Isaac Martinez chooses 28th birthday to drop new EP by True Fiction. See three “Reality vs. AI”-themed videos from “Play Me” now!

“Releasing today is like a symbolic ‘stepping out of the 27 club’ trappings of dangerous musician pitfalls, addictions, and lifestyles,” Martinez says. 

 

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True Fiction (L-R): Young Zen, Isaac Martinez, Stephen Patrick. Photo credit: Zoe Frank.

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Out Today!

True Fiction

“Play Me” EP

Out Now

(*! Records)

Streaming Link:

STREAM FULL EP

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Track Listing:

01. Do You Trust Me? (VIDEO)

02. Falling Backwards (VIDEO)

03. Acacia (VIDEO)

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Scroll down to read about and watch videos for all three songs on the new “Play Me” EP by True Fiction!

“The new True Fiction ‘Play Me’ EP is as prescient as it is pretentious,” Isaac Martinez half-jokes. “Just kidding, but I do feel like we are showing the future while also leaning into some Millennial / Gen-Z art pretentiousness in order to play against the grungy poppiness that is True Fiction. The videos for the songs on the EP are intended to be modern art gallery-style ‘explorations’ of the relationship between Real Life vs. Real Life Through The AI Lens, captured on film.

“These videos were conceptualized by me and actualized by my sister Tara Martinez Fernandez. ‘Do You Trust Me?’ and ‘Falling Backwards’ were shot by Johnny Singels and ‘Acacia’ was filmed by True Fiction, just passing the camera around.”

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True Fiction is: Stephen Edwards (stage name Stephen Patrick), Logan Snowden (stage name Young Zen), Isaac Martinez, Mack Turner (stage name Michael Hologram), Arturo Urrutia (stage name Lil Escalade), Daniel Gibb (stage name Skinnyboat). Potentially more people. But it is also only just Stephen, Logan, and Isaac, and formerly Mike Boyer (unless he wants to be in it again.)

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True Fiction | “Do You Trust Me?”

[WATCH]: https://youtu.be/Ed0pD-4bUbs
“‘Do You Trust Me?’ was written by Stephen in high school and I think it has scared him ever since,” Martinez explains. “The whole idea of ‘Do you trust me? That’s a mistake’ ringing as something he fears about his life. Despite this, it’s been one that really resonates with a lot of people including myself.
“The video is a combination of real footage of me, Stephen, and AI interpretations of me and Stephen, a real and fake view of the same subjects. Everything about this video is a duality. The song title and its reveal of ‘that’s a mistake,’ the band name, me and Stephen’s races and the dualities of our mixed racial makeups, the multifaceted duality of a glass rose, the duality of performing for the camera and being caught candid.”
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True Fiction | “Falling Backwards”

[WATCH]: https://youtu.be/pYCMahF2WXw
“The video for the True Fiction version of ‘Falling Backwards’ is a real video run through an AI filter, like a reality interpreted through a fantasy,” Martinez says of the “Falling Backwards” clip.
“This version of the song (which was previously released in a different version under Isaac Martinez’s own name) was born from sessions that took place in Colorado Springs and resulted in the True Fiction album Shuteye. Stephen (Edwards, stage name Stephen Patrick) and I were paying for a little studio that we built out with all of our recording equipment and a couch that we would take turns crashing on,” Martinez continues.
“We would get together with Logan (Snowden, stage name Young Zen although he also goes by bitsutra) every night and work on music, and one of our favorite demos was the recording Logan and I made of ‘Falling Backwards.’
“Logan’s vocals on his verse are his original recordings done for the demo. We worked with this demo a ton until I brought it into the studio, hoping to kickstart True Fiction again, which now we have.”
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True Fiction | “Acacia”

[WATCH]: https://youtu.be/BGTHfBN_MLA
“This one is a juxtaposition of the real and the artificial,” says Martinez. “AI footage of AI people hanging out doing nothing next to real footage of real people hanging out collectively trying to accomplish their life goals. The song does the same thing. It is Logan and Stephen describing their dreams and fantasies alongside expressing nostalgia for a time in their life where their freedom actually allowed them to live out some of those fantasies.
“The AI characters don’t have thoughts but you feel like they do when you’re looking at them. The real people are driven, blank slates in work mode, but their voices are expressing their actual innermost thoughts. ‘Acacia’ is a Logan original featuring verses from Logan and Stephen (and Arturo.)”
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More About | Isaac Martinez

“Deeply personal.” — Glide

“Like the son of Beck.” — Colorado Public Radio

“Hazy slice of rootsy alt-pop.” — The Big Takeover

“Captivating… Graceful.” — Tonic Grain

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After years of operating under aliases, Denver-based musician Isaac Martinez has finally released the work he is most proud of. 10 Country Songs is the first record that Martinez feels worthy of being dropped everywhere under what he refers to as his “government” name.

