Why dishes?
"I wanted to do whatever it was that God wanted me to do. I went on the mission field, I was in YWAM (Youth With A Mission) and was going on different trips to El Salvador and Russia. I felt like God placed missions on my heart and when I came home... I just wanted to do whatever God wanted and if that meant being a dishwasher, I would. I told my girlfriend (I was with at the time) that I was going to be a dishwasher for God," Martinez said, laughing.
Suddenly, the couple's promising bright future, together, was decidedly murky.
"She broke up with me saying that wasn't what she had in mind," Martinez said, laughing again.
Dishwashing wasn't in his future thankfully and luckily, he later married another girl, Debbie, who shared his enthusiasm, passion for missions and serves currently as band manager.
God used Martinez's passion for the lost and missions, by showing Martinez how to use the skills he learned on the mission field. "I went on these trips to El Salvador and Russia and started leading worship for different outreaches. We would be on these outreaches ministering to all these people but when we came home, the music would only stay in church. I wanted to take them to the secular environment, too."
So Martinez stretched himself further than he had before. He started taking his acoustic guitar and harmonica and playing in bars and clubs. In his own single ministry, he experienced a new growth he never seen or felt before. He experienced a growth which started taking root even before he walked onto a mission field for YWAM, for Christ.
"When I grew up I was a pastor's kid," Martinez explained. "I kind of rebelled around 17 and ran away from home. But, my parents still continued to love me."
His parents' love, at the time, was demonstrated through their prayers for a wayward son.
"I would see my dad in the weirdest places. I would sneak into a bar to see a band play and he would be there, watching. It was a risk for him as a pastor to be there. But, I think, he was just trying to let me know he still loved me," Martinez said.
It took Dad's invitation to come with him and attend a worship service before Martinez found what had eluded him for months -- God's grace and forgiveness. Ready to stop running away, Martinez accepted his dad's open invitation to come back home.
"I think it was just a response to the love and forgiveness from God and I'd fallen...(knew) really what it meant to stray so far and hurt the people you love most and still have them accept you. It was a huge thing for me and I felt a response would be 'God, What do you want me to do?'" he said.
It was a new beginning for the high school graduate, a turning point. No longer walking the streets destined toward an unclear future, Martinez now had a clear purpose. He was running with passion and serving God.
"I was in a band (before YWAM) and left the band, joined a mission. I was kind of like, 'God I am going to lay down music upon your altar and if I never touch an instrument again, it is fine with me.'"
But God didn't want Martinez to stop playing his music.
"People kept telling me 'You need to lead worship' and I'd sing a song in my youth group and my church and that was how it all started. I started stretching myself (after YWAM), playing in bars and clubs on the weekends with my acoustic guitar. Some of the other guys started helping me, Fred (Mandrijano), our drummer, Aaron (Gillies, guitarist, who also plays Wurlitzer and piano) and Tim (Martinez), my brother (bass guitarist), and we formed Circleslide."
The San-Antonio based band, whose members now call Nashville home, took its name from an album The Choir produced, entitled Circle Slide.
"They let us use the name. We are huge fans of The Choir, getting to work with The Choir's founder, Steve Hindalong, was a dream for the band because we got to work with our hero, little intimidating going into the studio with your hero. But, Marc Byrd put us at ease, hooked us up with Steve and was basically championing the band. [He was] very encouraging to the band whenever we were kind of a new group. [He] helped us with guitar sounds, trying new vocal things and being real experimental," Circleslide's lead singer said of the band's 1999 beginnings.
Influenced by Radiohead, U2 and lyrically by the late Rich Mullins, Martinez has seen changes for the good following clinching the 2003 GMA's "Music In The Rockies" competition.
"We find it very intimidating (being a new band in Christian music). We didn't know what to expect, but everyone in the Christian music industry and in Nashville has been gracious," Martinez said.
