The Quarantined's Sean Martin on 900K Streams, 40M TikTok Views, and No Label

<p>Episode 020 – Sean Martin | MAKE // BREAK</p><p>Sean Martin is the vocalist, guitarist, and executive producer behind The Quarantined, a grunge/punk/metal project rooted in socially critical songwriting and real lived experience. A U.S. Army Airborne Infantry veteran who deployed to Iraq with the 3/509th, Sean channeled his post-service recovery into music, graduating from Musicians Institute in Hollywood and building The Quarantined from the ground up across LA, Florida, Boston, and Nashville. The band&#39;s latest album, <em>Aversion to Normalcy</em>, was recorded at Blackbird Studios with producer Nathan Yarborough (Halestorm, Alice in Chains, Evanescence) and has surpassed 900,000 Spotify streams and 40 million TikTok views.</p><p>In this episode, Sean gets into what it really takes to make uncompromising art as an independent artist — from surviving the DIY grind to turning trauma into something that resonates worldwide.</p><p>🎯 ONE MORE THING // free, weekly, zero fillerV13 runs three newsletters: one for artists building a career on their own terms (Industry Insider), one for writers who refuse to be ignored (Verse &amp; Vision), and one weekly roundup of music, entertainment, culture &amp; literature (V1LLAG3 Voice). Pick your lane, or take all three.→ <a href="https://v13.net/newsletter">https://v13.net/newsletter</a></p><p>👀 What you&#39;ll hear</p><ul><li>Hear how Sean turned an Iraq deployment and a Musicians Institute degree into a fully independent grunge project</li><li>Unpack how Aversion to Normalcy got cut at Blackbird Studios with producer Nathan Yarborough on a DIY budget</li><li>Break down the TikTok and Spotify run that pushed The Quarantined past 40M views and 900K streams</li><li>Trace the move across LA, Florida, Boston, and Nashville and what that grind actually costs an artist</li><li>Talk veteran mental health, PTSD, and writing songs that double as survival tools instead of branding</li><li>Get tactical on what professionalism, content discipline, and audience-building look like with no label in the room</li></ul><p>🕰️ Chapters</p><p>00:00 Cold open and intro</p><p>01:30 Iraq deployment to Musicians Institute</p><p>06:45 Starting The Quarantined in LA</p><p>13:10 Moving the project to Nashville</p><p>19:20 Tracking Aversion to Normalcy at Blackbird Studios</p><p>25:40 Working with producer Nathan Yarborough</p><p>32:15 The 40 million TikTok view run</p><p>38:50 Hitting 900K Spotify streams independently</p><p>45:30 Veteran mental health and PTSD songwriting</p><p>52:00 DIY systems for music business survival</p><p>58:25 What it costs to keep going</p><p>01:04:10 Recalibration and what&#39;s next</p><p>🔗 Guest Links</p><p><a href="https://www.thequarantined.com" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.thequarantined.com</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/thequarantined" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/thequarantined</a></p><p><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thequarantined" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.tiktok.com/@thequarantined</a></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@thequarantined" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/@thequarantined</a></p><p>🔗 MAKE // BREAK &amp; Host Links</p><p><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5GDOUd909p7ir2W74M9teg?si=cbc7e01e13ba4a20" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://open.spotify.com/show/5GDOUd909p7ir2W74M9teg?si=cbc7e01e13ba4a20</a></p><p><a href="https://instagram.com/lowkeyhellish" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://instagram.com/lowkeyhellish</a></p><p><a href="https://tiktok.com/@lowkeyhellish" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://tiktok.com/@lowkeyhellish</a></p><p>🔗 V13 Media Links</p><p><a href="https://v13.net" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://v13.net</a></p><p>[Contains explicit language and discussion of combat experience and mental health.