Start with the warm atmosphere of the album’s “Time Passes” single. Its heavenly piano touches, combined with Martinez’s close-miked vocal, underpinned by an insistent snare propelling his overdubbed harmonies, is absolutely haunting.

The full-length album 10 Country Songs by Isaac Martinez is out now. The album was produced by Martinez alongside the A-list assistance of engineers Andy Flebbe (Green Day) and Grammy®-winner Jerry Ordonez (Bon Iver, Waxahatchee).

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Isaac Martinez | Links

ASSETS : WEBSITE : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : TIKTOK : BLUESKY : SPOTIFY : APPLE : BANDCAMP

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Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact

WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : TIKTOK : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL

“Subdued, layered... deeply personal,” Isaac Martinez offers “graceful, evocative embrace” on “hazy” “rootsy” trio of videos today.

See “Falling Backwards” presented in its solo single form, as an acoustic in-studio performance, with Martinez’s band, True Fiction.

 

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Isaac Martinez as photographed by Johnny Singels

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Isaac Martinez | In The Press

“Sounding like the son of Beck.” — Colorado Public Radio

“Deeply personal… Martinez’s vocals are subdued and layered for powerful effect.” — Glide

“This hazy slice of rootsy alt-pop... hits the perfect tone, both musically and lyrically.” — The Big Takeover

“Captivating. Slowly envelops you in a graceful, evocative embrace.” — Tonic Grain

“Like a homemade chronicle of a songwriter’s romantic affair with his youth.” — The Wild Is Calling

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PLAY, POST & SHARE

“Falling Backwards”

Out today! Watch three unique videos!

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1. Isaac Martinez (feat. bitsutra) | 2. Isaac Martinez (Live Acoustic) | 3. True Fiction (“Play Me EP” Version)

[WATCH]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bav5ryriS6k
“I didn’t realize my sister was listening at the top of the stairs and crying over the lyrics.” — Isaac Martinez
“The video for this version of ‘Falling Backwards’ is heavily inspired by ‘Hazard Duty Pay’ by Jpegmafia,” Isaac Martinez explains. “We also had my wife and our son running around. I feel pretty guilty about ripping a cig on camera while my son was dancing to the song, but I guess I did it for the aesthetic. Still feeling guilty about that one!”
“Johnny Singels shoots with a lot of the active rappers in the Denver scene, which is how I found out about him. Logan (Snowden aka bitsutra) was under the weather, so I concocted a plan to set up the shoot at Logan’s house, and after an hour we managed to talk him into being in the video. His house has a pretty great aesthetic.
“I wrote ‘Falling Backwards’ nearly fully formed in one night when feeling particularly lonely,” Martinez remembers. “I practiced the guitar part for hours and in the midst of playing it over and over I didn’t realize that my sister was listening at the top of the stairs and was crying over the lyrics. She had just had a child at the time with her now-husband, and his mother wouldn’t let them see each other much since they were both still in high school.
“Later, after I moved to Colorado Springs, the song became one of the favorite demos I made with Logan Snowden aka bitsutra, my bandmate in True Fiction (see the video for the True Fiction version of “Falling Backwards” below.) He pretty quickly wrote a verse and added percussion to the track. His vocals on the finished song are the original demo recordings done in our Colorado Springs studio. Think of it as heavily influenced by both Elliott Smith and Sugar Ray, with a little bit of OutKast in that mix as well.”
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[WATCH]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIQW_VoMAIk
“When we wake up / Right after we make up / That’s my favorite way to start the day up / Oh I love when you call me over / Sends shivers up and down my spine / Oh I love when you call me valentine”
“I wrote ‘Falling Backwards’ several years before I met my wife, Zoe, and our relationship embodies the ‘something’ I was desperately searching for,” Martinez explains about this version of the song, shot live and acoustic in the studio. “My marriage inspired me to write a new verse that is added to the live acoustic version of the song in place of bitsutra’s verse on the studio recording.”
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[WATCH]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYCMahF2WXw
“The video for the True Fiction version of ‘Falling Backwards’ is a real video run through an AI filter, like a reality interpreted through a fantasy,” Martinez says of today’s final “Falling Backwards” clip.
“This version of the song (which appears on the trio’s “Play Me EP,” arriving this Thurs., June 12^th) was born from sessions that took place in Colorado Springs and resulted in the True Fiction album Shuteye. Stephen (Edwards, stage name Stephen Patrick) and I were paying for a little studio that we built out with all of our recording equipment and a couch that we would take turns crashing on,” Martinez continues.
“We would get together with Logan (Snowden, stage name Young Zen although he also goes by bitsutra) every night and work on music, and one of our favorite demos was the recording Logan and I made of ‘Falling Backwards.’
“Logan’s vocals on his verse are his original recordings done for the demo. We worked with this demo a ton until I brought it into the studio, hoping to kickstart True Fiction again, which now we have.”
The three-song “Play Me EP” by True Fiction arrives this Thurs., June 12^th.
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Isaac Martinez’s full-length album 10 Country Songs, featuring the single and video “Cedar Road” is also available now. Scroll down for more info.
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Isaac Martinez10 Country SongsOut Now(*! Records)

