Micah Martin is Bridging the Gap Between Rock n' Roll and EDM [Exclusive Interview]

Micah Martin is Bridging the Gap Between Rock n' Roll and EDM

12/3/2018

Micah Martin is the lead singer in the rock band, The Zealots, but EDM fans are probably more familiar with his work as a vocalist for producers like Brooks, Dirty Palm, Retrovision, Loris Cimino, Protohype, Spag Heddy, and Kayzo. He has stopped by to tell us how he first got into singing, performing with his rock band versus EDM festivals, and the process behind some of his most popular songs like "Oblivion" with Dirty Palm and "Hold it Down" with Brooks.

Where did your love for music come from and what inspired you to start creating your own?
My grandmother bought me a guitar for Christmas when I was twelve years old. I had no idea how to play it so my dad paid for some guitar lessons. After two sessions, my guitar teacher told my dad that I was unteachable and that I would never become a good musician. Hearing him say that inspired me to become a well rounded musician, so I taught myself how to play guitar, drums, bass, and piano by ear. Around that same time, my best friend and neighbor down the street, Ryan, got a guitar and so we started jamming and learning music together. His little brother was learning the drums at the time as well and one day, we made a promise that we would be in a famous band together. Fast forward several years later and here we all are still writing original music and playing shows together!

When did you first start getting into singing?
Back in the beginning, Ryan was the singer of our group and I was just the guitar player. Until about six years ago, I was completely tone-deaf and couldn't sing for shit. I started singing when I bought this live autotune performance thing that was used by one of my favorite bands, Attack Attack. I started playing around and performing with it and that gave me the confidence to sing in front of other people because I knew that no matter how bad the note was, I would still be in key. Since then, I've stopped using autotune but I have to thank it for building my confidence and getting me to where I am today.

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When the waitress walks past your table with your food â–¡â–¡â€â™‚ï¸ â–¡@vixen.wolf

A post shared by Micah Martin (@micahthezealot) on Sep 11, 2018 at 7:39am PDT

How did you first get involved with the EDM side of things?
It all started after I posted a cover of "Throne" by Bring Me the Horizon on YouTube. A few weeks later, I got a message from a Latvian producer, Urbanstep, who wanted to use my version to make a remix of the song. My vocals really meshed well with his style of music so we decided to release an EP together that ended up getting a lot of positive feedback. I added myself into some EDM production groups on Facebook and posted video mixes of me singing on some tracks I was working on. One video went viral in the group and I woke up to 150+ message requests from producers wanting to work with me. I had listened to electronic music before all of this but never really got into it personally. While my heart and soul bleeds for Rock and Roll, I saw this demand for my vocals as an opportunity to help fund my dream in to be in a famous band with my best friends. Some of my first EDM artists I worked with were Protohype and Brooks.

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A post shared by Micah Martin (@micahthezealot) on Apr 30, 2017 at 4:44pm PDT

What was it like working with Brooks on "Hold it Down?"
It's actually a pretty funny story! He was one of those 150+ messages I woke up to after the video went viral. At the time I had no idea who he was. He told me that his artist name was Brooks and I started laughing because my little brother's name was Brooks! He didn't understand what was going on and I didn't know what was going on, but we did the song and finished it pretty easily. When he released the song, of course it said "Brooks featuring Micah Martin" and all my friends and family were messaging me asking when my brother started producing music! I told them that this wasn't my brother and that this Brooks was a big producer guy. Anyway, it was really great working with him, he's a really nice guy and I love him dearly.

How does the process normally work when you work on collaborations?
When I get the instrumental from the producer, I first figure out the key and bpm of the song to see what I'm working with. After that, I just start playing around with possible melodies and recording them to see how they sound. When I'm trying to find a melody, I'll just make up some gibberish lyrics to fill in the notes but for some of the best songs I've done, the lyrics have just come so naturally in the heat of the moment. I never write down my lyrics so that I can fully explore the feel and vibe of the song. After I've finished a solid draft, I'll obsess over the track and listen to it over and over again to see if there's anything else that I can do to it. Once I feel like it's the best work I can do, I'll send the acapella off for the producer to mix it into the track.

