkin' has just been released, which is the sixth single off 'Maxinquaye'. When are we going to see some new material?
Under the name Tricky, not until next year, I don't think. The rest of the stuff now will be Nearly God, which is on Durban Poison [Tricky's own label], and Starving Souls stuff.

What's the difference between Tricky and Starving Souls?
Tricky on the album was just me, Tricky and an engineer, Mark Saunders, who never gets written about. Starving Souls is the live band. On tour we just went into studios in New York and came out with some stuff. That's what Starving Souls is.

And Nearly God?
Nearly God is the collaboration with all the other guest vocalists, like Bjork, Alison Moyet and Terry Hall.

What does that sound like?
It's good. It's like demos, basically. It's really raw, because the idea behind it was all just recording it really quickly, getting loads of material together, getting loads of other people involved and it was done.

Tricky collaborates a lot with other artists, such as the Gravediggaz on the Hell EP and he's doing a lot of production and remix work. Do you think he's in danger of spreading himself too thinly?
I don't know. Not really, because once he's focussed and he's concentrating on one thing...It's been a really hectic year for both of us, it's his first solo album and he's being judged by millions of people. Luckily the reaction was good, but even good reactions make you feel a bit apprehensive about the future. I think it's good for him to work with a lot of different people. When he comes back to doing the Tricky album, we're meant to be going to Jamaica for six weeks and that'll be a time when there isn't going to be anybody else around, there's no record company, no management to be fucking around with you. Whereas all the stuff he's doing now is pretty instant, a bit slapdash, putting it together.

Lots of people don't realise that 'Black Steel' is, in fact, a reworking of a Public Enemy track. How did that come about?
Tricky always wanted to do a cover of a rap, basically. I think he had the idea while he was in Massive Attack, but they weren't quite so open-minded about it I don't think, well, whatever the reasons they didn't take to it. So it was his idea and it turning out the way it did, we had a drum loop, I did a vocal and the vocal led on to putting a band on top of it.

'Maxinquaye' was really well received and was described by someone, along with the Goldie album, as the best expression of modern, black, British youth...
That would make sense, I think, because I think a lot of black artists in England think that they have to do soul music and they have to talk about love all the time and they have to talk about "I've got something for you, baby", you know. I don't think most people have really thought about giving an accurate portrayal of where they grew up and the situation for a lot of black people, I guess.

Classic pigeonholing question. Why do you think Bristol has produced so many very distinct and original bands?
I think because they've all been influenced by dub and hip-hop. Dub and hip-hop were already two massive genres of music and so I think anyone who took a slant on that...I don't think a lot of people have really done it in this country or not with any success, or been any good. But it's only the Massive lot who are from Bristol. I'm not from Bristol and Portishead aren't from Bristol.

Tricky's music is very dark and urban-sounding. What do you think shaped the way he writes?
I think he was very depressed for a long time. I think leaving Massive Attack probably played a part as well. Breaking off from the thing that first brought you into music is always going to be difficult. I think it's just his nature to look at the darker sides of the things that are surrounding him.Bristol's got some rough areas. St. Pauls is rough, there are crack houses and the frontline and everything. And I think being on your own and smoking a lot of spliff, it's very easy to start thinking deeply about all that kind of thing.

The stage show is always very sparse, but very atmospheric and imposing. Do you think visuals are important?
No, I don't think so. Maybe if the songs are shit you need to jump around and draw attention away from them, but if the songs are good and they are really atmospheric and do instill a certain feeling in someone when they're standing there, then it's best to just stay focussed and deliver the songs the best you can and concentrate on that vibe rather than fucking pyrotechnics and lights and everything. We did this one gig in New York where people were just packed in like sardines, people couldn't move. We thought the response wasn't very good, because nobody was clapping, but they couldn't actually lift their arms up, they were really tightly packed in. But everyone said afterwards that they had been totally mesmerised, just glued to the stage, totally staring at us. I think that's a better way, dancing and getting into it's all very good and everything, but just everyone staying focussed is best.

What has the overseas reaction been like?
The shows we've just come back from were all really good. There was a couple that weren't so good, but compared to when we did the PJ Harvey tour- the response then was good, but this time it was even better. Really good, really encouraging.

You work with one of the scariest men in pop.
Do you realy think he's scary?

Hell, yeah. But what scares you?
Being depressed really scares me. I'm afraid of not doing, not making the most of what I've got. But not death. I don't think I'm aware enough of my own mortality yet to be scared of death.

Time for silly questions I'm afraid.
Oh no. I hate these. I'll answer them, but make sure you point out that I really hate them.

OK. How come you can get away with wearing dungarees onstage without looking daft?
I don't know. They're comfortable. There's a mate of mine, she's really pissed off. I've totally ripped off loads of clothes off all of my mates with the excuse of "I need something to wear onstage". At 'The Beat', I completely stripped down three of my mates in the toilets before we went on to do that. It was really funny.

What sticks in your mind most about this last year?
[Long, long, long pause] It's all a big blur to tell you the truth. Dee dee dum dum.....errr....The Stone Roses. We met them in a hotel and they all took it in turns to come up to me and said "Are you the girl who sings 'Black Steel'?". Erm...that's it...OOH I KNOW!! ONE OF THE SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS CAME TO ONE OF OUR GIGS!! That was amazing. I had to sit down when I found out who he was.

Martine was talking to Tim, in November 1995.