Streaming Link:

STREAM FULL LP

  
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Track Listing:
 
01. No One Wants to Drink Alone
02. Time Passes (VIDEO)
03. Killer
04. Infinite Water Glitch (LISTEN)
05. Whiskey
06. Lily White Dove
07. People Problems
08. Cedar Road (VIDEO)
09. Poppy

10. One

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PLAY, POST & SHARE

Isaac Martinez | “Cedar Road”

[WATCH]: https://youtu.be/81NFnJam8YE
[LISTEN]: https://album.link/us/i/1810265501
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“I wrote ‘Cedar Road’ when I was 15” explains Isaac Martinez of the latest single and video from 10 Country Songs, his first widely available album issued under his “government name.” See the “Cedar Road” video now courtesy of Glide Magazine.
“My therapist asked me to write about the pain of missing family, and it captures a specific moment of my youth,” says Isaac Martinez of “Cedar Road,” the current single from his 10 Country Songs full-length, out now. “I tried to make the video like a tour of my family life. I don’t have as many pictures as I thought, but there were enough. I grew up as a rated chess player.
“This was my mom’s influence. She is a best-selling chess author, so chess was a big part of my childhood. But then music entered the picture, and you see me playing violin in the youth symphony, growing up, meeting my wife, Zoe, and childhood pictures of her and our son. My dad said this video is too confusing, which is an odd thing to say since he knows everyone in the pictures!”
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Isaac Martinez | About

“I’m working to become a better person for my wife and son. Music is the major side quest, you know?”

Denver-based musician Isaac Martinez is the man behind this candid remark. It is a compelling truth about the reality of life for any successful father who is also a songwriter seeking success.

Summing up Martinez’s ceaselessly creative and complicated career is nearly impossible. He began composing songs at the age of 11, appropriated the guitar his father had bought for his sister soon after, and was studying the instrument in a conservatory by high school.

Martinez is prolific to the point of confusion, and his tendency to obsessively work on material for years in a multitude of genres, then release it, and then mysteriously wipe it from the internet, is part of his artistic charm.

Regardless, some tunes are too important not to last.

For the first time, following years of operating under aliases, more than a dozen DIY releases since 2016 alone, and a detour to Los Angeles that spawned a Brockhampton and Beatles-inspired band that had just enough momentum after four years to justify an implosion, Martinez has finally released the work he is most proud of.

He should be.

10 Country Songs is the first record that Martinez feels worthy of being dropped everywhere under what he refers to as his “government” name. The album was produced by Martinez alongside the A-list assistance of engineers Andy Flebbe (Green Day) and Grammy®-winner Jerry Ordonez (Bon Iver, Waxahatchee).

True to Martinez’s eclectic nature, the album’s title is a tiny red herring as the record isn’t even necessarily ten country songs.

It is an amalgam of the unsorted and ubiquitous intellectual and emotional influences on Martinez (including those of his wife, son, and relationship with God) and his just-as-many musical ones. It represents what matters most to Martinez, i.e., not “side quests.”

Your eyes might glaze over while listening to Martinez gush about influences on his sound as disparate as Shoegaze, Garage Rock, IDM, Alternative, Americana, Math Rock, Hip-Hop, Pop, and, yes, Country. It’s a lot to take in. Better to have your eyes water while listening to Martinez’s music. It’s also a lot to take in but in the best way.

“How much can I tell you to show you I love you? Anything I could say! How much could I give to you to show you I meant it? Anything God could make!,” Martinez sings on one of the album’s stellar standout tracks “Infinite Water Glitch”.

The song would ring true as a tear-jerking love tune on its face, but when taken with Martinez’s previously stated family priorities, his commitment to his instrument, and the acknowledgment of faith that led it to your ears, this composition becomes world-class.

“I believe musical ability is a God-given gift granted generously amongst the people,” he explains. “It is like a soup of truths that overtakes an entire sense.”

Martinez’s wife Zoe offers some truth soup, too. Without her insistence, what turns out to be one of Martinez’s signature songs may not have even been made.

“I was playing ‘Time Passes’ at open mics while Zoe was pregnant with our first child. She wanted a recording that sounded as good as it did live.”

This request led Martinez to the studio. The results are glorious. The warm atmosphere created by the song’s heavenly piano touches, combined with Martinez’s close-miked vocal and underpinned by an insistent snare propelling his overdubbed harmonies, is absolutely haunting.

“And time passes on your favorite music, 100 years from now, will they be singing the songs your parents sang or will they even remember how?”

With this tune, Martinez is giving his “major side quest” a significant chance at success.10 Country Songs by Isaac Martinez is streaming everywhere now.

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Isaac Martinez | Links

ASSETS : WEBSITE : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : TIKTOK : BLUESKY : SPOTIFY : APPLE : BANDCAMP

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Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact

WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : TIKTOK : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL