Meet Jesus Martinez

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

Hi Jesus, how do you think about risk?
You know what, this is a great question with usually, a cliché answer: the more risk, the more gain. Funny enough, in my case that is true. I balanced the risk of migration, leaving a “comfortable” life behind to pursue my dreams and a better life. I was born in Santiago de Chile, a great city where I spent most of my school days playing guitar without knowing much about my future. Fast forward to my college years, where I ended up studying Sound Engineering, at the University of Chile (an important fact for later). A career that I didn’t know existed or what it even meant to be a sound engineer, I simply found it because it was a “proper” college degree that involved music, in a country where if you aren’t a professional, you can’t find jobs or actually survive. Luckily enough, after learning what a sound engineer does, I fell completely in love with it. That is, in my case, the first risk, because I don’t see myself doing something unrelated to music or sound engineering. Since everything in life is so personal and the motivations to do stuff are so mundane, one day, around my fourth year of engineering, my girlfriend at that time broke up with me and I was devastated. I thought that I didn’t have anything else to do in Chile, especially if I wanted to become a recording and mixing engineer. At the same time, I learned about a mixing engineer, Mauricio Guerrero, who was from Chile, who studied the same career as I was, in the same place that I was, and ended up being a legendary mixer for huge artists, including several Grammy awards and more, so I dedicated myself to follow his steps, if he did it, I can do it! I said. So right after I finished my degree, with a not-so-great plan, I sold my car, and my stuff, and moved to LA to meet him and ask him to help me pursue this dream. There is a second big risk.
You’d think that in 2017 it would be easy to find someone, but it was not. I spent some time finding this mentor figure and another time proving myself for him to take me and guide me. Thanks to him I ended up working in amazing studios in LA, I mean it. I learned how everything really worked, experienced dinners, drinks, people, places, music, and many many things on a different level. Unfortunately, due to various circumstances, I had to return to Chile, however, I wasn’t the same. All the experience gained gave me enough confidence and knowledge to open my own production company back in Chile and my entrepreneurial spirit began to grow.
However, in this continuous pursuit of a dream, with my wife we moved to Madrid, again, leaving everything behind. Another risk. Again, this gave us the opportunity to create our own production house TorreMar Music Studio, a remote place where to this day I work constantly. When COVID-19 hit us, it was devastating, again. I was lost, without a clear path because there was a little work to do in Madrid. So I had to think about what our next step would be, and, with the support of many people, I got accepted into a master’s degree at Berklee College of Music. Wow, another moving, another life we had to leave pursuing this sort of dream. Yes, another risk.
Getting into Berklee was a very big risk for me and my family as well, however, with more experience, skills, and connections, I was more than ready to tackle the world again. This is quite important, currently, besides my job at TorreMar Studio and Dreams Records, with Berklee peers I’m creating something completely new that soon will be on your indispensable work software too. Exactly, another risk, creating a new company.
So, if you ask me about risk, I will tell you. It has been a fundamental part of my process. Quoting the late Quincy Jones (and Seneca), luck is when preparation meets opportunity, and most of the time that opportunity comes with a risk involved. I understand how unfair the world can be, especially for people born in third-world countries (like me) or many other situations where life is completely imbalanced and it is hard to see the light or the opportunity to take and do something you really want. That’s why the quote is so important to me. Sometimes you can’t create the opportunity, but you need to be prepared, whatever you choose to be prepared on, be prepared. Be the best version of what you want to be, so when that opportunity shows, you can take the risk and take advantage of that opportunity. So yes, taking risks is a commodity, so be ready to take that risk.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m a recording and mixing engineer, but more than that, I’m a problem solver. I think that’s one of the main reasons for people to work with me, I’m not creating problems in such a vulnerable place or moment like when one is creating something. I don’t have an ego while working, I just see the needs of the artist and go from there. Of course, I can have ideas and more, but I’m always looking for the artist’s vision to get the best version of whatever we are working on. On the other hand, having worked in different countries with all the heterogeneity that means, I’ve gotten a broad palette of skills, manners, and ways to do and achieve different results. So I can bring the best of the artist or music when it is needed, wherever it is needed, and with whoever it is needed. In addition to that, my partner in life and work is an orchestral conductor with a completely different musical background who is always looking, supervising, and giving input to all the mixes and masters done in TorreMar Studio, so it’s like to have an extra quality step in my process so I’m sure we have covered every angle of the production and piece of work. Furthermore, teaching for a couple of years gave me clear ideas on what engineers, A/V techs, media creators, artists, musicians, and all of us people who work in media in general necessities are, so I’ve created a software company that aims to help those professionals.
To sum up, I’ve been some kind of jack-of-all-trades in the past, so I can be useful and proactive in any sort of production to increase its value and obtain a great art piece.

