Interview - Chloe Martinez

Chloe Martinez, hello love! Welcome to Spill the Tea magazine. To start when did you first realise you wanted to make music?
Aww thank you very much for having me, it’s my absolute pleasure. Music was always a part of my life as a hobby, something that was always there for me whenever I was down but it accidentally became my vocation from around 8 years old when I joined singing lessons and began performing. I trained to do Musical Theatre but decided that I wanted to make my own music instead after being rewarded a scholarship that made me move to London. That is where it all began.

“I am who I am and cannot change that, anyone else who disagrees doesn’t matter.”

As an artist how do you decide what to write about?
I aim to be the artist I needed when growing up. A queer artist who doesn’t fit in with the rest, who embraces their own truth and encourages others to do so too. I write about my personal experiences and topics that mean a lot to me such as Human rights, BLM, MLM, Equality, LGBTQ+ Community and Equity.

‘Different’ essentially is a love letter to my younger self and embodies everything I stand for and represent.

When making music how involved do you like to be in the process? (writing, producing etc). I like to be involved in everything. I write and compose all of my songs. I then create a demo with my own instruments and equipment, and then send it off to my producer who takes the song to the next level by making all my ideas come to life.

Let’s talk about your latest single release ‘Different’. Tell us what the song is about.
“Different” is essentially a love letter to my younger self which embodies everything I stand for. Throughout the song you can hear specific phrases that I have personally experienced or witnessed throughout my lifetime. ‘Different’ voices out and fights back those insults: “I’ve got better things to do than sit and argue here with you, Oh Woah, Proud to be different”. Lyrics such as “My Sky’s blue you disagree, well that won’t stop me being me”- state the obvious, I am who I am and cannot change that, anyone else who disagrees doesn’t matter. This quirky soulful bop aims to encourage others to celebrate differences and embrace their own truth, a journey of self-love I am still embarking on. I wanted to voice and be the person I desperately craved growing up and not fitting in.

Describe the track with 3 emoji’s.

🥰🏳️‍🌈💅

30% of the songs proceeds are going to charity AKT, why was it important for you to choose them?
It was important for me to choose AKT Charity because it is already hard enough to come to terms with who you are, but to not receive support and be kicked out of your home, especially during a pandemic, is absolutely heartbreaking. AKT help shelter and support homeless LGBTQ+ Youth around the UK, I have been in touch with people who rely on them daily, and found out about them last year during lockdown. I wanted to help out in a way I know how, through music.

Is the track going to be part of a future EP or album? If so, can you tell us more?
I am in the process of producing and recording an album that will hopefully drop next year near Pride Month! Very excited about it and I hope that everyone will enjoy it!

When did you discover you were part of the LGBTQ+ community and how was your coming out experience?
I am a part of the LGBTQ+ Community, I am the L ahaha. I never really came out, my mum confronted me when I was 14 years old and I opened up to her about it. It wasn’t received very well and there are still a few members of my family who aren’t that supportive about it but I’m very happy that the majority of them are and decided opened their hearts and minds thinking of me instead of their traditional beliefs. Very blessed indeed. My pronouns are She/They, I identify as female but also consider myself to simple being human, I hate stereotypes and try to destroy them any chance I get.

They/Them is a term that identifies a person as a simple being, a soul rather than a gender. That’s why I also don’t mind going by it at all.

Do you think being lesbian and queer helped or hindered your music career at all?
My music hasn’t been out long enough to know but I’d like to think that it’s helped my music in the sense that I have a specific target audience. This music is for everyone including people who may feel like “misfits” or “different” like I have. My people.

Shout out time! What one other queer performer deserves a shout out from you and why?
Gabz Official deserves this shoutout. They are an incredible queer artist, who feature on ‘Different’. They rose to success on Britain’s Got Talent with their song ‘Lighters’ and other than being a well rounded musician, they are also a fantastic friend and human being. I am very proud of them.