Les Martin’s musical career started a long time ago in a British pub.
By day, he was a civil servant, but at night, he would get up on stage at the local pub and sing a few songs for his mates.
From those small beginnings, he went on to study music, he played with a series of British bands, and today he is a well-established solo artist and the resident muso at the Holiday Inn in Patong.
“I started out singing at my local pub, which ran jam nights when anyone and everyone could play or sing if they wanted,” he said.
The audience apparently liked his singing and he was invited to join a local band.
His confidence grew, and he moved from band to band trying to find music he enjoyed singing.
“As a youngster, I enjoyed a very wide variety of music from The Beach Boys to Tony Bennett,” he said.
“But it pays not to be too picky as a singer because you are very much at the audience’s beck and call.”
Les said his mother often told him he had a good singing voice, and he was always chosen to sing in the school and church choirs.
But Les was struggling to survive on his part-time band wages.
“The trouble with being in a band in the UK is that you are always competing against lots of other bands for the Friday and Saturday night spots, so you are basically working part time,” he said
“You couldn’t live off the money we earned doing that.”
Six years ago, Les was unexpectedly retrenched from his government job and planned on going to Spain to consider his future, but a friend talked him into coming to Phuket instead.
From the moment he stepped off the plane, he fell in love with Phuket.
“The weather, the people, the atmosphere were all perfect,” he said.
“I had a great time here, and when I went back to the UK at the end of my holiday, I got some part-time work, but I couldn’t stop thinking about coming back.
“I thought I could make a living here as an entertainer.”
Les did come back and spent his early days here watching other bands and entertainers in Patong.
“I saw all the bands that play in Patong at least once and I quickly realised that playing for hours on end like they did then was not what I wanted.
“I decided that singing in a hotel was probably the place for me. I wanted to be a lounge singer.”
He made a few inquiries and discovered that he had to be legal to sing in a hotel, so he opened his own company and gave himself a work permit.
He then set about looking for work.
Before long, his warm voice and his pleasant personality were spotted by someone at The Holiday Inn.
“I do two sessions a night, four night a week,” he said.
“I do an hour and a half of easy listening songs in the restaurant while guests are eating dinner, then I move to the main bar and do an hour and a quarter of whatever people want.
“I have a large repertoire of songs which I can call on and I can usually cope with whatever people ask for.”
Les said it was very important that other budding musicians bent on coming to Phuket knew they couldn’t simply come here and play music.
“The visa rules are strictly enforced, and you must be legal,” he said.
“You must have a work permit and pay your taxes.”
Les often also performs at other venues and plays at weddings and private parties, but he is loyal to the Holiday Inn.
“They have been very good to me and I will work there as long as they want me,” he said.
“I am very lucky to have regular work there, especially at the moment, so I like every night to be a special night.”
This interview with Les Martin can be viewed on You Tube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc7Yr1enxeE

Les can be contacted on 087 8223357