ETN

The story starts in the heart of the Silicon Valley. A place that was once dominated by fruit orchards, is now home to billion dollar companies such as Yahoo, Google, and Apple Computers. This nest of tech advancement is also the home to lyricist ETN of The Martin Avenue Project. Starting by listening to his mother's albums on their old seventies style

console (you know the ones that doubled as a piece of furniture), he quickly developed an ear influenced by artists like Headhunters, Stevie Wonder, Jimmy

Cliff, Weather Report, George Benson, Chuck Mangione and the Car Wash Soundtrack. But one artist that was the most listened to was Fela Kuti. It's only natural, considering that his mother came to California from her native Nigeria in the 1960's. He

showed early interest in music and started studying the cello at the age of nine but "one day I was carrying my cello onto the bus in a soft case and it

snapped at the neck. So I switched to the drums." After flirting with taking an athletic route with his life, and becoming a pro ball player, he was the frontman

of Clubber Lang, an energy laced, 8 piece, funk band that shared the stage with artists such as Fishbone, Skankin Pickle, and Shovelhead. He

parted with the group to get his degree at San Francisco State University and knew that it was time to make a move. He recalls, "I knew that there was so much out there in the rest of the world. I wanted to see it all." He headed out to Paris less than a

week after his graduation. It was out in Paris that ETN discovered the rich, bohemian experience that still exists today amongst young French artists. Collaborations soon followed that highlighted the mix of ETN’s bay area hip hop flow with the electronic driven production of the Europeans. “That’s one of the things I enjoy about

working with other artists from overseas. There is always a respective blend of the two cultures that usually results in a sound that breaks away from the

saturated norm and allows everyone involved to experience something new and different.” These collaborations have harvested into a featured

appearance on the title track of French-reggae group Legalizik’s album “Les Jardins d’Occident” (Believe) other work includes a song called “H8te” which can

be found on the compilation “Scandale” (Scandale/Nocturne). The song was produced by Little Mike of the French-turntablist band Birdy Nam Nam.

A ten-track solo album titled “First Step” is the first by ETN and the Martin Avenue Project. It was recorded entirely in Paris in the neighborhood called “Place des Fetes”. Appropriately this translates into English as “The Place for Parties.” The album is a

true example of the mix and experimentation of artists from different cultures and musical

backgrounds bringing their own respective dishes to the potluck so that everyone can enjoy a hearty feast. What you get is an album that flashes everything from hip hop, rock, ska, dub, reggae, flamenco, and many types of electronic music. the M.A.P. have

been compared to groups such as the Black Eyed Peas, Massive Attack, The Roots, Gym Class Heroes,Zack de la Rocha, Sage Francis, Linkin Park, Zion I, Aesop Rock, and the Gorrilaz. Artists such as San Francisco's Patrick Leonard (The Filth), France's Marie Martin (First Step, Urban Party) Jeff (100% Metisse), and Brooklyn's Ramon Silva (Get Em Up)

each contributed their unique vocals while the drums of Junior Panama (Urban Party) and the driving guitar of Eric Dame make for a enriching union of cultures

and styles.