Remarkable singer-songwriter and actress Ren Martinez (formerly Ren Farren) is a rising star in the world of music and entertainment. The youngest daughter of singer Leslie Martinez and actor A Martinez ("Longmire"), Ren's performing roots run deep, and she’s now taking the music world by storm with her captivating vocals, heartfelt songwriting, and electrifying performances. Ren has released two EPs and multiple singles that reflect her evolution as an artist. Recently collaborating with producer and close friend Madison Scheckel, known as Wolfy, Ren is on the brink of unveiling her upcoming album. 

From a young age, Ren's affinity for music was evident. She sang before she could talk and embraced acting from the age of six, participating in local plays. She graduated from the Popular Music Performance program at the University of Southern California where she honed her songwriting and vocal skills. During her college years, Ren discovered contemporary artists spanning pop, hip hop, rock, and country genres. She’s since released albums like "Good Girl" and "Where I am Wild," with hit singles including "Uncool," "Lose the Night," "See Me Through," and "Crier." Her music is currently available on Spotify, Soundcloud, and iTunes. 

Her tracks have found its way into screens being featured on popular television shows like Hacks, New Girl, Friends from College, Single Parents, and The Young and the Restless, solidifying her status as a versatile artist with a sound that resonates far and wide.  

Ren's impact isn't confined to the studio alone. She's also making waves in the acting world, engaging in voiceover work, and recently performing in a Sam Shepard play. 

RAINE: What was the initial spark of creative inspiration that led to you wanting to pursue a music career? 

REN MARTINEZ: I've been singing for as long as I can remember, and I grew up always performing on stage. By the time I can remember being a conscious little being, it was already such a big part of my life. One of my earliest memories is singing "Reflection" from Mulan (1998) at a school talent show while holding a plastic butterfly clipboard with the lyrics because I was too little to remember them. There wasn't an initial moment I can remember that led me to pursue a career in the performing arts—it's more that I can't ever remember a moment where there seemed like any other possibility! It's always been the thing moving me through life. Singing and acting on stage, where I've always met all my best friends, worked out my emotions, and grew my sense of self. High school choir and theater were my whole life —it was the funniest, most important thing to me, the most incredible space to go through adolescence. I started to narrow in on a music career when I realized that I could be a songwriter. Being able to create your own body of work as an artist is a really special thing. Writing music has become a craft that I'll probably spend my whole life honing. It gives you more power as an artist to write for yourself—there's a self-sufficiency in it and a possibility to create your own momentum. 

RAINE: How did this blossom out over time to the point where releasing music became a viable part of your creative identity?  

MARTINEZ: When I first started writing songs, they weren't great! I don't want to call them terrible, but they were super simplistic, kinda vague, and nothing I'd want anyone to hear now. I did force myself to perform original music once or twice in high school, not because I thought what I was writing was particularly special, but because I knew it was important to share your work with the world. For me, it's an essential part of the process. Even though I wasn't super proud of the work yet, I was simply happy I had even tried to write. If you can find that kind of kernel of true self-satisfaction from creating something, it is so motivating, so exciting, especially as a young person.  

So hey, maybe I was wrong about the first question! Maybe those early moments of songwriting, those little simple songs, provided me with that early spark—not because they were anything remarkable, but because I had made them. I saw promise in that. 

RAINE: You get the chance to work on a dream project with one collaborator. Who are you picking and why? 

MARTINEZ: I would love to work with Blake Mills. He's an incredible producer, and we grew up in the same town. He's someone I've admired since I was like 10 years old and he was like 17! His is a career I've followed since its infancy. It's been inspiring to watch him grow, to listen to the way his sensibilities have evolved, and to listen to the magical ways he's left his imprint on the music of other artists I admire. He's worked with some of my heroes, including Fiona Apple, who I think is the greatest artist of her generation. Getting to see what we could do together would be a dream.

 RAINE: What do you think are the factors that give music as an art and storytelling form the power to connect with so many worldwide? 

MARTINEZ: Music is so universal. Let's get into it! I was recently thinking about music in terms of the power of movement. That's what music is really, it's movement. Whether you're listening live in a venue, feeling the bass in your throat, or on some lousy speakers, those sound waves are traveling towards you and meeting your ears, vibrating through your body. And I think it's really remarkable the way that our emotions can be altered. They can be born and grow and change and die, just from movement. Moving light in a movie theater, someone we love grabbing our hand, an acupuncture needle causing the teeniest ripple effect and easing our tension, the release we feel from dance or running or just moving our breath in and out of our lungs. Sound waves, that's movement too. A certain combination of notes, a certain guitar riff you've heard a million times before, your favorite singer taking a deep breath, these sounds move into us and they change us a little bit. It's a beautiful, undeniable thing. 

RAINE: How does your work as an actress inform your music and vice versa?  

MARTINEZ: My loves of acting, singing and songwriting are all tied up in my love of watching other people do those things as well. Watching movies and television, going to the theater, going to shows, taking long car rides listening to my favorite records. What has always interested me the most, on any level, is storytelling. I'm a huge reader, and that's always been a really important part of my life too. With music, I want to tell stories the same way I would if I were acting on stage. I want my songs to feel lived in, I love a vivid narrative, and I want to be coming from a certain perspective with the lyrics and the performance that feels very clear. So I think that growing up acting has certainly informed my songwriting. And when I act, my background in music has taught me to trust my instincts.  

Writing a song or singing on stage is all about knowing yourself really well, being able to listen to your gut and be present for what you can do to take the next moment to another level. I think I pull from that same place as an actor. I trust myself to listen to my instincts, and try not to overthink what I'm about to do—I do what feels right, what feels most authentic to the emotion. I try to live from that place as well, every day—although sometimes, out there in the world, that's easier said than done. 

RAINE: How can we expect the sound and style of your release EP to transfer onto your upcoming album? 

MARTINEZ: Because my EPs have both been only four songs, and this album is ten, I feel it's a much fuller picture of who I am as an artist. I get to explore the edges of who I am as a songwriter. My foundation is pop/rock, and that encompasses so much. There are folk and country influences, hip-hop and R&B influences, emo and pop-punk. I think (I hope!) you'll find a throughline in all of my work, which is my particular voice as a songwriter. I'm excited to get to double my body of released work, and can't wait to see what comes next. 

RAINE: What are your big hopes for your musical career going forward? 

MARTINEZ: I hope to be able to do it forever. That's the big hope. I want to be able to sing on stage, and to write, and to make a career out of that, whatever the scope may be, well into my old age. I look at my heroes, Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne, and the way they're out there right now with other generations of artists, performing their music on stage, so present in the world. That's what I dream of. I'd love to be able to tour and to play all over, and meet wonderful people, and learn a lot about beauty and pain and all kinds of stuff. I'm hopeful.

Photos provided by AGPR