Rocking the Frontlines: Sean Martin on Music, Military Service, and Modern Activism

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Living the Dream podcast with Curve Bomb. If you believe, you can achieve. Welcome to the Living the Dream with Curveball Podcast, a show where I interview guests that teach, motivate, and inspire. Today's guest is a force in the modern rock scene. His name is Sean Morton, and he is the creative force behind the quarantine, a grinding metal project. We're going to be talking to Sean about his band. You know, they've played in 13 countries and they've performed in iconic Los Angeles events, got over 40 million views and TikTok, and they, you know, cover a multitude of things in their music. So we're going to be talking to Sean, and Sean is also a veteran. So thank you for your service, Sean. And uh thank you for joining me.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Thank you so much for having me, Curtis.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

It's great to be here. Why don't you start off by telling everybody a little bit about yourself?

SPEAKER_01 1:11

All right. Um, well, uh, I um am uh the um executive producer and guitarist and vocalist for the quarantine, obviously. And uh we've um, you know, like you like you said, we've been making some really great uh headway this last year. I I originally grew up in um Fort Bragg, California, which is right on the coast, about four hours north of uh San Francisco and about four hours south of uh Eureka. And um, you know, I I joined the military when I was about um 18 years old and um experienced the life in the infantry, and that was a a uh one of a kind, unique experience. Um, and uh then after that I went into music school uh at Musicians Institute and um studied everything that I could. Um and so I I studied not just the techniques of playing guitar and singing, but also the music business sides behind it and the DIY tactics that it would take to um progress yourself forward in the industry, um, even if they aren't giving you the kind of um attention that that even if you you do deserve it, um, you still have to find a way to stick out stick out from the crowd. Um so I you know I spent a lot of time learning uh tactics from um many different teachers at Musicians Institute, and um still didn't fully prepare me for everything that was gonna come out of my way um once I got uh assigned to a sub major of Sony called Lucian Records. And not too long after that, it was disagreements over uh the production and disagreements over you know how much studio time we were gonna be able to have based off of the contracts that we had. And so eventually we just got dropped. Um, and then from then on we were doing it on our own. Um, and since then, I am honestly uh very happy that I've been discovering um all of the different ways in which someone can go about promoting their music um that are not the uh you know the normal ways I will say that people would do it before. I'm I'm looking for the new the newer ways utilizing uh you know the internet and AI to assist you in um getting your music out there.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

Well, I know that your music hits hard both sonically and emotionally. So so talk about how you when you're writing for the quarantine, how how you manage aggression with meaning.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

Oh yeah, um great question. Um so uh I I tried to um you know for me in in they always told us in in um in songwriting and crafting stories that conflict is the crux of a any great story. Um without conflict, a story doesn't really go anywhere. Um so I added that approach to uh my music to make it um you know storytelling in in the um in the veins of you know Johnny Cash or John Prine uh or um you know Willie Nelson or um but also incorporating aspects of um of more modern techniques. Um so it's not just speaking at at them, it's also singing and rapping and using multiple different vocal styles to um create a world as much as I as I can, a sonic world that to live in that isn't just restricted by um you know just genre, but more of a modality for expression, you know. So for example, it's a lot easier to get across a whole hell of a lot of words if you've got something to say with in a within a eight bars of a rap than it is in eight bars of a rock, you know, a strict rock beat. If you're if you're only having to to use the the techniques of um we'll say uh Chris Cornell instead of the techniques of Eminem, you you have to use less words when you're Chris Cornell. But when you're Eminem, you can use as many words as you want to, and it makes it even more fun.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

Absolutely. Well, talk to the listeners about that album Aversion to Normacy. You know, tell us uh what inspired it and and about the uh emotional process to creating it.

