Meet Gary Martin: Songwriter & Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gary Martin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gary, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
Being artistic, being creative, these have been major parts of my personality since as long as I can remember. Music is the thing that makes the mundane tolerable, and the exciting memorable. I’m just trying to contribute some tunes to the soundtrack. I love every bit of it; from the spontaneity of inspiration, to the tedious bits of preparation and problem solving. There are times when you can take immense pride in achieving a goal when you had only yourself to rely upon, and there are the times when the best solution, and the most rewarding, is teamwork. I have tried, on many occasions, to do the 9-5 thing. That world keeps refusing me, telling me to ‘get lost!’ over and over again. I’m cool with that.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m a songwriter and rock & roll musician. I have a killer band, based here in Los Angeles, called The Claws. www.theclawsrock.com Been playing guitar since I was 12, and started writing songs during high school. Identifying and defining ‘success’ is possibly the biggest challenge in a creative field like this. But, you cannot defeat the power of thinking positively. It is your best ally. There’s a lot of talent here in LA. While one’s initial reaction to it may incite feelings of intimidation, ideally it inspires and helps you to achieve something greater than you expected.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If it was a week long trip, I would try to squeeze in the following: Morning: Surfing (maybe Hermosa, El Porto) Huntington Gardens (Pasadena), Norton Simon Museum Afternoon: Last Bookstore (downtown), Record stores (many good ones around town), Old Tony’s (Redondo Beach) Evening: Velvet Margarita (Hollywood), Cole’s (Downtown) Night: Redwood Bar (live rock n roll in downtown L.A.) Also, take a road trip out to Leo Carillo, Joshua Tree, East Jesus; there are so many cool and interesting things to do in Southern California!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Hollywood Rehearsal – great little music community in the heart of everything.

Website: www.garymartinmusic.com and www.theclawsrock.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/theclawsla
Facebook: www.facebook.com/garymartinmusic and www.facebook.com/theclawslosangeles
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/theclawslosangelesusa