Music Stars Making a Social Impact: Why & How Sean Martin Of The Quarantined Is Helping To Change Our World
An Interview With Stanley Bronstein
Maintain your peace. Learn to be ok with nobody next to you. Learn stoic philosophy to rid yourself of a need for external validation. Learn to let go, forgive, and invest in yourself until you have enough to support who you choose to help maintain your peace. I aint talking about money with ‘invest’, either. Time is finite, money comes and goes, peace facilitates longevity.
As a part of our series about stars who are making an important social impact, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sean Martin.
Sean Martin is an executive producer, vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, for his band The Quarantined. He is a combat veteran with the Airborne Infantry, Musicians Institute graduate, and has released 3 albums, with one more slated for release in November of 2025 called Aversion to Normalcy. Sean is a Free2luv.org Advocate for veterans mental health and arts education.
Thank you so much for joining us on this interview series. Can you share with us the backstory that led you to this career path?
Being a musician was something that came naturally to me. I started singing at the age of 4 in community choirs, and was in my first opera (Tosca) when I was 7. After the military enabled me to use the GI bill and Vocational Rehab to become an independent musician, and all of the career paths in music were illuminated in front of me for the first time; it was overwhelming knowledge to have, but a conscious decision I made to be an artist with a message, not just for vain enterprising- but to tell a story, relay a moral/value/true life lesson, and/or deliver music that causes people to feel things outside of their perspective but is still part of a shared reality, and therefore grow just by listening. I don’t want to be the artist that everything is about themselves; I want to be the artist people listen to at their hardest times and inspires them to a new perspective on the world- because music is what inspired me away from giving up when I had every other reason to.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
When I was first starting to play out in Los Angeles, I was playing in an alt country band. We had a show on Melrose, and it was a big deal for us to play in that area of town. I had a tuner normally on my headstock, but it went bad, so I had to include a tuner pedal from the other guitarist in the band to be able to tune- but this tuner was weird for me and I couldn’t really tune well on it. So before the show I used my phone to tune and that set me up well… until about the 3rd song in. It just so happened that the 4th song was the one where I played the intro guitar part. So I used the pedal tuner, thought I had it correct, turned up my volume and let er rip. When I heard how off it was, I looked at the small crowd of maybe 20 or so people, and saw the other guitarists dad walking up to the stage and told me “its off, tune again” so, because the majority of the people were in there because of the other guitarists dad, he told some jokes to people loudly, played the crowd a little bit to allow me an extra 30 seconds to tune correctly. I did, and when he gave the attention back I was ready on cue to play the opening line and actually have it sound good, to supportive applause. It’s one of those things that only works in a small venue playing for people you know. Any other situation it would have been a disastrous embarrassment, because I made the decision to play thru the out of tune guitar, when I should have listened first, then gone back to tuning more once I heard it. I guess the lesson being: a team that looks out for you will always be grater than your imagination of what you can do alone.
What would you advise a young person who wants to emulate your success?
Learn the mechanics of everything you can- know how everything works. How to sing in every way, how to play your instrument in every way, what roles do music business people have in your career- the knowledge is out there, you just have to know what you’re asking for, and enjoy the diversity of ways to move people. Everyone tells themselves they can’t before they try; be the opposite of that- try and then tell yourself how you can do more. If you always are learning, and are always doing, eventually you will master something in the process. Learn everything you can on your own, and never be afraid of knowing your limitations- ego stops you more than other people, and it will permanently sideline you if you let it. Once you know what to ask for and who to ask it from, you can gain the knowledge of how to do anything. Don’t be afraid of the unknown- know yourself well enough to see the world without you, and you will see what your place in the world is. Ego without a skill check will always turn towards self destruction.
Is there a person that made a profound impact on your life? Can you share a story?
When I was in basic training, at 30th AG (the central organizational point of arrival for people getting delegated to their basic training units in FT. Benning, GA) the guy who had a bunk above mine was a guy named Jeff Bisson. He was nicer than everybody else: whereas most were obsessed with proving something or the other, Jeff was focused on the accomplishment of self realization- in other words, setting a goal for yourself beyond what is required of you by the military, and reaching for those as well as for your responsibilities. The 18x contract we shared was, for him, a stepping stone to get his ultimate dream job- jumping for the Golden Knights. He ended up being my battle buddy for most of basic and thru airborne school. We were a group of 4–6 friends from C 2–58 in Airborne School, but Jeff shared his empowerment with others, encouraged where others sought competition- he shared compassion where others denigrated and shamed. He knew that we all succeeded only by the strength of the least among us, so he always helped those who were struggling first. Needless to say, he was an anomaly in literally the most cutthroat profession in world, the Airborne Infantry.
The last I saw him, was just as he was leaving the comms tent in Iraq. He had just gotten done talking to his wife, making plans for when he was coming home on leave in a few weeks. His home of San Diego was calling him he said, making some Anchorman jokes along the way, and he had mentioned he had gotten the support of his company commander in Alpha Company to give him a letter of recommendation in his application to the Golden Knights, as he had exceeded the required 100 free-fall jumps in the year and a half in Alaska that was required for new applicants, before we had even left for Iraq. He was killed in an ambush by a sniper on his way to Fallujah with Alpha company the next day.
How are you using your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share with us the meaningful or exciting causes you’re working on right now?
My album title is a description of the goodness I try to bring- “When tyranny becomes the norm, in order to survive you will need an Aversion to Normalcy.” We support the Free2luv.org movement to ignite change in our broken systems, to stand up to bullying and supporting the bravery it takes to speak up, to celebrate individuality, to support mental health services in this country, to try to save lives thru the arts. We are also interested in advancing music education, for mental health awareness and advocacy to Veterans and their families.
Can you share with us a story behind why you chose to take up this particular cause?
Without the team of professionals provided by the VA, the Vet Center, and the VA’s Community Care program, there is a very good chance I would have never made it to live this long. The civilian world is a strange and dangerous one that I, frankly, don’t recommend any more than I would anyone to join the Infantry. However, since we do not choose to be born where we are, and circumstances beyond our control shape the environment we grow up in, I believe that everyone- and I mean everyone- should be ok with subsidizing mental health care by the best possible sources, more than we subsidize Oil; because, whereas energy gets us where we are going, mental health determines why we go. I’d say the results of that razor is life and death, and worthy of our tax dollars just as much as almost anything else. If we value why someone does anything- (and that, is still an if, much to my dismay) we should all work together to find a way out of the grip of “profit over everything else” and start making a plan with everyone who feels the weight of why we do things, and make our government fulfill its promise of providing for the general welfare as stated in the preamble of the US Constitution.
Can you share with us a story about a person who was impacted by your cause?
I had a friend I made in the inpatient PTSD clinic in Los Angeles. Everyone told me that he was an asshole, a narcissist, a liar, a cheat and the worst result of drug abuse and a horrid upbringing. He did treat everyone he didn’t know as hostile, though it made no sense to the people around him as they all felt (and rightfully so) unfairly judged by him. He was treating people according to how he saw them, and it was flawed and jaded. He did treat people badly, because he saw no reason to act nicely for the un-deserving. But for some reason, he decided to trust me. He would share time with me, share his stories and advice learned from life, while he would stay silent in group. The situations in his life were catastrophic- the worst of what you could imagine. Everyone he had ever trusted had let him down in horrible ways, abused him at every turn, but he had also become an abuser. Under the pressure of therapy to strive for becoming the better version of himself, required him to justify and rationalize the injustices of his life, and he couldn’t and wouldn’t do it.
He sunk deeper and deeper and deeper into prescription pills abuse, and eventually died from it in extravagant, grunge fashion: OD’ing, throwing up blackened blood all over his room and being taken to a hospital, where I’m not sure if he ever recovered. This is an example of the failure society bears on a daily basis, because I know I’m not the only one with a story they’ve seen of a person destroyed by a combination of horrible life experiences, physical injuries that in turn facilitate prescription pill abuses and were never able to get help. Many believed there was no other way for his spiral to be any different. But I do know that the clinic made his end less damaging to those around him.
Are there three things or are there things that individuals, society, or the government can do to support you in this effort?
Realistically? We’d have to build a coalition: councils with budgets, meetings and outreach. Never relying on anything that pats our backs until a bill is passed in congress, and signed by a president, to subsidize mental health care until the cost becomes 0 dollars (meaning never). And a constant watch guarding of that taxpayer investment and its effectiveness, always correcting towards the benefit of the citizen within fairness and demonstrable positive results. Or just make it always covered under medicare for all people.
Why do you think music in particular has the power to create social change and create a positive impact on humanity?
A lot of people I know feel that fascism is making a new advancement into our culture, our government, and therefore in every aspect of our lives. I have been making music warning about it since 2012 when I saw the signs in culture and discourse. Not just on the religious right side of the political spectrum where history tells us it usually resides, but on the left side of politics and culture, and in the center, as well. It confused a lot of people in the middle into a tenuous trust with a bad actor that drags us all into his mire of vindictiveness and hatred, because he uses your hope as a weapon against you to gain what he needs now, to deliver what he wants for himself later. The left side of politics, even in a democracy, pushed too far from hard realities, devolves into dictatorship as well. This means that every good natured person, who doesn’t subscribe to an ideology to make their concepts of the world, is caught in between two sides of an ideological war they don’t understand and can’t see, and then has no place for their love and care to go to. I would like to say that self care is a viable option to save your love for someone who actually needs it, you just have to learn more than what you know now… And the “Self-Care party” has some marketing kinks to work out. I hope the success of the album depends on the values and perspectives people extract from listening to music that packs every line with meaning. I might be a fool for thinking so. Then again, I might not.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started”?
- Maintain your peace. Learn to be ok with nobody next to you. Learn stoic philosophy to rid yourself of a need for external validation. Learn to let go, forgive, and invest in yourself until you have enough to support who you choose to help maintain your peace. I aint talking about money with ‘invest’, either. Time is finite, money comes and goes, peace facilitates longevity.
- If you don’t love to practice and learn quickly, you’re fucked to be a musician. Techniques are easy, discipline is hard and is always worth having, rather than lacking.
- Versatility and adaptability is how you will survive the death by a thousand cuts gauntlet. And Cannabis.
- Learn how to read peoples intentions thru bluster, and accept when someone shows you who they are. The disappointment of broken dreams is preferable to an actual broken future.
- The people you know will not be the people who will be your fans in the music industry- it’s everyone you don’t know yet. Show them the best side of you before you decide your value to the industry off a small test group, because people are swayed to like something that already has a form of social approval. Right now, Views/streams/ online numbers are social approval, you can buy it just like anything else. Its capitalism and its not fair, Play the game accordingly.
You’re a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Every day anyone kills themselves is a day that we failed our fellow people. I believe that is our story, it happens every day we don’t do the right thing of providing for the general welfare as decreed in the Preamble of the
Constitution. It’s time we start taking that personally as a country. Fight that war- to save our most vulnerable by creating the versatile base level education so they become the best version of themselves, better than us right now. Now do it for everyone, all the time, in perpetuity. It’s easy to imagine, and difficult to create, but its what we all need.
Can you please give us your favorite life lesson quote? And can you explain how that was relevant in your life?
“Well maybe there’s a god above, but all I’ve ever learned from love Was how to shoot somebody who’d out drew ya. It’s not a cry that you hear at night, its not somebody who’s seen the light, its a cold and its a broken hallelujah.”
This Leonard Cohen lyric from Hallelujah felt like it was written for me. It’s an acknowledgment of atheism but also of humility, a distrust for love and a reference to the similarity between love and war. A lot of my life has felt like having to one up whoever thinks they can own me. Sometimes it’s not being in the light that frees you, sometimes it’s the little lights in the darkness that gets you through to the other side: sometimes the little lights are the traps. Cryptic advice, I know, but for a guy who was first supposed to be a preacher to an atheist, from a soldier to a musician, that’s pretty good imagery that is not the norm and has fit my life since I heard it in music school (2009) and played it for my graduation from MI’s Guitar School.
We are blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
OMG, there’s quite a few people i’d like to meet and have a brunch (or two) with. It is very hard to pick just one, especially because three out of four of those categories are critical to my future as a whole. But I think I’m going to have to say Stephen Colbert. The reason is I’ve been watching him since he was on the Daily Show, I admire a lot about him, and I value his wisdom- the Colbert Report kept me sane while I was in Iraq. Also, I feel like his show audience is the largest audience currently who would appreciate my music and story. Can I pitch me to be on his show at the meeting?
Thank you so much for these amazing insights. This was so inspiring, and we wish you continued success!
About the Interviewer: Stanley Bronstein is an attorney, CPA, and author of more than 20 books. However, he doesn’t consider any of those his greatest achievement. His most significant accomplishment was permanently losing 225 pounds and developing the personal growth system that made it possible — The Way of Excellence. As a catalyst for change, he has dedicated his life to helping others maximize their potential, transform their lives, and achieve optimal health. To learn more, you can download a free PDF copy of his latest book, The Way of Excellence Journal, at HYPERLINK “https://thewayofexcellence.com/”https://TheWayOfExcellence.com.
Music Stars Making a Social Impact: Why & How Sean Martin Of The Quarantined Is Helping To Change… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.