Interview with Sean Martin from The Quarantined Band

We recently had an interview with The Quarantined Band. Sean Martin the lead singer and guitarist of the band answered the questions on band’s behalf.

Twist Online : First of all tell us about the start of your professional career?
Sean Martin : After graduating from Musicians Institute in Hollywood with an AA in guitar performance/ independent music business, I focused on completing a business plan for what I wanted to be as an artist. I revised my plan and took in feedback from others, I sought out people I knew through friends of friends who I thought would be the best at creating the different needs that the band had to create an EP, without the help or influence of a label in the content creation.
I also wanted to try the process by which a person could create a career in the music industry. Short Sean Martin is- Yes, but there are some death traps, soul suckers, shallow money trenches, back stabbers, honest people making honest mistakes, the nicest people you’ll ever meet, the worst people you’ll ever meet, and the tactics are fun too! I’ve written a blog called “Music in the Digital Era”, and it’s a brash but technical look at creating an artist centric music business, that stops the story right after we record Antiquate Hate: because more is coming.
When I had the opportunity to work with my teachers and mentors, get their validation, and eventually work with G1 on Antiquate Hate and hear the best version of what I can do- I knew I could create music on a professional level. I know I’ve just begun, but it’s still just another beginning to being a music artist.
Now hopefully I can show the next part of the journey with film!

Twist Online : Who or what inspired you to launch the band The Quarantined?
Sean Martin : The band name is to personify the odd one out; put away because it’s dangerous or maybe powerful, but unknown all the same. It takes courage to face the unknown, so every time the band name is repeated we all gain a little courage by facing our fears of the unknown.
My inspiration came from my teenage years in Northern California feeling like an outsider in my small town, working in restaurants, but researching astronomy, reading Johnen Vasquez, Neil Gaimen comics, researching civil rights movement leaders, and working on my lyricism for poetry slams in high school, becoming an atheist, going to protests in San Francisco before the Iraq War, being an infantry soldier and then a combat veteran with PTSD, being homeless, insane and hopelessly broke, finding through years of therapy that many ways of healing works better than one way – I wanted to bring my feelings about my reality through in music so even the emotionally numb can perceive my process of overcoming oneself and the problems with the world we live in, and contemplating our part in them.
Now, my inspiration is my observation. It’s my empathy in action, it’s my voice to have an effect on our world, it’s an obligation to the mirror of life that art must be in times of low visibility. The Quarantined can be what you wish you hadn’t seen in the mirror that art is to life.
Musically my inspirations are Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, harry Neilson, Soundgarden/Audioslave/Cornell, Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam, Black Sabbath, rage Against the Machine, living colour, staind, metallica, megadeth, and a lot of reggae, Green Day, sublime, RX bandits, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Tupac, Michael Jackson, slipknot, the Cherry Poppin daddies, Dave Martone, Tommy Emmanuel, Elliot smith, NWA, MC5, the beastie boys, pennywise. The list keeps going, everyday.

Twist Online : Our readers would like to know more about the band members and their roles in the band?
Sean Martin : Sean Martin– Guitars, vocals, executive producer – Singing at 4 years old in community choirs, playing guitar and songwriting and recording independently since 12, Sean is also a Musician’s Institute graduate with an A.A. in Guitar performance/Music industry studies. He is Executive producing The Quarantined’s albums, and is the main lyricist, songwriter, and content creator for the band. Sean served in the US Army Airborne Infantry (with the 3/509th, 4th Brigade, 25th I.D.) from 2004-2007, in Iraq in Oct. 2006- September 2007.
Sean also is a democracy advocate, paintball enthusiast, and a theater actor.

Alex Diaz– Bass, content creator- as well as being a talented bassist, guitarist, songwriter, photographer, and luthier, he is working on starting his own personally crafted guitar and bass business, making each instrument from scratch and by hand from unique woods. Originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, he has been known to travel the world to explore, taking pictures and training Muay Thai (in Thailand), with a growing interest in travel photography and filming.

Jeremy Hicks– Kachik – Guitars-
Multi-instrumentalist, luthier, songwriter, and civil war historian, Jeremy is an honor graduate from Musicians Institute and plays in The Hushdown since 2009.

Serge Martinenko– is a drummer, actor, model, and video editor. Originally from Latvia, Serge has played in local bands as a multi-instrumentalist while going to Emila Melngaila Music School in Liepaja. After relocating to the UK to play for two metal bands (Sanity Falls, Hostile Rising), he pursued opportunities in Los Angeles for print modeling and motion capture animation.

Twist Online : Tell us about your recent release?
Sean Martin : Our Antiquate Hate EP is produced by G1, (Tupac, Dr.Dre, Dj Quik) and was recorded at Ultimate Studios Inc. All the lyrics and music was written by Sean. It’s generally considered to be qualified in genre as Punk/Metal/Grunge/Poetry, and it chronicles in each song the 5 things that people are afraid to speak of the most- Love, death, politics, societies unknown, and authority.

Twist Online : What kind of response you have received from the release?
Sean Martin : So far the response has been really positive- I’m very thankful for all of our fans and especially people who have supported me and helped me succeed. There has been some Grammy buzz for this EP, and very strong support from music media.

Twist Online : What attracts you more, performing on stage or working in studios? 
Sean Martin : I really feel that both are necessary to really live in the music. Both activities have a distinct effect in a career, and both give different perspectives on the artist, to the fan.
If I had to choose, I’d say that I could live my whole life in a recording studio, but I’d want to get off the stage at some point.

Twist Online : What’s your favorite music genre?
Sean Martin : My favorite music genre is what is now classic rock. But I’m less restricted by genre in my personal favorites, more so I look for specific aspects of technique that allude to mastery of the musical language.

Twist Online : Have you set some target to achieve as a music band?
Sean Martin : I’d like to win a Grammy and go on a tour, but really to create a consistent career in music.
Generally speaking of targets- to create a body of musical work that can affect generations- to be artists through and through. We want to share music that can represent all that life is, good and bad, with our fans.
Most of the targets in music are general goals- having relevance, touring and press, having music that affects somebody is a multi-layered task, with a Pandora’s box of results- the process of Album creation is addicting. All of Life can be in one whole song, but one whole song isn’t all of life.
Maybe I just want to see who’s paying attention as I am to the world right now.

Twist Online : Are you currently working on any other project?
Sean Martin :  I’m working on creating a fully mobile recording Unit that can be small enough to carry around and powerful enough to create the highest quality audio recordings in any environment.
Jeremy is doing and has done great work with The Hushdown, and we highly recommend you listen to their album “Radio”.

For further infomation and updates on the band you can follow them on

www.Facebook.com/TheQuarantined
@TheQuarantined : IG and Twitter