Martin Novales - Singer, Songwriter, Producer

Martin Novales is a singer, songwriter, producer based in Los Angeles. Surrounded by music growing up in Wisconsin, Martin’s love for music grew deeper after his mother passed away. Singing and writing songs became his passion. Martin’s style of music can be described as RnB and pop, and while his influences range, RnB and Soul hold his heart. He’s performed around California, collaborated with artists including Velvet Year, A-Tran, Travis Atreo, and Jerm9V, has an extensive list of weekly covers up on his YouTube and Spotify. Martin recently wrote the track “Don’t Throw Our Love Away”, produced by S O U N D S, and inspired by that realization that “we all sometimes struggle not to let our past traumas affect our current lives and situations.” Through encouragement and love, Martin’s blood family and chosen family in LA have helped him grown into the musician he is today. Martin continues to release weekly covers, is working on a few more tracks with S O U N D S, and has an EP to be released in the near future.

YouTube
Spotify
@martln

Was music always part of your life? When did you decide to pursue it?
Yes. Music was just always in my house growing up. My mom was a piano teacher and taught her students out of our home, and I was just always around it.  Although she had a hard time getting me to take piano seriously, my passion for music was always there. I definitely fell more in love with music after she passed when I was 9. After she passed I started messing around on our baby grand piano and started to sing and write songs once I was a teenager. Haven’t stopped since!

What is your musical style? Who are your influences?
I always describe my music as “RnB/Pop type stuff”. My influences can range all over the place, but RnB/Soul music definitely has my heart. Specifically 90’s RnB.  All that good old Boyz II Men, Aaliyah, TLC type stuff. I definitely call back to those wholesome emotions I felt listening to all that music when I write my own songs.

How did your song "Don't Throw Our Love Away" come about?
DTOLA was produced by my incredibly talented producer buddies from Norway, S O U N D S. They actually found me on Instagram and asked me to write to their track. I initially heard the song and automatically thought it would be a fun, summery song. But after a fight with my girlfriend, I spent the next day writing the lyrics for DTOLA. Definitely a moment of self-reflection and me realizing I didn’t want to ruin something great. I think we all sometimes struggle not to let our past traumas affect our current lives and situations. I’m still working on that but writing DTOLA was helpful in that process.

Who are some of your favorite musicians to collaborate with?
I’m blessed to have such talented friends that I love to collaborate with. Definitely my buddy and producer, Velvet Year, who produced my entire EP with me.  A-Tran is one of my closest friends who is fearless and has an insane voice. I’ve had so much fun and the honor of collaborating with Travis Atreo on a bunch of stuff. My buddy Jerm9V who I have so much fun tapping into my Hip-Hop side with. I have released music with all of them!

What are some of your favorite performances?
Of mine, probably my Jessica Simpson “I Think I’m In Love With You” cover. Glamour actually surprised me with their "You Sang My Song" series and posted my reaction to watching Jessica watch that video! Such a cool experience for me. Some performances that I always enjoy going back to are Justin Timberlake’s Super Bowl performance, his performance with Chris Stapleton at the Country Music Awards, and more recently—Beyonce’s tribute to Kobe Bryant with her song “XO.”  That performance was so heartbreaking, but so powerful and absolutely gorgeous.

Do you have any favorite songs you enjoy performing?
Currently one of my favorites is No One, by Alicia Keys. It’s just such a beautiful, simple song. And my original song “Future,” is really special to me. It’s not released yet, but I wrote that song as a message of encouragement to myself when I was going through a really difficult time. So I’ve always enjoyed performing that one and sharing that message of hope with others.

What/who has been instrumental in your personal and creative growth?
Definitely my two families. My actual family and then my chosen family here in LA. My sister raised me so she’s more of a mother to me. My older brother introduced me to so much of the music I still love to this day. My brother-in-law is a huge reason why I even got into writing and producing music. He taught me a ton. And then my chosen LA family are some of my closest friends who all just kick ass doing what they love. They are absolutely relentless when it comes to going after their dreams. It’s so inspiring to be around that energy and it pushes me to do more and be better. Travis taught me to be fearless and not to wait for anyone. When Travis and I met, I think I had 5 songs released on Spotify and the other streaming platforms. Now I have over 50 (!)

Do you have any upcoming work, projects that you are excited about?
Definitely! I’ve got a few more tracks I’m working on with S O U N D S that I’m super excited for. I also have an EP finished that I’m looking to release in the near future. And definitely gonna keep the weekly covers coming. Always working on stuff, so stay tuned :)

Photos by Sanae Kato