Get to know hardworking local musician and entrepreneur Mike Martin
I’ll admit, when I first met Mike Martin, I was kind of a stalker. I saw him playing one night in the parking lot stage of The Washout. I was like “Damn, this guy is good!” I started following him on Instagram. I became curious when I saw he was an entrepreneur as well. Right before COVID, I hired him to play at a backyard party that I would have when the rules lifted, but unfortunately, that party never happened. Since then, we have traded likes on social media, and I’ve seen him play a few shows here and there. Last week, we finally sat down without a crowd around us, and I learned about the man behind the music.
FOLLY CURRENT: Where were you born and how long have you been tied to Folly?
MIKE MARTIN: I am from Fairmont, Indiana which is a small town near Muncie, IN (also the birthplace of James Dean). I call Muncie home because it’s where I own my version of Bert’s Market, we call it The Common Market. I travel back and forth several times a year, usually 6 weeks at a time. I came to Folly Beach for the first time in 1997. I got a room for $125 a week at the FBI Building which is now a vacant lot owned by the city, I believe, on Artic and 2nd Street East, right on the beach. Back then it was called The Front Beach Inn, but people called it the FBI because of loose stories around drug raids and the criminality of some inhabitants. I can’t vouch for any of that, but it sounds like a nice play on letters looking back. I was 19 years old at the time, I felt it odd that every Sunday morning for 15 minutes our landlord would show up and wake us up to his loud voice proselytizing from the parking lot while we were trying to sleep off hangovers. It turns out he was avoiding taxes by declaring the FBI building a church!!
FC: What’s your favorite thing about Folly?
MM: Folly is my favorite place on Earth, it really is! My company is called Folly Moon. It’s named after the way the beach hangs over the moon just right at night. I love the community, drifters and surfers and hippies coexisting with tourists and locals in unison. We all understand that Folly is a melting pot of us all from day one and are cool with it. it’s like we are all in love with life together and chasing that same spirit.
Share a story you’re fond of about Folly Beach.
MM: I’ve always wanted to live out a Jimmy Buffett song, and I’ve always wanted to live in Jamaica. When I first moved here, I worked odd construction jobs and split the floor and the bed of my room with my best friend from high school. It was so carefree, I remember we’d buy 2 Bert’s hot dogs and a 40-ouncer of Bud Heavy and sit out and flirt with girls in front of Bert’s.
Then fast forward another 10 years and I remember yearning to live in Jamaica and thinking that Folly Beach was a lot like Jamaica. I couldn’t really place why. One day I stumbled into Chico Feo, which at the time didn’t have a visible sign so you couldn’t tell if it was some random guy’s back yard or a legal establishment. The front house part was like a place all the surfer’s stayed when they came to town. I wandered in and met Hank Weed, the owner who told me he lived in Negril Jamaica for 10 years and I was like, there it is! Now it makes sense why I love this place so much. To this day, Chico’s is my favorite place to play.
FC: In your opinion, what’s the most important issue facing our community today?
MM: Time and people have discovered our own little Oasis here. With that I’m scared that the humans that made Folly so unique and colorful are not here as much. They are dissipating, going out with the tide. As an artist I’m conscious of that and my creative friends are too. We need to plug that leaking hole somehow.
FC: If you were in charge, how would you fix it?
MM: How about a grant for creatives? An arts grant program that sponsors anyone who makes their primary income from music and or art, painters, musicians, writers, sculptors, etc. Maybe build 12 tiny homes where the FBI building was! Right across from where the city stores its summer equipment. Fill it with artists!! Everyone gets a front porch to play guitar from or paint their landscapes in front of everyone. Not only would it bring the artists back, but it would serve as a way for tourists to enjoy what’s being offered in the arts village, and the artists could grow their following. Not only would the vibe return, but it would be amplified!! Keep Folly Funky!!! I love that saying. Bring the artsy vibe home again.
Every month, local entrepreneur and author Pat “Wiggy” Hiban interviews a different “Face of Folly” for this column. If you have
an idea of someone you think Pat should
chat with, please send suggestions
to editor@follycurrent.com.
