Moses Martin On Bunny, New Burberry Campaign & His Dad’s “Brilliant” Advice

Moses Martin is stepping into his own. As the son of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, the 20-year-old has lived most of his life out of the spotlight, but not anymore. Back in May, his band People I’ve Met, which Martin fronts as the lead vocalist and guitarist, released its debut EP, Bunny, a promising offering from Martin, drummer Orlando Wiltshire, and bassist Andrew Suster that assures the future of alt-rock is in good hands.

Spanning across five tracks, the project feels like an emotional-whiplash gut-punch — one minute you’re raging to the scathing, burn-it-to-the-ground anthem “Bastards,” and the next you’re getting misty-eyed over “Loving One,” an acoustic breakup track that evolves into an expansive power ballad reminiscent of his father’s best works. Then there’s the punchy escapist number “For Hire,” which is getting something better than the TikTok-viral treatment: The song serves as the soundtrack to Martin’s first-ever fashion campaign, a collaboration with Burberry called Escape to the Countryside.

In an exclusive interview with the rising star, NYLON caught up with Martin to talk about the campaign, his fears around releasing music, and the best advice he’s gotten from his father.

What was it like working on this new campaign?

Really fun. It was a cool experience. Any chance I can get to go back to England I take, because I love family there and it was my home for a while. I think there’s something really special about the British countryside that was captured really well. It’s a beautiful place to be shooting anything and also just a really great atmosphere. I had a great time.

This is your first fashion campaign. Were you nervous at all?

Slightly. I feel like it’s less nerve-wracking to be in front of cameras than actual crowds of people. So yeah, I was nervous in some ways, but it was mainly fun, honestly.

Did you ask your mom or sister for any advice going into it?

No, I didn’t, which I feel like was a bit of a... I could have used some helpful advice. I’m sure they would’ve had good wisdom to impart. Next time, I’ll get their pointers.

The campaign features your band’s song “For Hire.” How involved were you in that decision?

I wasn’t really expecting it to happen. As far as I know, [Burberry] asked if [it] could use the song, and I was thrilled because any opportunity I can get to have people hear the music, I’ll take. It’s a fun song, and it’s lively, and I think it matches the vibe of the campaign well, which was great. I didn’t have to fight for it or anything.

How did the band celebrate when you broke the news?

We were probably in the studio, and I think we would’ve all been exhausted from a long day [of recording], so our excitement might’ve been diminished a bit by our lack of energy, but overall we were still really excited. It was cool and a great way to intersect all the different facets of my interests.

Speaking of the band, you just put out your new EP not too long ago. How are you feeling now that it’s out in the world?

Great. It’s intimidating yet freeing in a way to finally have a piece of work out. I think we’re all really proud of it, which is great, and it turned out pretty close to the best we could have wanted. But it’s a weirdly intimate, or vulnerable thing rather, to have music out there because a lot of the songs are really personal and it’s things I would never say to my friends, let alone anyone on the Internet or music listener or whatever. But it does feel really good at the same time.

Was there a song that you were particularly maybe nervous to put out or for people to hear?

I was mainly nervous for “Loving One” because that’s about as personal as I get. It’s a scary thing to be so open and earnest, but ultimately I think it's the right way to go about music. There’s no point in making art if it’s not honest. Ultimately, I got over the fear, but I was definitely scared for people to hear me really open up like that.

What kind of headspace were you guys in when you wrote the EP?

We wrote the songs sort of scattered around timewise. They’re all from like a six-month period, a year period. A lot of the lyrics I wrote in college and dealing with different situations of romances ending or not going the way you would’ve hoped. And so I thought, “What better way to express this than write about it?” I think that’s what’s so beautiful about art is its capacity to translate, experience, and share it. Once we got into the studio, it was a few months after when I had initially done the songs. So that was actually nice to get some kind of retrospective clarity on what they might’ve been about and then be able to expand on them after, and also get to build them and grow them to the full potential with the band and have that shared experience.

When you write a new song, who is the first person you play it for?

I send it to the band, and then I play it to my parents and see what they think. I trust their taste a lot.

Has your father imparted any words of wisdom to you?

Yeah, totally. There is one mantra he’s always told to me, which is just never give up. It’s helpful when it gets to a point musically, or anytime in life, where it’s a lot of work piling up that feels like it’s too much to handle, and sometimes you just want to throw it all away. That’s a big one.

Musically, he’s always just told me to trust the songs and not overthink anything too much beyond that. However many numbers it might be doing — just trust the songs. If they feel great to me, then they’ll find the place where they’re supposed to go. It’s brilliant.

What does this moment mean to you and the band?

I think a combination of feeling excellent and then also slightly nervous, but ultimately, it feels great to be putting ourselves and myself out into the world. I don’t know. It’s definitely a unique feeling but ultimately really fantastic.

Obviously you guys just put out music, but are you working on an album? Are you thinking of touring? What’s next for you guys?

We’re working on another EP right now. We have all these songs, and we’ve just been working away and figuring out on our own how we can go forward and expand on what we’ve already said and continue to do the best work we can. The mindset is to just spend as long in the studio as we can and do the best work we can.

We’re playing Redding and Leeds [Festivals] and Electric Picnic as well, which I’m very excited about. Actually fitting with Burberry, too. I feel like that kind of British spirit carries across a lot. It’s our first time playing festivals. Festival culture is big. I love music festivals, especially British ones like Glastonbury. There’s a real magic that happens there, so to be a part of that in any capacity is a real gift.

Is there anyone playing at the festivals who you’re excited to see?

You know what is a real shame? Our schedule for getting from festival to festival is so tight that we don’t really have the chance to stick around and see people. I have to look into it further, maybe I’ll try and squeeze it in when I can.

What’s next for you? What are you manifesting?

I hope to continue to improve as a person in my relationships with my family and my friends and the people who surround me, and then also improve in what I love to do and always be creating. Abundance of friendship and creativity and everything positive. I feel like it’s important to focus on positive things day-to-day to get through.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.