Even after years of interviewing artists, a certain level of professional detachment usually sets in. But as the clock neared 1 p.m. for my sit-down with Brainstory, the familiar hum of pre-interview nerves returned. For years, they have been a staple in my own soundscape a band rooted in tradition yet fearlessly untethered.
Meeting the trio brothers Kevin and Tony Martin and drummer Eric Hagstrom, it becomes clear that their impact isn’t just technical skill; it is a lifelong immersion of this shared sonic survival.
“Me and my brother come from a musical family,” Kevin Martin says, tracing a lineage of saxophone players and gospel singers. “We were around a lot of music, everything from Pentecostal gospel, Chicano doo-wop, Motown, War, Tierra.” Hagstrom shared a parallel upbringing, fueled by an audiophile father who traded “crazy” CDs with him from the age of eight.
This foundation led them to a collision point in 2008 while studying jazz at Riverside Community College.
But they didn’t want to play standards to empty rooms. They wanted to innovate. “The whole object was to put both of those worlds together,” Kevin explains. “Playing jazz is an underappreciated art form. We wanted to almost trick audiences into listening to it through a band lens. A Trojan horse.”
Hailing from Rialto, the band credits the Inland Empire for their “incubative” sound a melting pot where punk, hip-hop legends like DJ Quik, and backyard “boogie” music collided. They describe a reality of going from playing in locations with “no grass in the backyard, maybe a chicken or two,” a very stark contrast to polished venues.
Their geographic soul eventually caught the ear of Leon Michels and Big Crown Records, propelling them into an era of “retro-soul” experimentation that feels less like a genre and more like this shared spiritual frequency.
Brainstory’s live performances are legendary for their spontaneity. Tony Martin admits to reaching states on stage that transcend the physical. “I’ve hallucinated on stage just from the playing,” he says.
“You need that high energy to tap into an unexplainable spiritual state of mind.”
For students in college, their advice is blunt: use the school, but don’t let the institution crush your spark. “Don’t leave it up to school to put you on a stage,” Hagstrom warns. “Go make a show happen. Successful bands have an aesthetic; you have to be part of a scene to learn that.”
As they prepare for a new, instrumental-driven EP this fall, Brainstory remains focused on the “special need” music fulfills.
When asked how they pushed through the moments of doubt that plague every artist, Eric Hagstrom’s answer was immediate: “It was never an option for me. It’s just not.” It is that refusal to entertain a Plan B that keeps them moving. “Our role is to bring people this connection and spirituality,” Tony adds. “Those are things you can’t quantify in money. You just have to be true to yourself and keep going.”
Brainstory is proof that the most powerful things in life are the ones you refuse to let go of. The world might try to convince you that your dream is a ghost, but the brothers have built a fortress out of their own shared hallucination.
They didn’t wait for permission; they stayed in the spark until the world had no choice but to listen. The music isn’t just a performance; it’s the sound of three bandmates who have become brothers, who refuse to wake up until the dream becomes a reality.
