EL PASO, Texas ( KTSM ) – In this week’s episode of Sound Check on 9 KTSM featured a local one-man band Aztec Caves in a live-to-tape jam session at Bella Luna studio.
Michael Martinez calls himself Aztec Caves on stage after his 6-year-old son’s favorite hiking trail. He said his son was also his biggest inspiration to start creating music.
Martinez is a musician by calling, having earned his degree in music at UTEP and is currently teaching guitar and piano at Harmony Science Academy.
“As many know, it’s kind of difficult to start a band sometimes. And so, I did try to start a band multiple times, and it just it just never worked out,” he said about his beginnings about three years ago.
He explained that forming a band was complicated especially when it came to scheduling, so he decided to do what he could on his own by first purchasing a loop pedal.
“It just allows you to record in real time and then play back. And so, I decided to put pretty much all of my knowledge of guitar, piano, singing, a loop, pedal. I use backing tracks, I produce. I’m still learning. And so, I’ve been combining stuff from that. Some backing tracks that I use I record over the process of like over the time frame of like five or six months,” he explained.
He described his music-writing process as highly impacted by his son.
“He’s six, and, you know, kids have this sort of energy. Everything is really vibrant. Everything’s really fun. And what I’ll do is I’ll usually write songs on just the piano or guitar, very simple. And then I kind of ask myself, how would this sound if a six-year-old wrote it,” he said.
Martinez will be releasing his newest song “The many avenues of Robert’s Hope” on April 5.
The song talks about his college days spend around Bob Hope Avenue in East El Paso hanging out with his friends.
“I try to write serious music with like a bit of a dance beat. This song is just me reminiscing on, you know, the old college days,” he said.
He is now encouraging his students and any aspiring musicians to take the first step and make music even if the conditions are not ideal.
“The success is just in doing it. And so, if you’re alone and you’re like, I wish I had a band. I wish I had this. What do you have? And then whatever you have, use that it doesn’t need to be. You don’t need to listen to this band and think, oh, I want to be like that. I want to be like this. Everyone has their own distinct path and yours is already laid out in front of you. And it’s always been there. And all you need to do is just take that first step,” he said.
You can follow Aztec Caves on his Instagram page where he frequently announces performances around the city.
Take a look at the live-to-tape jam session recorded at Bella Luna studio:
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