Music Review and Interview with Martron Music
Marlon Nigro (stage name “Martron”), whose musicianship and production has been compared to the likes of Skrillex, Zedd, Schubert and Mozart (just to name a few), grew up in Huntington, New York with a passion for music throughout his early life, starting with flute at age 9. To Marlon, music is something that gives life its true power and is an incredible international tool. He grew up listening to many different groups of music such as Tool, Steel Pulse and Stravinsky. With all of this plus the late introduction to electronic music in 2011, you can hear how Marlon’s sound has been influenced by these experiences in his life.
Still living in Huntington, New York at 22, Marlon has worked on electronic music since August of 2012 and has accomplished quite a lot for someone who has been in the game for such a short time. Marlon was picked up by his current manager, Ken Lombardi, and brought to produce at The Music Palace studio in Hempstead, New York in the summer of 2013 where he mixed his debut single “Triumph.” He and Ken later moved on from The Music Palace in early 2014 to produce at Cove City Sound Studios in Glen Cove, New York, where he has a built a relationship with Richie and Eren Cannata. While there, Marlon mixed his 2ndsingle “Get Down”, a remix for the iconic Ragga Twins and another track called “The Boy & The Dragon”. Marlon reached out to the Ragga Twins, who’ve worked with the likes of Skrillex, Must Die, Datsik and many more, in hopes for a collaboration in 2013. The Twins replied and now have 2 collaborations with Marlon as well as 2 remixes requested by the Twins themselves.
Marlon is a young, talented, passionate, well-rounded and creative musician who hopes to share his love of music with the world and leave his mark on the music world with his ear-catching sound as well as his flowing melodies.
Music Review
He looks like any other hot EDM artist thats come to town with a hit track, Except Matron Music, now making air waves around the country with his single “Get Down”, isn’t just passing through. He is home, as close to home as Long Island is to Manhattan, a distance of debatable dimension, at least psychically.
Instead of going the classic route of mixing an industrial electronic sample, they spliced their own vocals for a warmer sounding choral beat. The result sounds like it’s what you’d expect to find on the “Transformers” soundtrack. …and It’s pretty awesome! It is more like the dark electronica of Massive Attack, which is certainly a compliment.
Overall, this is an impressive and classy piece of electronica that stands up on its own as a song regardless of the production, which is very good as well. It will appeal to both dance fans and music lovers in general as good music always does, and is commercial enough to have radio appeal, not just on Kiss 104.7 FM (Below) but I’d be willing to bet this would literally rock the airwaves in the U.K where EDM has been blowing up for years. I look forward to hearing more from this artist.
Listen to ” Get Down ” being played on Kiss 104.7 FM
By HBdidit – Exposed Vocals Music Reviewer and Breaking News Contributor.
A NYC fashion designer, music reviewer and lover of life!
Exclusive Interview:
Exposed Vocals: How did you hear about Exposed Vocals? What made you decide to sign up?
Martron: I heard about you guys through Twitter. Randy Morano messaged me asking if I wanted to do an interview and after checking your stuff out I thought it was a great opportunity.
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
Martron: I was born on Long Island and have done most of my growing up in Huntington. I’ve been there since I was 5 years old and my life has been very adventurous. According to my parents I always had a passion for music, even as a toddler, but I never did anything with music until I was 8 or 9 years old when I started playing flute. When I was 15, I started writing classical music and I worked my way up to some awesome opportunities, such as being the youngest student to attend Bard College’s graduate student program for composition and writing commercial music for Ethan Allen for 2 years. After experiencing what the classical scene had to offer, I wanted to get into something more open and fun. That’s when I started writing electronic music. It’s been almost 3 years now and I’m having a great time.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
Martron: I tried coming up with many names and nothing really stuck, which I feel is because those names didn’t have any deeper meaning associated with my making music. But then I combined my name with the word “electronic” and I got Martron, which sounds like a robotic version of my actual name, Marlon, so I think it worked out for the best.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Martron: I think it’s great because more incredible artists are getting exposure and there’s no downside to that. Artists are also given feedback from more than just their family and friends so they can create better music. As far as releasing music for free, I absolutely do it and I love doing it. Every artist obviously wants to make money off their tracks, but giving some stuff out for free is something a lot of bigger artists these days never do. They usually put out an EP or album and you wait a year or so for the next bigger release. Free releases give something to the fans to enjoy while you’re working on a bigger project and I think that’s a big deal.
