Sizzling In The City with Erin Rayner

Edmontonians August 2009

Once upon a time, I was going to be a jazz singer. As a grade 11 student at Victoria School of the Arts, I envisioned myself wearing a long, slinky black velvet dress in a dark lounge, draped ‘Jessica Rabbit’-style over a shiny black grand piano, singing in dulcet alto tones. While I did earn a diploma in comprehensive music at Grant MacEwan College, that is where my musical story ends—at least, for now.

I understand and am passionate about business: It is my art. Few musicians can say the same. During my first Sizzling in the City interview, it became obvious that Martin Mayer is one of the few musicians who thrives in both worlds.

Born in the Czech Republic into a musical family, Martin moved to Edmonton when he was nine. At eleven, he started taking piano lessons and by his mid-teens was accompanying his father, Jaromir Mayer, and The Romantics, an Edmonton cover band. “It was then that it dawned on me that I could be doing this the rest of my life,” Martin recalled. Through the mentorship and guidance of his father, he created a sole proprietorship and began the steep learning curve of business ownership and self-employment.

Martin and I discovered that we both attended Vic and the Grant MacEwan music program. He graduated in 2001 with diplomas in composition and piano performance. But, it was in 1999 that he threw himself behind his first self-produced concert. Martin told me that he asked himself a simple question, “How am I going to break out of being that guy in the basement with a CD? Anyone can record a CD.” His answer is part of what still makes him sizzle: Take initiative. When his “big break” didn’t find him, he built the right opportunity to promote himself and break through the white noise of the Canadian music industry.

“(There is) nothing like being 18 years old and walking into a bank and asking for $35,000 that you have no idea how the hell you’re going to repay. They looked up and said, ‘Great… but we need a parent to co-sign.’ They did and it turned out great. Even with the naysayers—‘You’re never going to be able to repay this.’ ‘You’re never going to be able to make this work.’ But I knew I had to do it myself.” And he did—to a sold out audience.

The resulting album, Martin Mayer: Live in Concert, was nominated for a Western Canadian Music Alliance Award. The award and CD sales led to increased web traffic and an e-mail from an agency in China looking for Canadian pianists. A few weeks later, he was offered a 16-city tour of China—where he performed live and on two television specials to a total of 2.5 billion people. His sole proprietorship promptly became an incorporated company. Subsequent tours of Europe and return trips to China followed.

Even with his obvious success as contemporary concert pianist and composer, I was curious to know if Martin’s business was now paying his bills. He answered diplomatically, “In today’s world, you have to have and be able to wear a number of hats. When I started, I didn’t have money to hire a graphic designer or a publicist, so I learned a lot of these skills and how they work…this experience has translated into an asset.” Meaning he’s like many other business owners: When the ideal projects are slow to materialize or cash flow is scarce, he adapts.

Adaptation. Initiative. Sounds like the song of an Edmontonians Sizzler—which he was in 2002, the inaugural year of the signature event.

And the music never stops. Martin, who now lives in Vancouver, will have a new solo piano album available on iTunes this fall.