William Dean Martin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other people known by this name, see Billy Martin (disambiguation).
| Billy Martin | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | William Dean Martin | |
| Born | June 15, 1981 | |
| Origin | Severna Park, Maryland, United States | |
| Genre(s) | Punk | |
| Occupation(s) | guitarist keyboard synthesizer | |
| Instrument(s) | guitar, keyboards, vocals | |
| Years active | 1998—present | |
| Label(s) | Epic Records | |
| Website | [1], [2], [3] | |
William Dean Martin (aka Billy Martin), born June 15, 1981, is the guitar/guitarist and keyboard synthesizer/keyboardist for Good Charlotte.
From Severna Park,Maryland, just outside of Waldorf, Billy has been playing guitar since he was in 6th grade when he received his first guitar for Christmas from a JC Penney store. His first band was Overflow, where he was the singer and guitarist, which he started in his high school, Severna Park High, with his friends JD, and Steve Sievers, who now helps Martin run his clothing line, LeVeL 27. He was well liked at school because of his nice-guy personality.He had dread locks for along time during school but when the band signed on with Epic records, they wouldnt sign the band unless he cut his hair! Mr Martin is one of four permanant members of Good Charlotte, the band having gone through many drummers during their almost eleven years of being together. Billy, although having divorced parents, is very close to both his parents, and has one younger sister, Sarah, who did the bands first photo shoot.
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[edit] Good Charlotte
Billy Martin joined Good Charlotte in 1995 as their rhythm guitarist. While recording GC's third album The Chronicles of Life and Death, he and Benji Madden switched guitar roles. (Madden was the original lead guitarist while Martin was the original secondary guitarist.)
Martin also plays keyboards on the album, with the exception of "The Truth", and occasionally plays keyboards at their concerts. Martin, who enjoys drawing, created the artwork for The Chronicles of Life and Death album sleeve and cover. He also designed all the artwork for the videos "Predictable" and "The Chronicles of Life and Death".
Billy Martin co-wrote "Mountain" and "Ghost of You" off of the Chronicles of Life and Death CD and has also produced 8 out of 11 tracks on the tHrOne CD "Balladry".
[edit] Art and cartoons
Billy has a website for all of his art called "Bloodzilla"[4] and a clothing line with his long-time best friend, Steve Sievers.
Martin is working on a picture book with action figures, and has already released a line of action figures of the whole band which can be found on ebay.
[edit] Trivia
- He is a vegetarian and is active in the animal rights organization PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).
- He is 5' 11".
- His favorite foods are peanut butter and bean burritos
- His musical influences are silverchair, Michael Jackson, Incubus, Deftones, Lit, Linkin Park, Orgy and KoЯn.
- His favorite movies are "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Who Framed Roger Rabbit".
- He plays Paul Reed Smith (PRS) guitars, Mesa Boogie Amps, and BOSS Effect Pedals.
- He owns a clothing company by the name of Level 27.