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
Martron: I would say covers and remixes are a great place to start. Being able to put your own spin on a track can show your musicality and creativity. Sometimes you can even get attention from the original artist!
Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?
Martron: I’ve made a couple of mistakes during performances for sure and the way to handle it is to practice. If you practice performing at home or wherever you feel comfortable, being prepared for mistakes is second nature. I’d also say not taking it seriously helps. Making a mistake isn’t the end of the world. For me, it actually takes the pressure off.
Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?
Martron: I’ve never been on tour but I would love to. The coolest thing that happened while playing a gig was when I performed on Halloween. My manager and booking agent were freaking out because there were 4 other acts besides me and they together brought 2 people to the show. Then I come on to perform and by the last song, there were a little over 30 people in the venue. It may have not been my biggest show, but it was a huge confidence booster seeing a lot of people come just to see me perform.
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Martron: That’s a tough question to answer because the songwriting process is very random. The idea can come from me improvising on piano or explaining an idea to someone or something I dream about or what I’m thinking about. It can come from pretty much anywhere! Same goes for the actual writing part: it can be me writing an intro first or a drop or a melody. Nothing has had a specific order or process and I honestly like it that way.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
Martron: As far as a main website goes, that’s being put together as we speak. I’m not sure when it’ll be live yet because I’m mainly focusing on putting out tracks rather than on a website for myself. I release my tracks on iTunes and Soundcloud, but mainly Soundcloud because most of them are free to download. I have a Facebook page under “Martron” as well as Twitter and Instagram under “@martronmusic”. I also have YouTube and Soundcloud accounts under “Martron Music.”
Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?
Martron: Oh Jesus…basically my older stuff that I’ve made sure remains off the Internet. I remember the first track I ever produced was a remix of “Make It Bun Dem” by Skrillex. Listening to it now is very hard to do. But hey, everyone starts somewhere, right?
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
Martron: I’d probably look for bigger musicians to work with and continue working as if I never had the year off. The money would be used either for traveling wherever I was needed or on some video games and 1950’s-60’s comic books. I’m a big fan of old-school Marvel.
Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?
Martron: If anything, new speakers. I’ve got my eyes on a specific pair and hope I can get them one day. But right now I’m working with just my laptop and sometimes a pair of small JBL speakers my dad gave me 2 years ago. I can’t recall what model they are, they look like 2 tiny mushrooms attached to their giant mother mushroom by 2 wires.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
Martron: I usually just put the music on Soundcloud, share it on my social media pages and then put it on a few forum sites. On Facebook, I’ll even pay for the post with the track in it to be boosted so more people can see or hear it. Some of my fans on Soundcloud also share the posts with others and it trickles down from there. Hopefully, my process will change soon so I can promote it to a larger audience.
Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?
Martron: Dead: Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Beethoven, Kurt Cobain. Alive: Skrillex, marshmello, Rammstein, John Williams. Places: Italy, Hawaii, Japan, Middle Earth. Reason: These artists are all amazing and the places are beautiful.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
Martron: Absolutely. I’ve got a couple of collaborations in the works with The Ragga Twins, who’ve worked with the likes of Skrillex and Must Die!. They’re very respectful and very talented, it’s been a pleasure working with them. I’m also working on a few projects with a group called NOHC. Their music is very organic and each of the 3 members (Chris, Brandon and Sue) are very passionate about what they do as well as very talented. They’re also going to be performing in Island Park, NY with me on August 7th. I’ve also been working on some free downloads of remixes as well as singles for iTunes that I’m very excited to put out.
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Martron: Probably acting. I’ve seen myself from time to time being an actor. I’m a huge fan of Cary Grant’s work and would love to do that.
Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?
Martron: I don’t remember a big chunk of my childhood, but I remember my parents bought me the soundtrack of “Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace” written by John Williams. The music was so emotional and powerful, I even bought it digitally years later. Abbey Road by The Beatles, however, will always remain my favorite album of all time. Just listen to it and you’ll understand.
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Martron: It’s a tough thing to do for sure. Between being with my family, friends, business friends/partners and sometimes the occasional significant other, it really stretches you thin. A couple of my closest friends sat me down a couple of minutes ago and said “Marlon, you need to slow down! You need to breathe, man!” It’s never easy because I love my friends and family dearly, but I find a way to work myself to the bone and spend time with them.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2015?
Martron: They should expect a lot of music to come, more shows to be performed and more collaborations as well as another possible logo change. I’m really looking forward to the 2nd half of this year and how much I can grow as a musician.
