Music
Zack Martino played his first concert as a teenager in front of 20,000 people at a music festival in Mexico.
All he had to do was ask. But before that, he had to commit to his craft.
A New York City native, Martino got his start making music at age 10 through the PlayStation 2 game eJay Clubworld. The interactive game allowed players to arrange and produce electronic tracks.
He asked for the production software FL Studio for his 13th birthday, and by age 14 he saw producing as a “sick obsession” that kept him up at night. But he waited another five years to release his debut song.
“I never wanted to push music that I wasn’t 100% happy with,” Martino says.
After connecting with peers in the industry — Martino says he would message DJs online at 3 a.m. because their days were just starting in their respective parts of the world — Martino released his first track, “Journey,” with ANG, a DJ-producer pair made of Arturo Kahan and Gabriel Haber.
Then came the email.
The Electric Oasis Festival in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, wanted to use “Journey” as its theme song. Martino responded favorably, with an ask: Could he play a set at the festival?
It turns out he could. It was the first time he had left his home state of New York.
Now, having played more shows since Electric Oasis, Martino understands the difference between playing a festival versus DJing a venue. At a festival, “you’re showcasing your artistry,” Martino says.
Martino will bring his artistry to Chicago’s Lollapalooza on Sunday, Aug. 2, where he’ll play the Perry’s Stage.
Martino calls his music “dark progressive house.” He’s the sole songwriter on his tracks, and he says they tend to lean emotional.
“You have to fit this mold when you become an artist,” Martino says. “But when you're a composer or a producer, it's that freedom that I really always wanted even just being 10 years old again on my PlayStation …”
The search for freedom has led Martino to other creative projects, like composing the score for Lazarus: The Awakening.
“When I’m composing and when I’m producing, I just think, how would this make someone feel?” Martino says.
Finding the answer to that question led Martino to create a sound for the film outside the scope of his typical production that incorporated heavy hip-hop elements, drums, bass, and techno.
That search for expansion also led Martino to start his own record label, Dusk Till Dawn Records. In his first year running the label, Martino says he released 16 songs compared to the four or five he averaged annually under his previous deal.
He didn’t get here alone, and he didn’t get here because of one lucky manager. Martino says he keeps a large network that he can tap into for different things. It’s the same model the 10-year-old in him leveraged: community.
“Having managers and support and people that want to see you win, I don’t feel like one person can handle all that,” Martino says. But there is one person who has believed in him: his mom.
“My mom, when I was 18, she goes, ‘I believe in you. Whatever you want to do, I believe in you.’”
Martino may have had a successful run the past few years, but he’s not done yet: “Just because I'm getting on this show or this tour doesn't mean I'm becoming successful. It just means all the hard work is paying off.”
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