Cliff Robert Martinez (born February 5, 1954) is an American musician and composer. Early in his career, Martinez was known as a drummer notably with the

Red Hot Chili Peppers The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (musician), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of a ...

and Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band. Since the 1990s, he has worked primarily as a

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

composer, writing music for '' Spring Breakers'' (2012), '' The Foreigner'' (2017), and multiple films by

Steven Soderbergh Steven Andrew Soderbergh ( ; born January 14, 1963) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. A pioneer of modern Independent film, independent cinema, Soderbergh later drew acclaim for formally inventiv ...

, ''

Sex, Lies, and Videotape ''Sex, Lies, and Videotape'' (often written in all lowercase as ''sex, lies, and videotape'') is a 1989 American Independent film, independent Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Steven Soderbergh. The plot tells the ...

'' (1989), '' Solaris'' (2002), '' Contagion'' (2011) and ''

Traffic Traffic is the movement of vehicles and pedestrians along land routes. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic laws and informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly an ...

'' (2000) and Nicolas Winding Refn, '' Drive'' (2011), '' Only God Forgives'' (2013), '' The Neon Demon'' (2016) and the miniseries '' Too Old to Die Young'' (2019). On April 14, 2012, Martinez was inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

as a member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Early life

Martinez was born in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, New York City. His grandfather migrated from a small village in Spain to the United States. Raised in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, his first job composing was for the popular television show '' Pee Wee's Playhouse''. At the time, however, he was more interested in rock bands, and played drums in a variety of them, mostly in a temporary capacity.

Red Hot Chili Peppers (1983–1986)

After several years drumming for such acts as Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, The Dickies,

Lydia Lunch Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...

and The Weirdos, in late 1983, he and Jack Sherman were drafted in to join the

for the recording of their eponymous first album after Jack Irons and

Hillel Slovak Hillel Slovak (; April 13, 1962 – June 25, 1988) was an Israeli-American musician, best known as the founding guitarist of the Los Angeles rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he recorded two albums. His guitar work was rooted in fun ...

left the band to concentrate on their other project at the time, What Is This?. Martinez again played on the recording of the band's second album '' Freaky Styley'' (1985) and its subsequent tour. In 2012 Martinez was inducted into the

as a member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Martinez performed with the band for the first time in 26 years when he joined them along with former drummer Jack Irons on their song, " Give It Away" during the ceremony.

Film composing

Eventually, Martinez' interests shifted and he focused his attention toward film scoring. A tape Martinez had put together using new technologies made its rounds, leading him to score an episode of ''Pee-Wee's Playhouse''. The same recording also ended up in

's hands and Martinez was hired to score the famed director's first theatrical release, 1989's ''

''. Martinez's longstanding relationship with Soderbergh has continued through the years and they have worked together on ten theatrical releases including '' Kafka'' (1991), ''

The Limey ''The Limey'' is a 1999 American crime film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Lem Dobbs. The film features Terence Stamp, Lesley Ann Warren, Luis Guzmán, Barry Newman, Nicky Katt, and Peter Fonda. The plot concerns an English care ...

'' (1999), ''

'' (2000), '' Solaris'' (2002) and 2011's '' Contagion'', as well the Cinemax series '' The Knick'' (2014–2015). His nontraditional scores tend towards being stark and sparse, utilizing a modern tonal palette to paint the backdrop for films that are often dark, psychological stories like '' Pump Up the Volume'' (1990), ''The Limey'', '' Wonderland'' (2003), '' Wicker Park'' (2004) and '' Drive'' (2011). Martinez has been nominated for a

Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media The Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media is an honor presented to a composer (or composers) for an original score created for a film, TV show or series, or other visual media at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was establishe ...

(Steven Soderbergh's ''Traffic''), a

César Award for Best Original Music This is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Original Music (). Before 2000, the award was called "César Award for Best Music". With three awards out of eleven nominations, Alexandre Desplat is both the most nominated and ...

(Xavier Giannoli's '' In the Beginning'' (2009)), and a Broadcast Film Critics Award (''Drive''). He earned a Robert Award for Best Score for his work on '' Only God Forgives'' (2013). Martinez's use of audio manipulations, particularly for percussive sounds, has been evolving through the years and is evident by the hammered dulcimer of ''Kafka'', the gray-areas between sound design and score for ''Traffic'', the steel drums and textures of ''Solaris'', what Martinez called "rhythmi-tizing pitched, ambient textures" of '' Narc'' (2002), and "using percussion performances to trigger and shape the rhythmic and tonal characteristics of those ambient textures," as he described his score for 2011's '' The Lincoln Lawyer''. Martinez served as a juror for the

2012 Sundance Film Festival The 2012 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 until January 29, 2012 in Park City, Utah. 64 short films were selected for the festival from 7,675 submissions, including 27 international shorts from 3,592 submissions. Non-competitio ...

and served on the International Feature nominating committee for the 27th Independent Spirit Awards in February that same year. Martinez's recent films include Robert Redford's '' The Company You Keep'' (2012), Nicholas Jarecki's ''

Arbitrage Arbitrage (, ) is the practice of taking advantage of a difference in prices in two or more marketsstriking a combination of matching deals to capitalize on the difference, the profit being the difference between the market prices at which th ...

'' (2012), Harmony Korine's '' Spring Breakers'' (2012) (co-composed with

Skrillex Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ, record producer, musician, singer. Raised in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he began his career in 2004 as the lead vocalist of the ...

), and Nicolas Winding Refn's '' Only God Forgives'' and '' The Neon Demon'' (2016).

Video game composing

Martinez composed the main menu music titled "Galaxy Theme" for ''

Spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual reproduction, sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for biological dispersal, dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores fo ...

'' in 2008. In 2014, Martinez also composed the title score for '' Far Cry 4''.

Advertising

In 2013, Martinez scored the "Fly Beyond" Grey Goose vodka commercial.
Martinez also composed two songs, "Vibe" and "Kotopulse", for the 2014

Lincoln Motor Company Lincoln Motor Company, or simply Lincoln, is the luxury vehicle division of American automobile manufacturer Ford Motor Company. Marketed among the top luxury vehicle brands in the United States, Lincoln is positioned closely against its Gene ...

advertising campaign featuring

Matthew McConaughey Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He achieved his breakthrough with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first su ...

Discography

The Weirdos

* '' Weird World'' (compilation)

Lydia Lunch

* '' 13.13'' (1982) * ''

Stinkfist "Stinkfist", also referred to as ''Track #1'' due to the perceived offensiveness of the actual title, is a song by American rock band Tool A tool is an Physical object, object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the ...

'' (1986)

Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band

* '' Ice Cream for Crow'' (1982)

Red Hot Chili Peppers

* '' The Red Hot Chili Peppers'' (1984) * '' Freaky Styley'' (1985) * '' The Abbey Road E.P.'' – (1988) * '' What Hits!?'' – (1992) * '' Out in L.A.'' – (1994) * '' Under the Covers: Essential Red Hot Chili Peppers'' – (1998)

The Dickies

* '' Killer Klowns from Outer Space'' (1988) * '' The Second Coming'' (1989) * '' Locked N' Loaded Live in London'' (1991) * '' Idjit Savant'' (1994)

As composer

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Cliff 1954 births Living people 20th-century American composers 20th-century American drummers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American composers 21st-century American drummers 21st-century American male musicians American film score composers American male drummers American male film score composers American male television composers American people of Spanish descent American rock drummers American television composers American video game composers BAFTA winners (people) Composers from New York City Drummers from New York City Hispanic and Latino American musicians Musicians from the Bronx Red Hot Chili Peppers members The Magic Band members