The band gives new meaning and hope to the term, "Uncommon Days," through their efforts to cast a ray of hope in a world of darkness, filled with negativity, despair and well, uncommon days. Their Uncommon Days focuses on hope and what is most important to them in these uncommon days -- worship.
"We felt like music can be a vertical worship with God, but also be personal. It is something people respond and relate to in the secular world as well. People have hurt both in the church and anywhere else. Touring for five years has been worth it to me. We see people coming to Christ, get involved with missions - it is a huge thing for us to see young people get beyond their comfort zones. Sometimes, I think that is what's missing in Christianity. We should stand and look at the least around us," Martinez said.
Seeing the hurt in and outside the church, Martinez and the rest of his band mates try to practice what they advocate, standing for the least. They try to reach out to those in need with compassion, even when they feel the hurt the deepest.
"One song, 'Get Up,' I wrote when we were in the studio meeting all our heroes, friends were hurting. Some had gone through deaths in the family - divorces all around us. There was a lot of sadness. I wanted to write a song to minister to those who were closest to me so the song 'Get Up' was inspired by that - a voice that says 'Don't Give Up!'" Martinez said.
Don't Give Up! Words that inspire this modern-day prodigal son. He talks about his own wayward experience in the song, "Home."
"I draw a lot from my past," he said. "I draw from everything - life. I try to anyway."
In the end, it is only a passion for life and love and God alone that drives Martinez. And as a the band?
Circleslide is a unit, driven in their quest to create their own unique sound.
"We try to do a song that's fresh and it's tough because rock n' roll has been around a long time. But hopefully, what we bring to Christian music is something that is new and fresh. That is what drives us", Martinez said.
While the band may be blazing an uncharted trail with their sound, Martinez insists he isn't about to throw out all the old, sacred hymns in favor of newer, contemporary rewrites.
"The hymns, 'Be Thou My Vision' or 'How Great Thou Art' - two of my favorites, need to be sung. Sometimes the old language says things in a way just cannot be said in a more contemporary style. But, sometimes, [old hymns] need to be reinterpreted so a whole new generation can hear them. I think the Holy Spirit has a way of reminding us what we need to remember whether it be hymns, prayers, scriptures or sermons."
Through Uncommon Days God reminds Circleslide, and anyone else listening, to remember a key truth.
"God always uses someone to remind us of what's right," Martinez said, softly.
