...from busking summer 2002 - to Edinburgh Festival shows 2005 - PHOTOS BY PAULINE KEIGHTLEY

 As a young alien John did a lot of acting in Youth theatre. After leaving school he went to do an acting course and got work off the back of that. He has performed in many plays, radio and TV work in Scotland. All this time the Kielty boys were laying their plans, and dreaming of their fantasy world of 'ghosts,vampires,outer space,and more'!

John Kielty met David Sneddon in 2001, while acting in Romeo & Juliet, John was Juliet's father and David was Romeo. They did acoustic gigs at the Tron in Glasgow, decided to start a band together and called themselves The Martians.  'I learned some of David’s songs on piano, I wrote some songs.' John wanted to perform an unplugged version of War of he Worlds, so he brought in Harry (lead guitar) Gibby (bass) and Kate who made interesting noises.
MARTIANS CD - In June 2002 the Martians recorded the first 4-track Martian Cd in one day. The Cd included Long Time Coming, Flowers and Butterflies, Roll Along and Convince Me. The CD got a good response and sold well.

When David won the BBC show Fame Academy John joined him in London. They shared David luxury flat and spent the year on 'planet pop, beating off earthling fans, playing Top of the Pops and supporting stars like Elton John and Bryan Adams.'  John co-wrote songs on David’s album, Seven Years Ten Weeks,and the last track is John’s soulful ‘Long Time Coming.’ While the "the pop, dazzle and fizz of showbiz" wasn't exactly what John expected - "we got to work with some really good recording studios, some amazing musicians, and did a lot of good recording. David's album sold really well so we made a shit-load of money. It was a very, very interesting glimpse into the music world, and we're still there - we go down and work with artists all the time and write songs for them." 
John also performed acoustic gigs in London and Glasgow with David Sneddon in 2006. David has been writing and recording a new solo album, and he describes his new album as 'acoustic indie pop'.

2004 - The Martian boys wrote and produced scripts for a Radio and a Pilot Martian Tv series, with the boys fighting off Aliens! They are huge sci-fi fans, and love the unexplainable, the out-of-this world fantasies. “We've just filmed our TV pilot. It's basically about a group of buskers who all live in a supernatural world with vampires and Satan and stuff like that - it's like the Monkees meets Renta-Ghost, and it's got a kicking pop/rock soundtrack."
A huge Dr Who fan, John has ambitions to one day play the Doctor. He is tailor made for Dr Who's colourful scarves, long coats and surprised expressions! John is thrilled that former Dr Who actor, Sylvester McCoy has agreed to play Satan in their TV series. John was also songwriting with David and played guitar in David’s band The Sham. John and David did an acoustic gig at Colne Music Festival,.

2005 The Martians hit the Edinburgh Festival with " Evil Face"…. A stupendously fast-paced and entertaining show – outlandish, energetic, scary and absorbing!! But mostly just very very funny. The guys have so much fun doing their show, and certainly their music and madness is very infectious.
They recorded a new CD for the festival, which included 7 new songs, plus extracts from ‘Evil Face’. John plays an exacting rhythm guitar, does the lead vocals and his sincere baritone blends well with brother Gerry Kielty’s amazing falsetto voice. John’s songs have a lightness of touch, playful rhythm and engaging lyrics. He's influenced by the likes of the Beatles and Crowded House. Gerry Kielty is also a prolific song writer, and has written over 300 songs that include the popular ‘Upbeat Beat.'
The Martian line-up includes John, his brothers Gerry, James, Martin and Damien, and a number of friends. While John is chief writer, all the Martians are talented songwriters, actors and musicians, and they all contribute to the Martians scripts and songs.
" It's really just me, my wee brothers Gerry and James, that write the stories. We started off as a band doing gigs. We would busk in the street and drag people down to a venue where we did a show, so it was 'live action theatre' plus music.”