Maxing on civic media. We are local music. That is Marta Hansen there. Really cool song too.
I love the piano. I love the vocals. The name of the song is the way I use to rocker Terry
Bar. I'm GBK. It's Maxing Saturday night 844 967 2789. Call or text us in the civic media
app and Terry introduce us to this wonderful artist of this song. That song for us.
I know. She has a new EP. It's Marta Hansen. The EP is called of a certain age and this theme
revolves around being a woman, a mom, an aging. Oh, that makes me so happy. She is here. I'm so happy
she is here. So welcome to Maxingck Marta. Yay. Oh my gosh. Congratulations. First of all,
on a new EP for you. Thank you. The song we just heard. Wow. The way I used to tell us a little
backstory about it. Oh gosh. Well, you know, I am in my mid 40s. I'm in full like what is happening
to my brain and my body and I'm mothering teenagers now. And it's just I feel like there's not a lot
of real like keeping it real music out there about this phase of life.
Yeah. And it's just I feel like all of us women, we all go through it. We're all going through it.
And I I'm in the middle of it and I've always been my songwriting is always about what's
happening in my life. And I'm just in the thick of it right now. Can I follow up? Yeah. I was
wondering because I know you said you have teenagers. Yes. What did they think of your music,
especially if they're the subject of the song? Right. As long as I don't see anything really
embarrassing about them, but they're they're really great fans. They're, you know, my youngest is
he's almost 13 and he's like, you know, he's almost 13. So like he's into it, but he's not like
super into it. He's more into gaming, you know, but my oldest he's he's 15 almost 16 and he is like
he is a musician. They're both musicians. They both play piano all of that, but he is he like he
decides he likes a band and he digs into their whole discography and everything. So he like he
really appreciates the work that I put into the music from that aspect of things. And the best
compliment I ever got from him was recently when he listened to this EP said, mom of all the music
you've ever put out. I think these are the songs I'd most likely to actually put up my Spotify play.
No, it's like that is a high compliment from a 15 year old boy, right?
Marta with with teenagers have have the teenagers done something or pulled a practical joke or
regular life that you're surprised of. I think she finds out what she gets home tonight.
Oh, yeah, we'll find out because the oldest one is home alone with some buddies over right now.
Oh, so I know. Yes. So, so far so good. They're like shockingly like just the coolest kids.
And yeah, pretty amazing. So.
I'm, Marta, your purse, you recorded at Noona Lava Studios in Fort Atkinson, a place that you're
familiar with after recording your full album. The other side there in 2021 studio owner,
Jeff Peterson, plays drums on your EP. Who else is in your band?
Yes. So, and I've worked, I've worked with Jeff for several years now. He's fantastic to work with.
I love that I can record there. And then he's also, you know, an instrumentalist and he does drums.
Then I have for this EP, I brought in a really fantastic guitarist. His name is Dan McDonald's.
He plays in several bands in the area. They all do. They all do. So he lends guitar and bass
for for these tracks. That's great. We are talking with Marta Hanson and Marta has a new EP
out called of a certain age. Thanks for being here, Marta. I do want to mention though,
you wear a lot of hats. And this is what made me so intrigued by just your life in general.
Your mom, your wife, your musician. You are also one of the few female piano tuners.
Yes, I am. And your shop, the piano gal in Sun Prairie. You also turn pianos that maybe somebody
doesn't value anymore. You give them new life by turning them into art. Tell us about this.
Yes. That's really cool. Yeah, so I've had the, I've been a technician piano tuner tech for
like 13 years now. And my brick and mortar stores been open for 10. And I, you know, I get a lot
of calls for donations all the time. And over the years, I found that summer worth refurbishing
and reselling, which I do. And the ones that aren't when I, when I can. And I found what I do most
of the time is I wait and I get commissions. I get those really old heirloom pianos that nobody plays
and the cost to actually restore the piano is just cost prohibitive. So they have me make something
else out of it. And so that it can get new life. And they can still keep it in their family.
So I've made bars, desks, benches, I make tables. I've just made anything you can think of out
of a piano waller. That's just beautiful. Yes, my favorite things to make. And I think it's probably
my biggest hits on Pinterest is this really cool bar I made out of a baby grand piano for a client.
And it's got wine storage and liquor shelves. And it's just the coolest thing. And then
it can stay in their lives and not go to the dome. Yeah. Is it still in the shape of the piano?
Yeah. And it's still in the shape of the piano. I got everything out. Yeah, my newest project right
now. I'm actually doing a full gut. They have this old saloon style upright like Victorian. And
I'm taking everything out. So it's really light. And I'm putting a keyboard in. It's actually
getting used for a saloon, wild, wild west show in the delts for legacy dinner. Yes, because they
need it to be amplifiable. But they want it to look like a honky tongue. Yeah. Is this my
actual job like my life? Like, is this her? It's so cool. It's really fun.
