Today we’d like to introduce you to Coco Martin.
Hi Coco, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I picked up a guitar for the first time when I was 12 years old, and have been making music and writing songs at different capacities ever since! A winding journey of different bands and different places led me to eventually decide to go back to school to pursue a musical life and career in a more serious way, and at 27 years old I joined the music program at the University of Colorado in Denver. I had always performed either solo or as a musician member of different bands, but I’d never put together a group to perform my own music. I’d been writing and producing demos for years, and when it came time to perform for my Senior Recital at CUDenver, I figured this was as good a time as any to finally put together my own band. After months of searching for musicians, I was able to form a great group of people. I wanted to find musicians for whom this would be a relatively new experience, and who were interested in playing the music I was writing. We performed our first show in May of 2023 and have performed all over Denver and the surrounding area ever since. It’s been such a great experience so far, and we have been so grateful to be welcomed into the music community here in Denver! The music scene is incredibly rich and kind and we’re happy to be a part of it.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
This is a tough one! For me personally, it has been everything but-my adult life has been really challenging for many reasons, and there have been times where I didn’t even look at my guitar for months at a time. There have been times where I tried to entertain the idea of moving in different directions and compromising my musical aspirations for the sake of stability, but I could never pull myself away from it. I did a lot of healing over the years, and when I finally decided I was worthy of the life I wanted, a lot of things seemed to fall into my lap in a way I hadn’t experienced. That’s not to say it didn’t take a lot of work, but I would say ever since putting Gartener together, we’ve had some pretty smooth sailing. There are of course some expected challenges-all being adults with different lives and jobs can make scheduling practices and shows hard at times, and we’ve been trying to make time to record more singles for what feels like eons, but I am optimistic that we are still on a good path, that our music means something, and that things will continue to get easier and better if we keep doing what we are doing. You can do everything right and still have challenges, I believe it’s how we rise to the occasion that really matters.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
A lot of us in the band have lots of creative hobbies and pursuits outside of Gartener! Our keyboardist Tyler aka “Kid” who also happens to be a terrific drummer, is a wonderful photographer and makes a zine (Called “Cheers”) with his BMX group, and does lots of tinkering of his own with music production. Our guitarist, Matt, also has a musical project called Hole Milk, for which he writes and produces the music!
I (Coco) kind of have my toes dipped in just about every artistic medium. Also an avid photographer, I sometimes shoot live shows in Denver. I love capturing dynamic energy in live performance and I feel my work definitely reflects that.
I also love to paint and to digital illustration! Fun fact about Gartener: all of our album artwork and sticker/merch designs are done by yours truly! We are huge into DIY for our merch; I’ve built my own set of screens for homemade screen printing, and we get sweaters and shirts from the goodwill outlet on which we print our designs! While it saves money, it’s also super fun, and each Gartener shirt is wholly unique!
It’s hard to pinpoint one singular project that I’m most proud of, but putting together Gartener after years of working myself up to it has been one of the great joys of my life. I’d say I’m just excited and grateful to have so many creative outlets. My portfolio has grown and changed over the years, from watercolor landscapes to abstract expressionism, to cute cartoon illustrations, which can be viewed here: https://cocomartinmedia.myportfolio.com
What does success mean to you?
I think so much of it comes down to how you feel and the impact of that, rather than how much money you’ve made or how many accolades you have under your belt.. Are you comfortable? Have you found comfort in your sense of self and are able to wholly own who you are in your body and in your place in the world? I think finding peace with this allows us to find immense wealth and beauty in the world and people around us.
I couple years ago, I had this dream that has stuck with me and served as fuel for me ever since: I woke up in my 10 year old body, but with all the knowledge and memories I had until that point. What was so interesting about it, was that rather than seeing it as a second chance to try things differently, I found myself almost panicked, and was totally determined to retrace every step I’d taken in my life so I could get back to where I had ended up in the future. This meant making all the same mistakes, enduring all the same trauma, heartache, etc. Knowing this, I was still resolute that I was so fulfilled in my life that I was willing to go through all of that again if it meant getting to have the life I have now. I woke up from this dream realizing that I had finally self-actualized in many ways and was content and motivated to keep building upon the life I’ve built so far. And I have done so ever since.
I may always have days where I haven’t felt like I’ve done enough, or count all the ways I’ve stepped off the garden path-but that has ultimately led me to where I am. Because of this, I do feel successful. I complete, like my life has meaning (which sometimes we just choose for ourselves), and like the decisions I make in my life are coming from a place of excitement and love for my life and my future, rather than from fear of messing up or getting hurt. It’s a hard question to answer, because I think the idea of success is so subjective. But I do believe deeply that, to measure my success, i just ask myself “are you really happy to be here?” And when that answer is yes (which it most often is these days), I think I’m right where I need to be. And to me, that is the greatest success that one can achieve.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gartener_music/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@gartener_music
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/21Mgopk9n2yUSaiR9cyeVw?si=2kkiDiL0TS-bQGmFxSb5ww
Image Credits
Stage photos by: Pedro Urbina
Artwork: Coco Martin
