Kurt Martinez: UWL Graduate Finds Success in Freelancing
Before going on to engineer Aitch and A.J Tracey’s ‘Rain,’ reaching number 3 in the UK top ten and achieving certified Gold by the BRITS, Freelance Recording Engineer Kurt Martinez studied Music Technology at LCM.
“You had your different modules, you chose and branched off into different areas. My area was more the recording and technical side of things. But you could do anything, you had people using X-Box controllers and synthesisers.”
A little overwhelmed by this level of technological experimentation, Kurt chose instead to focus on creating sound for film.
“We were basically recording and creating foley sound effects for films like Smoking Aces and Sean of the Dead. At the time that was something I found much more creative and more me, I could be a bit more expressive. Obviously, I’d also gone there to learn recording and that’s worked out okay.”
When Kurt came to university, he was a man with a plan. He’d always wanted to do music production.
In 2003, at 14 years old, he’d purchased Blink 182’s self-titled record in which the band had published all their production notes.
“I’d never seen that before and I was fascinated by why different microphones were used in different ways. I’d always wanted to do that and right through all of the courses I’ve done, I’d always had that end goal of working in London and working in music production.”
Leaving university, Kurt found he couldn’t afford to stay in London, so he ended up going back to Nottingham to finish his diploma in higher education. For a while, it felt like everyone applying for work had a similar qualification and he needed a way to stand out. 
“It’s not like the movie Rocket Man, where Elton John gets discovered in a bar and joins a tour. The world has changed so much from that, even if the movie is removed from the truth. In my experience it’s all about what sort of buzz you can put out online.”
Not to be deterred, Kurt ended up getting a job at Apple working on the genius bar fixing phones and computers. While working here, he sat for his master’s degree in music production at Leeds, just so he could say he’d done something a little extra.
“When that was done, I moved to London and quickly found out that jobs don’t exist in music production. The old school music producers like Simon Cowells, the man at the back of the room overseeing everything, they don’t exist anymore. The producers now are a lot more hands on, they’re the guys making the beats and mapping everything out. Then you’d got the engineers who will record things in the producer’s vision.”
From here, Kurt found work as a runner in post-production for television, essentially fetching things for the talent, but he worked his way up to head runner and working effectively as a studio assistant. Not wanting to be stuck in the same position, he used Soho and the production companies as a steppingstone. So, he moved to another company specialising in feature films.
“The company I was at, we were there for quality control. Our job was essentially to check through films and see if there were sounds missing, if there were footsteps when there shouldn’t be footsteps, or a piece of music drops off. This sounds glamorous, but honestly you’re basically watching the same film over and over again.”
After two years in film, Kurt managed to get a position as a studio assistant, eventually taking the plunge to become a freelance music engineer in January 2019. Since then, he’s been going at it alone.
“It’s been an experience, and a learning curve, but it’s always worked out in my favour. All the studios I’m at now have always been through recommendation. So, I’ve kind of worked my way up faster than I would have done.”
Since then, Kurt has found success working on high profile music working with such names as Burna Boy, Stormzy, Jack Whitehall and Fleur East.
Over the past year, Kurt has learned how to adapt to the ongoing Covid-19 situation, discovering how to achieve a work life balance and produce music from home. If anything, this experience has taught him the importance of getting into the studio to do some proper work.
Asked what advice his experiences have taught him, Kurt replied:
“Network with the people on your course. I was quite shy at university and in hindsight I wish I’d offered to record more musicians whilst I had use of the university's facilities. I'd also say it's worth experimenting now and finding the best working practices for you as there is very little room for experimentation when the label is paying for the studio.”
If you want to hear more about Kurt Martinez, please join us on the 14th of July for Alumni Engage 2021: Kurt Martinez In-Conversation.