Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Rockstar teacher Martin Coughlin

The Martin Coughlin Band plays Company Pub in Poway on Friday, November 20

Coughlin on going to soccer’s Scottish Premier League: “It was kind of like a kid from Brooklyn getting drafted by the Yankees.”
Coughlin on going to soccer’s Scottish Premier League: “It was kind of like a kid from Brooklyn getting drafted by the Yankees.”

Although he was championed as “Westview’s rockstar teacher” on a campus newscast, Martin Coughlin was a high school dropout.

“I got picked up by the Scottish Premier [soccer] League to play for Glasgow Celtic. I didn’t get super rich, but it was pretty good money for a 17-year-old kid.”

Coughlin, 38, doesn’t regret quitting school. “It was kind of like a kid from Brooklyn getting drafted by the Yankees.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Video:

"Howlin' at the Moon"

...off of Martin Coughlin's <em>The Gaffer</em>

...off of Martin Coughlin's The Gaffer

But an injury and limited prospects encouraged him to rejoin his immediate family, which had already moved to San Diego. “My dad came here in the ’80s to work as an engineer for NASSCO.... I always wanted to go to college and I was still young enough to go back to school.”

While he was getting a social science degree at Cal State San Marcos, he and his younger brothers Paul and Gerald and another British expatriate launched Square Go, an all-original band known for its Beatles-like harmonies and leather pants. The quartet started playing in Poway coffeehouses in the late ’90s. They then parlayed a strong showing at the Belly Up’s Neighborhood Watch local-music showcase into opening up for Belly Up shows for Roger Cline, the Gin Blossoms, and Dave Wakeling.

Their Belly Up buzz attracted them to MP3.com, the San Diego–based company that in the ’90s tried to build a mega-label around the brand new mp3 technology.

“It was cool at the time,” Coughlin says. “Everything was brand new. I had a feeling that this was a major change in the music scene. That instead of getting signed to a label that music fans could get instant access.”

The technology did change the world, but while MP3.com helped Square Go hook up with national tours, the company went bankrupt. After that, “We ended up funding our own tours.... We became a band of brothers who were constantly fighting.”

Square Go broke up.

“A year went by and then two years,” says the singer/songwriter/guitarist. “So many other things came up, like careers and families. There was no way logistically to get back together as a band.”

Past Event

Martin Coughlin Band

But Coughlin, who now teaches history at Westview High School in Rancho Peñasquitos, started getting back into music four years ago. He released two solo albums and tried to reignite a Poway music scene that gave Square Go its first break two decades ago.

Under his direction, Poway’s Company Pub on Poway Road employs a free-admission, Thursday-through-Saturday live-music format focusing on original artists who are “guaranteed a performance fee.”

On November 19, the Company Pub hosts the female trio Cool Breeze. On November 20, the Martin Coughlin Band headlines with Westview High School student pianist Marian Mulock opening.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Now what can they do with Encinitas unstable cliffs?

Make the cliffs fall, put up more warnings, fine beachgoers?
Coughlin on going to soccer’s Scottish Premier League: “It was kind of like a kid from Brooklyn getting drafted by the Yankees.”
Coughlin on going to soccer’s Scottish Premier League: “It was kind of like a kid from Brooklyn getting drafted by the Yankees.”

Although he was championed as “Westview’s rockstar teacher” on a campus newscast, Martin Coughlin was a high school dropout.

“I got picked up by the Scottish Premier [soccer] League to play for Glasgow Celtic. I didn’t get super rich, but it was pretty good money for a 17-year-old kid.”

Coughlin, 38, doesn’t regret quitting school. “It was kind of like a kid from Brooklyn getting drafted by the Yankees.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Video:

"Howlin' at the Moon"

...off of Martin Coughlin's <em>The Gaffer</em>

...off of Martin Coughlin's The Gaffer

But an injury and limited prospects encouraged him to rejoin his immediate family, which had already moved to San Diego. “My dad came here in the ’80s to work as an engineer for NASSCO.... I always wanted to go to college and I was still young enough to go back to school.”

While he was getting a social science degree at Cal State San Marcos, he and his younger brothers Paul and Gerald and another British expatriate launched Square Go, an all-original band known for its Beatles-like harmonies and leather pants. The quartet started playing in Poway coffeehouses in the late ’90s. They then parlayed a strong showing at the Belly Up’s Neighborhood Watch local-music showcase into opening up for Belly Up shows for Roger Cline, the Gin Blossoms, and Dave Wakeling.

Their Belly Up buzz attracted them to MP3.com, the San Diego–based company that in the ’90s tried to build a mega-label around the brand new mp3 technology.

“It was cool at the time,” Coughlin says. “Everything was brand new. I had a feeling that this was a major change in the music scene. That instead of getting signed to a label that music fans could get instant access.”

The technology did change the world, but while MP3.com helped Square Go hook up with national tours, the company went bankrupt. After that, “We ended up funding our own tours.... We became a band of brothers who were constantly fighting.”

Square Go broke up.

“A year went by and then two years,” says the singer/songwriter/guitarist. “So many other things came up, like careers and families. There was no way logistically to get back together as a band.”

Past Event

Martin Coughlin Band

But Coughlin, who now teaches history at Westview High School in Rancho Peñasquitos, started getting back into music four years ago. He released two solo albums and tried to reignite a Poway music scene that gave Square Go its first break two decades ago.

Under his direction, Poway’s Company Pub on Poway Road employs a free-admission, Thursday-through-Saturday live-music format focusing on original artists who are “guaranteed a performance fee.”

On November 19, the Company Pub hosts the female trio Cool Breeze. On November 20, the Martin Coughlin Band headlines with Westview High School student pianist Marian Mulock opening.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Trophy truck crushes four at Baja 1000

"Two other racers on quads died too,"
Next Article

In-n-Out alters iconic symbol to reflect “modern-day California”

Keep Palm and Carry On?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader