About Us

Purple Planet Music is owned by Chris Martyn, Geoff Harvey and Mark Fildes. They work out of Leeds and Manchester in the north of England. In June 2010 Matt Dingle joined the team as Studio Manager.

Chris and Geoff compose, perform and produce all their own music. Individually they will often get a musical idea out of nowhere and record a very basic track, often with just the melody or chord progression, and put it down as quickly as possible. Alternatively they’ll work “to order”, coming up with something to suit a particular mood or request. Once they’ve done the initial bits separately they’ll come together to swap tracks and work on things collaboratively.

When Chris and Geoff meet to record the sessions are quite militaristic, partly because Chris is very impatient and partly because there is always so much to do. Multiple takes are frowned upon and they tend to get rather ‘animated’ about things. Despite all this, the sessions are actually very enjoyable, as their different strengths and approaches complement each other very well. When working separately, Chris is ultra-methodical and obsessed with detail, whereas Geoff is quite free-form. Geoff also has an eccentric habit of watching (and listening) to TV whilst recording – even during takes.

Chris and Geoff have worked together for almost 25 years – mostly in alternative, sometimes very alternative, rock music. They wouldn't be happy being on a tour as musicians where they had to play the same material every night. The fact that they can be doing a thrash metal track one moment and then a pre-school kids piece the next, and never need to play it again, just seems to suit them.

Their musical likes include rock artists such as the Beatles. Neil Young, Frank Zappa, King Crimson and Lou Reed. Film soundtracks, jazz, funk and cheesy pop also feature heavily in their "sound world". After a heavy recording session (frequently disrupted by 'Fur Ball', Chris's personality disordered cat) they blob out to South Park or Curb Your Enthusiasm before heading off to their favoured post-session curry house, where they can frequently be found moaning about some major issue of the day.