Meet Martin Wave

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Martin Wave. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Martin below.

Martin, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
Creativity is such an illusive thing. I have thought a lot about creativity in general. I definitely don’t always feel creative and the amount of ideas I’ve scrapped over the years is probably pretty great. I’ve found that there are 3 keys to my creativity.

The 1st key is to explore something new, which sometimes requires me to allow myself to try it. We all have preconceived ideas for who we are and what we should be doing. So going against those thoughts and just trying something is great for creativity and growth. That way you can create new things and avoid getting stuck in the cycle of repeating yourself and getting bored of your own work.

The 2nd key is to do non-creative things. That will get my brain longing for creation mode. And sometimes maybe it’s fine to procrastinate a bit on the admin tasks if you suddenly find yourself on a creative wave.

The 3rd key is creative containers, which is something I talk about a lot. A creative container is to limit yourself in your creation process. If you’re a painter, maybe you can only use 2 colors, but blend them however you want. If you’re a musician making a song, maybe the creative container is to use only a guitar for every single sound in the song. If you are a creative professional, maybe the creative container is a creative brief you got from a client. I’ve found that it’s often easier to get started on something when you already have an idea and rules around what it needs to be.

It’s often a good idea to start off with some kind of creative container, because it just makes it easier to start. What if I have to make something with this guitar pedal, and then we’ll see what happens. After that you can just let it take you wherever it wants to go.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a Swedish music producer, composer and artist living in LA. I do work in film, games, advertising and with recording artists, and I also release music under the names Martin Wave and Grace & Moji.

I’ve had music placements with Apple, Google, Marvel, Star Wars, VW, Porsche, Lexus, BMW, Mercedes, Amazon, Netflix, HBO and more. Throughout the years I have also worked on a wide range of projects with artists like Post Malone, Vince Staples, Kacey Musgraves, Grimes, Radiohead, Hayley Williams, Suki Waterhouse, Masego, Steve Aoki, ALOK, NCT DREAM and Paloma Faith.

In 2022, I founded the conscious creative community PARASOL together with my wife and creative/business partner Grace Hong. We have also recently launched a music label and creative agency, called Parasol Music, which focuses on diversity, artistic authenticity, social change, education and generating opportunities for artists by connecting them with brands and music supervisors.

I have always been making music ever since I was a young kid, but didn’t begin my professional journey until the age of 22 when I got a job as an in-house music composer at a music production house in Stockholm. Since then I have relocated to LA, I have been through multiple partnerships that ultimately didn’t work out, and I’ve made it one of my pillars in life to always listen to my heart and become and remain free as a creative and entrepreneur.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Growing up I experimented a ton with different styles of music and I explored different instruments. This curiosity allowed me to get a deep understanding of musical emotion, which I am now able to use in a professional context. I listened to, and created, dance music, film scores, metal, indie pop, electronic beats and pretty much anything else that felt enticing. This allowed me to become a shape-shifter in music, have a multi-faceted career and have an edge in more areas than one.

I’ve always been able to be in a flow state when I’m enjoying the creation process. When I was 6 I was building with Lego and it’s pretty much the same thing as making music. You put little parts together and it becomes something complete. I don’t consider this quality “patience” – it’s more of an enjoyment of a fun and inspired journey. This quality has allowed me to get good in many areas, simply because I could sink into it and get the practice. But then the opposite is also true; if I didn’t enjoy something I would never push myself to do it and I saw little improvement in those areas even over the course of 10 years.

My last quality, or skill, that I would like to mention is the gained ability to grow as a person. For most of my life I was mainly just going with the flow, which got me stuck in situations where I didn’t have the developed inner strength and wisdom to easily break out, or to even identify the situation in the first place. When I started my journey of healing and growing, I got so much more clarity on myself, and past and present situations.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I am always looking for people who are super passionate, talented and driven, whether it being artists, producers or composers, or thought-leaders doing interesting things in the world of wellness, and personal and social transformation. If this resonates with you, feel free to reach out to me at martin@parasol.la.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Joey Pucino

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