SPEAKER_01 5:54

Oh yeah. Um, so uh the reason the the name aversion to normalcy um comes from a uh a quote that that I have, and that's uh when tyranny becomes the norm, in order to survive, you'll need an aversion to normalcy. And that's supposed to represent the aspect and and the uh conflict of realizing that your society has pulled the rug out from under you. They're the everyone around you is no longer who you thought they were. Now, what are you supposed to do? Now you can't go along with the crowded crowd anymore. You have to think for yourself, you have to critically uh adjudicate your world and mitigate the problems that are coming in, and you have to do it alone. Um, so that's that's where the the emotional stance of of the album starts with. Um, and you know, looking we we incorporate in unspoken, we um incorporate some of James Baldwin's uh pin drop speech that he gave at Cambridge University. Um and that's him describing to a whole bunch of um young British people about what it's like to be a black person in pre-civil rights uh era legislation America. Um, and and they have a really tough time getting it, lo and behold. Um, but he says some extremely poignant things and mainly centered around that if it doesn't matter what you think or believe about an entire group, it doesn't matter how racist you are, you still have to have a dialogue. And when you when you have a dialogue, eventually you realize you're you have more in common than you do that differentiates you, um, and that our society can look at uh can look to focus on keeping the the modalities of um a conversation focused on uh results and benefits for everybody, then you've truly got a society. Otherwise, you have an oppressive society. Um, and it's it's a very, very deep speech, and I absolutely love it in its artistry um and in its delivery. And I realized that his delivery is very, very unique and it fits rhythmically with the rift that I had for the song Unspoken. Um, so I uh incorporated them together, sampling the the speech. Um, and so um emotionally speaking, um to write everything I happened over a long period of time. Um the the lyrics, for example, the lyrics in uh Nemesis Friend of mine um came to me in the middle of a night. Um, I was it it was like it woke me up and I was you know really, really angry, and I didn't know why, and I didn't realize that it was PTSD taking my nervous system into a place with that it didn't, uh there was no reason for it to go there. Um, and it's part of the disorder that I that at that time I was still wrapping my head around and still mitigating the symptoms of and trying to help myself feel like I I could become normal again. Um, and the words uh the first part of the of the the chorus came to me. It's right around the corner, it's right around the bend, a future with no love and terror with no end. That's what they say to me today with a dirty fucking smile. But I pulled myself out of here and been crawling for miles. And with that first line, I realized that this is a story about overcoming all of the people who have been in my way. Not just, you know, random obstacles, but the people who stand in your way and the psychology behind that. And when you understand how to um confront that with yourself, um, then you can truly move past it. Um, and there's been a lot of people who I've had to create boundaries to keep out of my life because it's been necessary to do so because they've just been wanting to control you and not sustain you or not facilitate or not help you, but just for the sake of control. Um, and there's a lot of, and I found that that conflict transfers beyond just person to person. It transfers from person to society, person to group of people, person to institution, institution to group of people. It is a description of our human existence when we have organized society. And I think it's very, very worthwhile to look at how we stand in each other's ways when we are asking for simple basic humanities, like the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

SPEAKER_00 11:06

Absolutely love it. So you work with some high high-level musicians and producers. So talk about how those collaborations uh help shape your sound over time.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

Oh, oh man, I mean, it has been a joy. Um, you know, so in music school, um, I got to study with uh in guitar, uh, you know, a guy named uh Dale Turner and Jeff Marshall, um, and Scott Henderson. Um, and these guys are all bringing different uh approaches to the guitar, but they are all masters in their own way. So they have a technique that they have um you know create that they have techniques that they've created that have turned into their style, and they show you how to do that in a very, very detailed way. And it was such an amazing experience. But at the same, but also on the other side of things, in the audio engineering side, I would work with uh uh and have classes with a guy named Dave Isaac. And if you don't know who Dave Isaac is, and you've probably heard his music because if you've ever heard Michael Jackson, you've heard Dave Isaac's work. Um, and you know, the bad album from Michael Jackson was a staple of my childhood. When I first heard that, dun dun dun dun, I was fucking hooked, man. Like that it was such a uh a powerful and aggressive thing that was using, you know, just music, not like you know, really angry, distorted guitars in your face, but just music you could instantly feel, and that attracted me from a very, very young age. So when I finally got to sit in front of Dave Isaac and ask him, How did you make that? And he was able to tell me, and I actually got an answer to it. It was that that feeling alone of just being able to learn from the some somebody who's a master at something is a true joy of the process of being a student, but also of of being a musician, um, to to have those opportunities. Now, I also worked with uh producer George G1 Archie, who uh did was the audio engineer for Death Row Records in its day. So he worked with Dr. Drain, Snoop Dogg and Tupac, and all of the everyone's favorites from that era. And to sit there and hear watch him mix one of the records was something that I learned so much from. And then again in 2025, when I'm working with Nathan Yarborough, who is um has worked with Allison Chains and Hailstorm and Apocalyptica and Evanescence, some of the biggest rock um albums of the uh 21st century. And it's it was amazing to watch and work. I again I learned so much of just sitting there and watching and asking simple questions and listening and training my ears to pay attention to the changes that are going on. Um, it it was like it was all preordained in a way, like you've been training for so long to uh assimilate this information, and then finally you get the pieces that you're looking for that make your knowledge complete. It's it's a feeling like no other. I mean, just all of that is is worth it to me. Like everything else that comes on top of the creation it is just a cherry on top because learning and knowing that stuff um makes makes my life, man. It makes my life.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Well, I know your music tackles issues like war, addiction, and politics. So do you see your music as an uh artistic expression or activism or both?