Well, I think what I'd envision for me if you could do one like a grand piano that's basically
holds beer. I could do that for you. A beer cooler. Yeah. Just a big beer cooler. Just a piano
beer cooler. Done. Yeah. Hey, Marta, you also post a lot of pictures of people's pets when you
go to their own to do in their piano. You've done your homework. I did. And as a professional
pet sitter, I love this. Yes. I do. I love animals. If I wasn't in the jobs that I am, I would
I would probably work at an animal shelter. Dogs and cats, especially dogs are my dogs are my
people. Can you say that? I love dogs better than most people. Yes. We understand. It is
the absolute best part of my job is coming to and then coming to regular clients homes because I
go there every year for years and years. And I just get to love on their animals and they sit next
to me. It just makes me so happy. I love them so much. I call them my assistants. Oh, that's
perfect because they do. They get right in there with you when you're tuning cats really get in
there. They'll like go in the piano. And I want to know what's going on. Yeah, they want to be the
boss. So there is an EP release show now set for Friday, April 12th that's happening at beer
rock in Madison that starts at eight o'clock. What do you think people can expect?
So, you know, to our set and because it's an EP, it's obviously not 12 tracks. It's four tracks.
So I'm going to start off the show by highlighting these four songs, talking about, you know,
my inspiration, talking about the songs a little bit and performing acoustic versions of them,
just me and the piano. And then after that, I will be playing a mix of some of my other originals
from my other full length album. And then I actually have another album from 2016 that's all
90s covers. I know. That got me really into it. And so I'll intermix a bunch of fun 90s,
stripped down rock covers using piano and voice and a little ukulele. That's 90s grunt, right?
90, heck yeah, 90s grunt. What do you do with some Nirvana? I don't know. Nirvana,
Sungarden, Alison Chains, Pearl Jam, Bush, you name it. Some of these aren't easy to sing either.
No, but man, I like a challenge. Oh, good. So, all that is awesome. So, mix those in with my,
with my set of originals. And it's just me a fun time. There's great drinks. There's
really good food there, cool atmosphere. So it'll be a fun night. Beer rock is great. I love going
to beer rock. My buddy E. Dub and I, we go there quite a bit. Oh, that's so good. Okay.
Their food is super good too. Yeah, I'm going to, I'm going to have a beer rock. Yeah. Yeah.
Hey, how do we keep up with you? Both you as a musician, then also as the piano gal shop. And,
you know, we want to know other live shows, other things you're doing this summer. Absolutely. So,
from the music side of things, you can go to my website, which is martahanssonmusic.com.
And I do keep a running list of all upcoming gigs on there. And then you can also go to
martahansson music on Facebook and martahansson music on Instagram and martahansson music on the
TikTok. Oh, yeah. And then same thing for piano gal shop where I do all my piano stuff. I've got
piano gal shop on Facebook, the piano gal shop on Instagram and on TikTok and the piano gal shop.com.
You have to follow her on Instagram, whether it's her personal or the piano gal, because it's
awesome. Rocker, don't forget to give her a deposit for the piano beer cooler. What I want to
know is where is your piano shop in sun parry? It is downtown sun parry. So, I'm in the historic
district. I'm at 365 East Lineroo Drive right by the nitty gritty. Oh, yeah. Yes. Killer.
Right there. What's that pizza stop there? One day pizza? Oh, they used to be. It's Razadi's
now. Oh, it's Razadi. It's delicious. It smells. It wafts into my shop a lot. And it's
Razadi. It's not bad. Salvatore is on the way. Yeah, we love sales. Oh, yeah. Patrick is a friend.
The owner. Yeah. He's from our show. Tell me love Patrick. I love a free piggy piggy.
Wink Wink. Thank you. We're about to play the way I used to. Nope. I already played that. We're
about to play the last. Yeah. Tell me about this song here. So, this song is this song is about
my kids. And it's about the that it's a part of parenting that nobody tells you to prepare for.
And it's when you look back and you realize you would have the last moment of something.
Like the last time you carried your kid. One day you put them down and then you look back a
year later and you're like, they're too big. And I've never done it again. And you don't
know that that moment is going to be that moment. Like the last time you walked them to school,
the last time you rock them in a rocking chair, all of those moments. And I, you know, as my kids
get older, those moments just keep accumulating and they're they're better sweet. And so this song
is all about those moments. Oh, that's great. Wow. Yeah.
Marta's great to be you. Thank you for sharing your music. Thank you for having such a
blast. Thank you. Thank you.
Marta Hanson in the last his Maxi Cosific Media. We are Local Music.