Artistic Bio

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Laura Martínez (1991) has dedicated her life to art and creativity, integrating them into every facet of her work and personal life. This passion extends to her role as a Spanish teacher, where she uses creativity to design engaging and effective lessons. For nearly ten years, she taught Spanish in the Netherlands, and since February 2024, she has been teaching online from Spain. In addition to language teaching, two constants have marked her artistic career, alternating and complementing each other according to inspiration: music and literature.

MUSIC

Laura began her musical career in 2009 when she moved from her hometown of Mazarrón to Murcia to study a degree in Spanish Language and Literature (formerly Hispanic Philology) at the University of Murcia. There, after an audition, she joined the professional chamber choir "Coro Santa Cecilia" without any previous musical training, learning to interpret classical scores from memory with the support of her director, Mabel Breis, and soprano and teacher, Dulce Conejero.
 

Her foray into progressive metal came in 2010 when she joined the band Shadows Theory, with whom she performed across Spain and released an EP, Kaleidosphere (2011), and several singles. During this period, the influence of bands like Nightwish, After Forever, and Epica shaped her vocal style, leading her to receive some classical singing lessons. At the same time, she was part of Spotifuckers, a professional cover band, which broadened her repertoire beyond metal and led to performances at various events and celebrations.
 

In 2014, seeking new opportunities, Laura moved alone to the Netherlands, where she trained in jazz and soul singing with Irene Mardi and Deborah J. Carter. There, she joined Synergy Protocol, a progressive metal band with whom she performed in the Netherlands and Belgium. She also recorded an LP and a music video (both available on platforms such as Spotify and YouTube). After the band split in 2016, Laura took a break from music and decided to pursue further studies (specifically, two master’s degrees at Utrecht University, one in literature and one in education).

Later, inspiration struck again, and she decided to focus her creative efforts on her own music project. Thus, her first album, Blue, Where Are You Going? (2022), was born under the stage name LAAM. This work, produced in collaboration with producer OKKIO (Rotterdam) and with the support of vocal coach Ysa Bermejo (Logroño-Rotterdam), is an introspective, cinematic work that blends elements of dream pop and 70s rock, combining ethereal choirs with analogue synthesizers and organic sounds. Her first single, "Venus and Mars", released in 2022 with a music video recorded in Mazarrón, explores themes of grief and reunion and has garnered over 40,000 views on YouTube. This album was made possible through a successful crowdfunding campaign and features collaborations with Spanish and Dutch musicians. It can be heard on all major digital platforms.
 

MUSICAL COLLABORATIONS

Laura has also collaborated with various artists, some of whom include:

- Greyforce - Chimera (Metal)
- Achokarlos - I Am Not Here; Love First, Then Ask (Experimental metal)
- Miguel de Segura - Volar, Melania's Song (OST for Soñando con el Final, cinematic music)
- Last Days of Eden - Aedea's Daughters (Symphonic/folk metal)
- Glasswork - Solitude, Metabole (Progressive rock/metal)
 

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LITERATURE

Laura has been writing since she was young, though mostly in private, except for a few local and regional literary contests in her childhood and adolescence where she won several awards. She combines her interest in literature with her music career. Alongside the release of her first album, she also self-published a collection of poems and prose titled Mariposario. This is a sentimental journal written between the ages of 17 and 28, reflecting her evolution and search for identity through themes of love, heartbreak, immigration, and change. Mariposario has an intimate relationship with the songs from her music album, Blue, Where Are You Going?, offering a complementary perspective on her growth and learning throughout her youth.

 

SINGER, WRITER...?

Laura experiences her creativity fluidly and naturally, taking breaks when she feels the need to gather inspiration and reflect, only to share that inspiration with those around her afterwards. She doesn’t define herself by labels like singer or writer; she simply sees herself as a creative woman who allows herself to explore the world at her own pace and without pressure, expressing what she has observed and learned. Her works reflect this genuine process of absorption and creation, shared as a sincere artistic product when she feels the moment is right. She also deeply enjoys her work as a teacher, where she expresses her creativity through pedagogy and the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language. Ultimately, for Laura, artistic expression is not limited to a single path or label.