SPEAKER_01 15:00

Um, yeah, I I I think that there's a place for both. I think that that there is a place for music as as an a call to action. I also believe that there's a a place in music for just emotional catharsis, and there's also a place in music that has nothing to do with anything, it should just be fucking silly, man. Like, what's what why not just use music to make someone smile and laugh and everything? Like, it's I I want to leave the quarantine open to doing that, to be able to tackle tough conversations and also at a different point in the um in the the show, we'll say, to be able to have um light-hearted and feel-good experiences. Like I don't want it to be just super one-dimensional. I want it to be reflective of the human experience, which is a lot of things all at once, but the important things deserve to have their their spotlight, and that's trying to promote the the better versions of our society that we should all aspire to become. I feel like that, when it's the driving force, doesn't matter if it's funny or sad or or tentative or or anything. It doesn't matter what the emotion is, as long as it's got that purpose behind it, then it's it's then it's gonna reach people.

SPEAKER_00 16:25

Well, I know the idea of normalcy is central to your latest album. So what does normal look like uh for you today?

SPEAKER_01 16:34

Um our the way we are in the United States is um I believe antithetical to our founding principles. Um I believe that our society has gotten uh out of control. I believe that um our society has become one of a uh focused more on speculation and duplicitous natures from I mean not just in music, but into banking. Like the entire financial crisis of 2008 was because of out-of-control speculation. Our entire existence is dependent upon it, and that's bullshit, man. That's not built on anything. And uh I I feel like our institutions have been failing us, not just recently, but for many, many years. Uh but I think that that perspective is not really valid anymore. I think that the institutions have been built to do that, and we're just now realizing it. So normalcy in this in this case is and in this case, aversion to that is to have values and principles and um uh your own set of uh right and wrong when your society f rebukes its own uh sense of right and wrong, when it abandons all of its values, what is your responsibility as an individual? Do you just go along with the normalcy and even if you know it's heinous, even if you know it's atrocious, even if you know you're contributing to the demise of millions of people just because or thousands of people, or even one person that will definitively die because what you're doing, if that's a good thing for you, then you need to stop and think. You need to stop and and remember your humanity. Um, and it's the fact that we have to have these kind of conversations, and I can say these generalizations, and they probably hit home to an actual experience that your listeners have had, is proof enough that where we're at is not an acceptable place for anyone, and that the the changes that we need to make need to come from all of us coming together and standing up for the simple principles um that we can all and have all agreed to in under the constitution and and rally around that at least. At least if we can't come together on the rest of the shit, we have to come together on we are endowed with the the rights to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness at the very minimum. So that's the the stance that I'm taking with that.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

Absolutely. So talk about uh how serving in the US military and getting deployed to Iraq uh has shaped your life as well as your music.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

Oh man, extremely consequentially. Um it it it's uh the my experience in the army is something that that will change you forever. Um, you know, from combat experiences to tanee operations, um, all different kinds of of of missions of raid missions of um you you we saw all different kinds of um kinds of combatants. Um we got to see some of their uh stories unfold uh because some people became uh aggressive to us. They didn't just start out as enemies for sometimes they started out as friends. You know, sometimes um interpreters uh would be leaking information, and so we'd it this was be somebody who we've been working with for the last three or four months, they became our friends. Um you know, things like that are that really challenge your uh moral and ethical understandings of the world. And then there's also the the aspect of the um you're standing right next to a war machine, a gigantic, massive war machine that operates regardless of whether you like it or not, regardless of whether you even exist or not, it's still going to march on. Um, and that's a that that's something that we can describe, but when you're truly there, the words never do it justice.

SPEAKER_00 22:27

Well, I know that you're an advocate for veterans' mental health and alternative therapy. So tell us tell us uh what conversations do you feel like still need to be had in regards to that?

