Isaac Martinez - 10 Country Songs
“Coloradoan Isaac Martinez just released a country-tinged album, sounding like the son of Beck when he released his country record.” – KVOQ/Indie 102.3
“I still listen to Time Passes all the time, I cant believe it hasnt broke 1000 plays yet but im working on it” – LA singer-songwriter Hank May
Isaac Martinez is an indie/alt guitar player, singer, and songwriter currently based in Denver, CO. Despite drawing influence from all corners, Isaac’s story so far is similar to the origin stories of artists such as Alex G, Mitski, & Car Seat Headrest; having recorded and released many albums up to this point–the difference between Isaac and those artists being that he has wiped most of that work from the internet, except for 2018’s “Zoo” under the name i2m1, a comp called FOMO, and his newest album, and first full studio production, 10 Country Songs, released under his government name (also online are the albums he put out with Colorado Springs hip-hop outfit True Fiction, which have a whole story of their own). Isaac is currently working on a new hip-hop leaning project with a working title “Honda Civic”.
If you’re hearing an Isaac Martinez song, chances are it’s been years in the making. His new album, 10 Country Songs, is the cumulative result of a year’s worth of work in Denver with 10 of his songs that date back as far as 12 years. Isaac is proud to call this his first “studio” release, but it is actually his 13th album release, solo or otherwise, if you count the 12 or so DIY home studio releases Isaac has released since August 2016–for context, May 2016 was the last time Radiohead released an album!
A Colorado native who has kept a relatively low profile, Isaac spends years writing a song, creating demos, and workshopping production ideas before landing on a finalized version. Through his work with Colorado bands True Fiction, Cocordion, and many under the radar solo releases under various aliases, Isaac has spent more than half of his life shaping a sound that seeks to combine the immersive sounds of Shoegaze, Garage Rock, & IDM with the reigning Alternative, Country, and Hip Hop sounds of the mainstream Pop realm.
Born in Denver but mostly raised an hour south in Colorado Springs, Isaac first entered the world of performance playing Violin in a youth symphony, as well as playing his original songs in a band with his father and his father’s TV station coworker in a true to form garage band. After graduating high school, Isaac absorbed the Americana and Math Rock local to the mid 2010’s most exciting Springs scenes and quickly got to work creating his first record, with the help of Colorado musicians—members of bands like Eros and the Eschaton and We Are Not A Glum Lot.
Following this, Isaac repeated this experiment over and over in the Springs and Los Angeles (where his family has resided since 2016) and eventually found kindred spirits in Springsians Stephen Patrick & Logan Snowden, with whom he formed True Fiction, a Brockhampton & Beatles-inspired Springs Pop-Rap “supergroup” with a tumultuous 4 year history and a string of releases that found a small group of superfans but ultimately left its members wanting more.
A few years and a few more experiments later, Isaac entered the studio with a bit of spending money and a plan: 10 Country Songs, an album of Folk, Indie, Country, and ‘90s Alternative inflected songs inspired by conversations with his wife Zoe, the birth of their first child, and his relationship with God and the chaotic political landscape and music culture he was raised up in. Recorded with members of Springs groups Glitter Gore and Briffaut on the rhythm section and engineers responsible for Bon Iver, Waxahatchee, and Green Day releases, 10 Country Songs is the first album in a planned series of 5 albums called TOURNAMENT.