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?
I am a boring tourist guy, wherever I go, I go to every tourist place first. The times I have been to Paris, I’ve gone up the Eiffel Tower or gone to the Louvre, the times I have been to London, I’ve gone to the Thames River or the Big Ben. This is no exception, especially considering how big of a cultural influence LA has on other parts of the world (where my friends are from). So I’d first go to Downtown LA and walk a little outside the Disney Concert Hall or the Grammy Museum, which was one of my first stops when I came to the city. Then, get a little bit of traffic on the 101 to get to Hollywood and walk (yes, I’m a fan of walking) the boulevard, Sunset, and Vine. On another day I’d go to Venice, walk to the beach watching the murals to end up having some coffee/ice cream at the Santa Monica pier. Then, a drive on the PCH to Malibu and back.
What I’d also do, is to drive to Vegas for one or two days. My friends won’t come again for some time, so Vegas is a must too.
Lastly, a little walk in Beverly Hills and an evening at Griffith Park. See, a bunch of tourist stuff that I love.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Since I’ve traveled and worked in different countries, I’ve met a handful of very important and diverse people. However, first and foremost, I owe my life and development to my wife, Alfonsina Torrealba, an extraordinary orchestral conductor and producer, who believes in our future, guides me, and supports me and my ideas and projects. Of course, another pillar of my development is my mother, who believed in my crazy dreams about leaving Chile and creating a strong professional life, inspiring me to believe that my limits weren’t closed to one country but the world. The second person I’d like to shout out doesn’t need my shout, he is a well-known sound engineer who helped me, inspired me, and motivated me. His name is Mauricio Guerrero. He has worked with many a-list artists including Shakira, Phil Collins, and Il Volo, just to name a few… He worked with people that I have been listening to my whole life! He has been a great support and inspiration in my career and I think he deserves all the praise he can get. He is an amazing engineer and entrepreneur, but better than that, he is a truly good person who doesn’t mind sharing to help others.

Next, other persons I think deserve some love are two teachers I had during my master’s at Berklee College of Music. Pablo Munguía, the program director, and Pablo Schuller, an engineering teacher. Both have helped me to define my career and to steer myself in the right direction with advice, connections, and much more. Both are great engineers and I see myself trying to follow their steps to have a successful career.

Now I will go to my very first mentor figure. A Chilean composer for performing arts called Marcello Martinez. He was one of the first to see potential in my work, inviting me to work with him when I was roughly in my second or third year of my bachelor’s. He has composed over 117 scores, won awards, and developed his own way of performing and live-mixing his scores during the past 20 years. Actually, I got to design and teach a university course thanks to his consideration.

I’d also like to mention who has been a mentor figure in the last time. Another mixing engineer that I met watching his YouTube interviews with famous engineers, his name is Gonzalo Ramos, owner of Dreams Records Spain, part of Recorded in Los Angeles, teacher, and interviewer. He is a person devoted to his work and his students 1000%, he cares that other people learn, understand, and achieve success without asking for anything in return. A good fellow more than anything else, a fan of learning and with a strong spirit to become better and better every day. We have become friends this last year and he has helped me a time to level up my career, to meet people, and to push me to be better every day, just as he does.

Lastly, I want to shout out to Shabnam J. Kermani, who is now my partner in crime for a new software company (stay tuned!!) that will provide aid to many engineers, A/V techs, media creators, musicians, and so much more. So happy to work with such a great composer, manager, artist, and, above all, great friend.

Website: https://www.torremarstudio.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/audiojesusmr/

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/audiojesusmr

Other: https://www.audiojesusm.com

Image Credits
Alfonsina Torrealba Shabnam J. Kermani Pablo Ramirez