We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Darien Martus. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Darien below.

Darien, appreciate you joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I was hired by my choir director to play the organ for early masses while my older brother sang the chants and responses. I was 10 years old! I had to stand to reach some of the keys and pedals! At 16, I started playing guitar and singing at weddings. I did have other jobs that weren’t directly related to music but wait…everything is related to music! I had a band as an undergraduate and in my senior year in college I was hired to do musical direction at the student theatre, a job I did for 10 more years. I also co-founded a resident dance theatre at the same university and wrote music for their shows for many years. My work as a musician has been a patchwork of different things. Diversify, babies! Haha. I moved to LA in my 20s and began writing for theatre, TV, and some film. My day job was playing piano for a professional ballet company and for ballet classes at USC. This was my main bread and butter for 10 years. (Wait…how old is this guy?). I became a public school music teacher when I was 39, which at the time felt like a sell out for sure! To my surprise, I was very successful as a teacher AND my freelance work became more wonderful too! Who knew?! I’ve written 20 musical theater pieces that have all been produced. Not a whole lot of money in theater, but I didn’t care! I love it! I retired from teaching after spending many years as the choir director at Palm Springs High School. Sweet job. Singing with teenagers every day! (Plus…I retired with a pension, babies! Gotta love that!) After retiring I decided I wanted to pour myself into pursuing my ultimate dream: to land a recording contract. I went after this relentlessly, my children! Never give up on your dreams! Don’t do it! At the age of 69, I signed with Do It Records/Sony Music! See what I’m saying? I am currently releasing a new album but you know how they do this, one single at a time. Takes forever! Something about algorithms?

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My dad brought home a big old upright piano when I was 3 years old. I attacked it and still do. Started making up songs as a teenager. Still do. Studied music in college. Still do. Wrote music for anyone who asked me to. Still do. Taught some others how to make music. Learned recording and created my own studio. Still work in it most days. Started releasing my records through Do It Records/Sony. Still do. I try not to pay much attention to the outcomes, I just focus on the work! Which is really PLAYING!

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

In the early 1980s, the National Endowment for the Arts budget was cut IN HALF and it has NEVER BEEN RESTORED! I received several grants as a young artist that simply aren’t available to young artists anymore. This is a horrible crime. It takes money to train and support people who are learning their craft. Restore funding of the arts!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In my late 60s (?!) when I decided I wanted to get a recording contract, I got a list of every record company in the WORLD, and began sending out my music. I got literally hundreds of rejections. Haha! If possible, I would say, “Thanks for listening to my music! Have a great day!” When I thought I’d contacted every record company in the WORLD, I went back to the top of the list and did follow up emails. I committed myself to send AT LEAST ONE A DAY. I was in line at a coffee shop in Encinitas one day when I got the email that Do It Records/Sony as well as CCP Records/EMI were interested in signing me. I started telling all the total strangers that were in the line with me! Gotta celebrate babies! Then, I got myself a fancy Beverly Hills entertainment lawyer to negotiate the contract. I asked them to give me a discount and they did! What?! Ask, my children, and ye shall receive! After 4 months, we signed and I got the contract I wanted. If someone turns me down, that’s them turning me down. If I give up because they turn me down, that’s ME turning me down, kiddos! Don’t do that!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://darienmartus.com/home
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/darienmartus?igshid=MjEwN2IyYWYwYw==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darienmartus?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@darienmartus