Episode 415
Making the Instrument Part of the Art, with Martin Maudal, luthier, songwriter, and producer of Baldy Crawlers
Today’s guest lives at the intersection of craft, sound, and story. If you’ve ever wondered what happens when making the instrument becomes part of the art — and when music leads before meaning — this conversation will invite you to slow down, listen deeply, and sit inside the mystery.
Martin Maudal is a renowned luthier, songwriter, and producer, and a graduate of Berklee College of Music. Raised in Claremont, California at the foot of Mount Baldy, and shaped by years in the New York music scene, Martin blends West Coast soul with East Coast grit.
He is the founder of Maudal Musical Machines, where he hand-builds electric resonator guitars—functional sculptures and vessels of sound that he also performs and records with. What began as a way to showcase these instruments evolved into Baldy Crawlers, a deeply expressive musical collective blending Folk, Americana, Jazz, and social commentary.
@maudalmusicalmachines on Instagram
Following critical acclaim for “Bring Me a Flower,” Baldy Crawlers return with the haunting new single Boy, released January 9, 2026—an intuitive, open-ended work that invites listeners not to solve the song, but to sit inside it.
1) When Craft Becomes the Muse
Martin, Baldy Crawlers began as a way to showcase your handmade guitars—and then became something much bigger. At what point did you realize this wasn’t just a marketing project, but a true artistic calling of its own?
2) Music Before Meaning
Your new single “Boy” started not with a concept, but with a feeling. You’ve said, “This one was music before it was words.” What happens creatively when you let sound lead before meaning—and how do you know when not to force interpretation?
3) Instruments as Storytellers
You build the very instruments you record and perform with. How does handcrafting a guitar—its materials, weight, resonance—shape the stories that come out of it? In what ways does the instrument itself become a collaborator?
4) Leaving Space for Mystery
“Boy” lives in a dreamlike space where silence speaks as loudly as sound. In a world that pushes clarity, content, and explanation, how do you protect ambiguity—and why do you think listeners crave that space now?
5) Empathy, Myth, and the Human Pulse
From “Bring Me a Flower” to “Boy,” Baldy Crawlers’ music feels rooted in empathy and shared humanity. What themes keep returning in your work—and what do you hope listeners discover about themselves when they sit with these songs?
“Before we wrap up, Martin, where can listeners explore Baldy Crawlers’ music, your instruments at Maudal Musical Machines, and keep up with upcoming releases?”
For creatives listening who feel pressure to explain, optimize, or over-define their work—what would you say about trusting intuition and letting the art reveal itself in its own time?
Music tracks are copyrighted, provided by the artist, and used with permission.
"Bedlam"
"Boy"
"Bring Me A Flower"
"Orbelin"