SPEAKER_01 22:39

Oh uh yeah. Um well here's here's uh uh uh one that I've um impostered a few times for for people. Um I believe that the constitution requires us, requires the government to pay for our as as civilians, um, mental health and counseling. Because it says provide for the general welfare. Well, now we can measure the general well the general welfare. Um whereas before it was you know a feeling. Or you look at the society and assess, is everyone seeming like they're okay? Seems like it's okay to me. But now we have the ability to measure this definitively and extremely well. Um, and we know that the kind of empathy and support that can come from someone um realizing who they are makes all of us better. It makes the entire society operate much more smoothly when people understand who they are and what they're really wanting to go after in their life, and they can overcome the the obstacles of the life that they were born into and rise above that to become better than they were before. We need to facilitate that as a country. It's just as important as our physical health, as our regular health care. And I know that even in America, we still don't fucking have that. And it's a disgrace, it's an international disgrace that America does not have universal health care as the richest nation in the world when everyone else does. And it's about time we also understand that and confront that as well. Because until we get that worked out, mental health offered by the government is never gonna come across as something that someone is gonna fucking volunteer for. They're gonna think that it's MK Hultra again, and like we can't do that shit. We have to provide for the general welfare. So there's so when we go after that, we have to have there's so many issues in baked into that offering, but it is something that we as a society need to start asking for because we're not gonna get anything that at least if we don't even ask for it, and that's it's a very um hard thing to to come across. Um, I know in my own life, it's it's been hard to find to find the strength and the courage and the knowledge to know what to ask for. You know, that itself is is a struggle, and we all need to help each other with that.

SPEAKER_00 25:36

Well, I know you went from a full band to a solo driven project. So what what pushed that chef and and how did that change your creative control?

SPEAKER_01 25:46

Um the uh well the creative control was always it was always kind of mine. Um the the guys were uh ready and willing to go along with just about anything that I had and was offering to the band. Um, you know, I always left the um in in the beginnings, I always left everything open for them to to you know fit in parts, um, suggest things whenever they wanted to. Um, and most of the time, you know, I I kept them busy enough in um working with the content that I was already writing. So I was already, you know, used to delegating um the musical duties of other instruments, um, and also understanding how to facilitate someone to grow in that framework, you know, to not stifle them. Because that's it's one thing it's not just telling them what to do, it's giving them the opportunity to flourish and use their own skills to make it better than even what I thought, to draw the best performance out of them. That's the real goal. Um, so so that was was always the the mentality and environment that I created around the quarantine. And I keep and maintain that, even if it's just me, um, or if it's me with a bunch of, as in the case of Aversion to Normalcy, uh, me and a bunch of some of the best studio musicians that Nashville has to offer.

SPEAKER_00 27:17

Well, I know that you obtain success, you know, college radio, streaming, TikTok. So talk about as an independent artist, how do you um navigate the modern music landscape?

SPEAKER_01 27:30

Oh, well, you know, even those, I I don't even consider those actual like successes. Those are just signposts along the way, man. Like, that's just telling me that I'm onto something. That's not a success because to me, views are are simply just a a measuring indicator of your marketing power. That's that's really what it is. Um, it's not how much somebody likes you, it's not your value as an artist, it's none of those those things. Your value as an artist exists in your art and in the experience that your fans or anyone listening to it has because of it. That's the true value in it. Um we can only try to measure that with those numbers. Um, so that's a very important thing to remember because that leaves the focus on creating and making the best possible music that you can with what you have and everything that you know, and putting your entire self into it. That's what's really, really important. It's not just that, but to me, navigating the industry nowadays requires a real um ability to think outside the box. For example, um, I recently uh hired a virtual assistant to help me create an um entirely autonomous and print-on-demand merch service. And that's something that I could never do on my own. It doesn't matter that Shopify is a site that I can go to. I don't know how to do it. So I need to delegate that to someone who I trust who has accountability and a measurable way to see if it's succeeding and uh let that unfold. So this is really the the future of music is making an artist-centric um business where the revenue streams are uh maintained and controlled by the artists themselves, and they are outsourcing other companies and people to help them boost the revenue sources. That should be the overall goal of any musician wanting to make it in the industry, not views. It's not views. Views are cursory to and a result of all of the rest of the planning that I was talking about. If you don't have the systems, man, fuck the views. The views don't even matter because what about the subscribers? What about the followers? Those are really what you want to build, and you're gonna do that by being as authentic as you can and making systems that maintain that help you maintain your ability to put out good quality content and not go crazy, you know? And so that means you got to take it as slow as you need to, learn on the pace that you can, and try to take in the new um ways that you can help yourself accomplish things faster, meaning using AI to write your marketing plan for you is a really good idea. It's a really good idea because it'll give you a basis and a and a framework and a uh a semblance of a skeleton to make uh a plan. And then you can start editing it um yourself, but you still gotta know all the parts of a marketing plan to make sure that it'll still work, right? So that means the knowledge has to follow your intention. And a lot of times your intention has to lead you to knowledge, not away from it. So you can't sit there and focus on, you know, I'm just gonna be a rock star, I'm gonna drink my life away. No, not anymore. Not today. That doesn't work. Nobody's gonna like you, nobody's gonna care, and then you're gonna end up drinking alone and probably dying. So it's really, really important that people understand that navigating the industry nowadays is about um not necessarily just collaboration with anyone who will work with you, but deliberately and specifically finding the subject matter experts who will actually help your revenue streams grow. Because Spotify isn't gonna change how much it pays artists anytime soon. But you know what does change? Bandcamp. You can get people to pay you any amount of money for your records if you market to them well enough. So that's the avenue that works better. Um, and any streams that you get on Spotify because of playlisting is gravy, but you still have to invest into that avenue in order to get results from it. So all of these things are are happening at the same time in the music industry. Um, and it they affect every single artist who goes online, not just the ones who are um signed to a label. This affects them too. They just have entire teams who are able to handle the weight of that. And I'm telling you right now, the weight of all of that is usually gonna be too much for one person. Definitely, probably too much for one person. You have to I trained for this shit, and I still have to outsource stuff. There is still a whole bunch of things that I don't have down a hundred percent. So I need experts to help me, and that means you gotta know who to ask, and you gotta research the right people for you. Um, and when you so when you take the reins in that way, then it's big then it's dependent on your motivation, and that's a game I'm willing to play because my motivation for this is unending, and I know that. So if you're the same way, then you you can do this. You just have to think about it and not try to walk the well-trodden path, but to forge a new one with the tools that you have at your disposal today.