Could you give us an example of one of the tracks you've done that came really naturally to you?
Dirty Palm was probably the easiest going artist that I've ever worked with. I wrote and had the vocals mixed for "Oblivion" in under two hours. When I was writing it, I felt like what I had was gold so it didn't take that much time at all. On YouTube, "Oblivion" is my most streamed track at over seven million views right now, which is crazy for a song that took under two hours to write.

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A post shared by EDM â–¡ (@edmnew) on Nov 8, 2017 at 10:55am PST

What are some of the challenges you've had while working with producers?
It can be pretty frustrating when I write a song for somebody and they reject it right away or have a ton of changes they want me to make. I'm always open to criticism, but if the criticism is going to make the song sound terrible, then I'm not about it. I wouldn't have sent them anything other than what I felt was perfect for the song.

I also process the vocals myself but some producers don't like my vocal mix, which means I have to send them the dry stems for the songs. Sending the stems is always stressful for me because I never know how it's going to sound in the end since everyone mixes vocals differently. Honestly, I don't end up liking most of the vocal mixes for the songs where the producer used the stems but whatever, you can't win them all.

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A post shared by Micah Martin (@micahthezealot) on Oct 5, 2018 at 2:18pm PDT

What are your concerts like with your rock back, The Zealots, versus the EDM festivals and performances?
A lot of people know my voice from electronic music and it definitely has a bigger fan base right now, but I have more fun playing the rock and roll shows because it's more of a challenge. For the EDM performances, it's a lot easier to control the crowds because there's a strong mob mentality. Also as a singer, it's less stressful because I'm just showing up for one or two songs being played off a USB. Usually, the DJ plays the full track with my vocals in it, so I have to work to try to sound as good as I did in the recording. Sometimes the DJ will take out my vocals, like Spag Heddy did at our show in the Aragon Ballroom, but even then, I know the timing and tuning is going to be perfect, so all I've got to focus on is hitting the right notes and controlling the crowd.

Now when it comes to our rock performances, there's a lot more setup and logistics involved like transporting, setting up, and testing our gear at the venue. Then for the shows themselves, it's a lot more difficult because you have to have to perform everything live and work off of the band to try to form a genuine connection with the audience. The crowds are usually smaller which is actually harder to control since you don't have that mob mentality of those massive EDM events. Then during and after the show, you have to go and try to build your fanbase and make sure that they'll come back for other shows, share our music, or buy our albums.

Are you doing music full time or do you do something else during the day?
During the day, I install and service water softeners for my grandpa's business, Eastern Iowa Soft Water, so I'm basically a plumber by day and musician by night. When I finish work, I go to band practice and then head home to continue working on music. I try to write two or three songs a week so some nights, I'll be up until two or three in the morning writing music but other nights I'll just come home, watch Netflix, and chill out.

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A post shared by Micah Martin (@micahthezealot) on Apr 22, 2018 at 5:21pm PDT

What're you hoping to accomplish in the future and what upcoming projects can you share with us?
My end game is definitely to have my music heard all around the world and help out people that have gone through similar things that I have in my life. A lot of my writing stems from my experiences with rejection and heartbreak in addition to events in my life, and so writing about those feelings help me process them and move forward. I want to be the voice that people turn to when they're feeling depressed and don't know how to deal with certain situations.

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A post shared by Micah Martin (@micahthezealot) on Jul 22, 2018 at 3:48pm PDT

For now though, my goal is to be able to make a living off of my music and tour the world with my rock band. That's been the goal since day one. EDM just came into the picture because it was helping that dream come true. I would love to bridge the gap between these two parts of my career and I feel like I did that pretty well in working with Kayzo. I did a lot of the vocals on his album and got my band featured in it as well. In the near future, I've got some upcoming collaborations with Dion Timmer, Bear Grillz, AFK, Krimer, Retrovision, and two other amazing artists whose names I can't disclose just yet, but keep an eye out for that announcement!

A huge thanks to Micah Martin for taking the time to answer our questions! Be sure to follow him and The Zealots on social media for all the latest tracks, shows, and updates!