Today we’d like to introduce you to Jesus Martinez R.
Hi Jesus, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My music career began as a kid with no actual idea of the music industry or a clear prospect of a future. I was born and raised in Santiago de Chile, where the music industry wasn’t big enough and, like everywhere else, was a little frowned upon to want to become a musician. I used to play guitar with my friends day after day until I graduated high school and needed to study something. I mean “needed” because in Chile is almost mandatory to become a highly trained professional if you want to be able to afford a house or a normal life. Without much idea, I ended up studying Sound Engineering, at the University of Chile (an important fact for later), a career that I didn’t know existed or what it even meant to be a sound engineer, luckily, after learning what a sound engineer does, I fell completely in love with it. Later in my college years, I learned about a mixing engineer, Mauricio Guerrero, who was from Chile, who studied the same career as I was, in the same place that I was, and ended up being a legendary mixer for huge artists, including several Grammy awards and more, so I dedicated myself to follow his steps, if he did it, I can do it! I said. So right after I finished my degree, with a not-so-great plan, I sold my car, and my stuff, and moved to LA to meet him and ask him to help me pursue this dream. You’d think that in 2017 it would be easy to find someone, but it was not. I spent some time finding this mentor figure and another time proving myself for him to take me and guide me. Thanks to him I ended up working in amazing studios in LA, I mean it.
During this continuous pursuit of a dream, I got married to the wonderful conductor Alfonsina Torrealba and we moved to Madrid, again, leaving everything behind. Together we created our own production house TorreMar Music Studio, a remote place where to this day I work constantly. Unfortunately, when COVID-19 hit us, my studio was very new, and we lost almost every job in Madrid. Therefore, I had to think about what our next step would be, and, with the support of many people, I got accepted into a master’s degree at Berklee College of Music. Wow, another moving, another life we had to leave pursuing this sort of dream.
Getting into Berklee was a very big risk for me and my family as well, however, with more experience, skills, and connections, I was more than ready to tackle the world again. Currently, besides my job at TorreMar Studio and Dreams Records, with Berklee peers, I’m creating something completely new that soon will be on your indispensable work software too.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Absolutely not! There were many steps that I had to take, some very big and some easier. First of all, my first migration from Chile to LA. When I realized what I wanted for my life, I also realized that I couldn’t make it happen in Chile, so I found a way to move to LA. Such a big move is very hard, you leave your family behind, your friends, your language, and everything familiar to you. That was a rewarding process with a big price to pay. However, creating a music career is not an easy task either, so looking for more academic milestones, my wife and I moved to Madrid. That’s another ocean-wide moving, leaving family, friends, and so much more behind. Furthermore, at that time we had already a growing career, so it became easier over time. Later COVID-19 hit and we had a brand new studio that had a very rough start due to confinement and the very little music production happened at the very big studios only. So I decided to sharpen my skills and got accepted into Berklee to pursue a Music Production, Technology, and Innovation master’s program. All of that combined plus many more personal challenges were steps that led me to my current place. Happy and looking forward to more!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a recording and mixing engineer, but more than that, I’m a problem solver. I think that’s one of the main reasons for people to work with me, I’m not creating problems in such a vulnerable place or moment like when one is creating something. I don’t have an ego while working, I just see the needs of the artist and go from there. Of course, I can have ideas and more, but I’m always looking for the artist’s vision to get the best version of whatever we are working on. On the other hand, having worked in different countries with all the heterogeneity that means, I’ve gotten a broad palette of skills, manners, and ways to do and achieve different results. So I can bring the best of the artist or music when it is needed, wherever it is needed, and with whoever it is needed. In addition to that, my partner in life and work is an orchestral conductor with a completely different musical background who is always looking, supervising, and giving input to all the mixes and masters done in TorreMar Studio, so it’s like to have an extra quality step in my process so I’m sure we have covered every angle of the production and piece of work. Furthermore, teaching for a couple of years gave me clear ideas on what engineers, A/V techs, media creators, artists, musicians, and all of us people who work in media in general necessities are, so I’ve created a software company that aims to help those professionals.
To sum up, I’ve been some kind of jack-of-all-trades in the past, so I can be useful and proactive in any sort of production to increase its value and obtain a great art piece.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Wow, that’s a great question! I’d say there are a few important lessons. One I got it from a book by Quincy Jones (which comes from Seneca), Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. This is clearly a huge lesson. Every time I’ve gotten a big opportunity, I had to be prepared to face it, and it is some sort of ice ball, if you can fulfill what people expected from you, they will keep calling. So be prepared and in the right place so when the opportunity shows up, you can perform at your best.
Another thing is to be patient and to listen a lot. If you are in a meeting, a recording session, a store, etc., just listen to what happening and be patient to see how the situation develops. If you know what’s happening and how people react and resolve, you will be able to make good choices when your time comes and avoid mistakes when isn’t your time. Lastly, be a problem solver, do not bring troubles without solutions and you will be a more welcome person wherever you are.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.torremarstudio.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/audiojesusmr/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/audiojesusmr/
- Other: https://www.audiojesusm.com/
Image Credits
Alfonsina Torrealba
Shabnam J. Kermani
Pablo Ramirez