SPEAKER_00 33:20

Well, for someone who might who might listen to your music for the first time, what do you hope they w walk away feeling or or thinking about their own life?

SPEAKER_01 33:33

Um I hope that it helps them reflect. Yeah. I I hope I hope that it that it helps them reflect on their life and the world around them. You know, not just not just their life, but their life in the world around them. Um I think that that opening up your your mind to um to different perspectives that lead you to uh gratitude is the best way to resolve depression and anxiety. Because usually when you're sad like that, the two things you're missing are perspective and gratitude. So I hope that my music delivers that for people in some form or another, you know.

SPEAKER_00 34:27

Well, tell us about any other upcoming projects that you're working on that listeners need to be aware of.

SPEAKER_01 34:34

Um right now we have uh a we're in the the works of uh making a uh mini documentary about my experience in the military um and the music industry as a whole. Um we're also um have two new singles that will be coming out later on this year, um, along with um more uh content surrounding Aversion to Normalcy. So we we've got a lot of um a lot of different kinds of content um that we that we're gonna bring to people, um you know, performance stuff and um stuff that that helps the uh the recorded audio grow.

SPEAKER_00 35:16

Well, so people can keep up with everything that you're up to, they'll add your contact info.

SPEAKER_01 35:20

Oh yeah, that you can follow us at thequarantine.com. Um, you search for us on any of the social medias at the quarantined, um, you'll find us. Um, just look for the the skull with the uh with the gas mask on it. That's us. Um and uh you can find us on all the streaming services um and uh on our website as well, thequarantine.com.

SPEAKER_00 35:46

All right, we'll close us out with some final thoughts. Maybe if that was something I forgot to talk about that you would like to touch on, or any final thoughts you have for the listeners.

SPEAKER_01 35:56

Um thanks so much for listening. I I really appreciate you know you guys paying attention and and uh you know feel free to to reach out to me um on the social medias and and tell me tell me what you think.

SPEAKER_00 36:11

Real quick, how did you guys come up with the name The Quarantine?

SPEAKER_01 36:15

Oh actually, you know, I um I came up with it when I was a teenager, and it was to represent um the process of otherization, to describe the situation of otherization.

SPEAKER_00 36:33

All right, there you go, ladies and gentlemen, the quarantine.com. Check out everything that Sean is up to and gonna be up to. Definitely got some exciting stuff coming out. And uh please follow, rate, review, and share this episode to as many people as possible and for some exclusive information to get the scoop, you know, behind the scenes things like new episode releases and all things living the dream. Please go sign up for the Living the Dream with Curveball newsletter at www.curveball337.com if you haven't already done so. And if you have done so, go to the website, share the website and the show to everybody you know. Drop us a line, leave us a review, comment, any guest suggestions or any suggestions that you might have. Thank you for listening and supporting the show. And Sean, once again, thank you for your service. Thank you for all that you do. Thank you for joining me.

SPEAKER_01 37:34

Thank you for your support so much. It's so great to be here. Thank you so much for having me. It's been great.

SPEAKER_00 37:39

For more information on the Living the Dream with Curvebumber podcasts, visit www.curvebumber337.com. Until next time, keep living the dream.