Martinez, a Southern California native, is one half of the electronic music duo NightStalkers. He met his collaborator Ryan Tombrello, a business and public relations student, in high school. Once Martinez and Tombrello discovered they would both be attending Humboldt State University for college, the pair agreed to team up to bring their spin on the electronic music scene to Arcata.
“Whenever we go out, we want to have a good time, [but then] you get there and find out there are a lot of things going on that really aren’t up to par,” Martinez says, “So we figured, why not have us be the host?”
NightStalkers strives to create an enjoyable experience for their audiences, so they focus on their image as a production team. Music is not their main focus — they want to shape the party as a whole. The duo creates unique intros for their mixes and builds the tracks up differently depending on who is at the party. With electronic music, it is easy to become repetitive, but Martinez and Tombrello stray away from unchanging beats and rhythms.
They produce a signature sound that is easy to recognize as their own but Tombrello and Martinez always make a point to keep their music fresh.
NightStalkers manages to stay fresh by combining their individual talents and skills to promote and network. The duo even landed a gig in San Francisco this past winter through successful networking. Martinez makes graphics to market their shows and image. With the help of Soundcloud, Tombrello keeps in close contact with a lot of influential European artists. NightStalkers manages to snag mix tapes and EPs before they are even released.
“It’s really cool to be playing [a track], and people will ask ‘Who is that?’” Tombrello said.
“We’re like the little Europe of Humboldt County,” Martinez said with a laugh.
Interested in listening? Check out NightStalkers on Soundcloud and follow them on Facebook!