The grunge scene has been crying out for a fresh voice, and The Quarantined have answered that call with their explosive new single, ‘Skeleton Chair’. it's a visceral, no-holds-barred exploration of frontman Sean Martin's deeply personal experiences from the Iraq War.
Released on the run to The Quarantined’s new album, ‘Aversion To Normalcy’, the new single is a deft blend of raw intensity with lyrics that delve into the psychological aftermath of conflict and the unsettling allure it can hold. We recently caught up with Sean to chat about the inspiration behind his songwriting, the evolution of the band's sound, and what it means to be a voice in an increasingly tumultuous world.
It's great to chat with you today, Sean. Thanks so much for taking the time. When did you first start making music? Where did it all begin, and what inspired you?
“I started writing music at 12 years old after I started learning guitar in 1998. I had been singing since I was 4 years old in community choirs; music came very naturally to me, and I had a community that supported the arts and by 15 years old I had written about 30 songs and recorded 8 of them with a studio near my hometown of Fort Bragg, CA with Peter Temple. Green Day, Metallica, Cream, and Black Sabbath were the first bands I wanted to learn songs from when I started guitar.”
You have a new album on the way called ‘Aversion To Normalcy’. Can you tell us a bit about it and what it means to you?
“At the heart of the album’s poignant storytelling is discovering wisdom in an amoral world and becoming a decent person in an indecent time. The album is describing a story of ‘Hench’, and his journey to rise above the life he leads as a soldier for a tyrannical government, to control a dystopian society.”
Were there any artists, moments, or experiences that helped influence or inspire you when writing the album?
“It uses my own experiences in the Airborne Infantry, in Los Angeles as a homeless veteran, the recovery from that, and as a citizen, watching a society crumble into authoritarianism. To impart the wisdom I do have from watching Iraq crumble into sectarian violence, and the US fall into apathy and trolling socially, and corporate fascism, or a Corporatocracy type governance.”
What was your songwriting process for the release? How did it all come together?
“Musically, I either gave myself a prompt or challenge and then put lyrics to it or had a set of emotions brought by the lyrics to match music to. I use multiple vocal styles to serve the message of the music.”
“’Shadow’ was actually the first song deliberately written for the Quarantined in 2011. There are 3 themes to ‘Shadow’ – 1) the darker side of our psyche, or for me personally, PTSD, 2) the shadow of an oppressive society over the subjugated, 3) “the shadow on my back” is symbolizing the process of “Other-ization”, or de humanization of others. The shadow is a killer in all three themes for everyone- silent, ethereal, and all encompassing- if you can’t free your mind with perspective, honour, and compassion.”
“I wrote the lyrics to ‘Nemesis’ in 2013 – I woke up in the middle of the night, the lyrics flowed out like a river, thinking about the personality profile of every bully I’ve ever known in my life and seeing the similarities between them all, and coming to the conclusion of relying on the lessons learned from experience, and also letting go of the past to embrace the future. I wrote the whole of the lyrics in an hour. It honestly was one of those songwriting experiences of total inspiration that felt divinely inspired. The music came later on in 2016, the verse riff from wanting to make the rhythm of Aaliyah’s ‘Are you That Somebody?’ and put it into a rock context. The rest was Metallica and Pantera influenced.”
“’Unspoken’ came about via a challenge, to make a rock song, that slaps, and uses multiple Greek modes over a classic songwriting format. I wrote the lyrics and music fist, not including James Baldwin’s speech. When I studied his 1965 speech at Cambridge, in 2017, I eventually found that James Baldwins cadence and content of, in a nutshell, “what is never said to the masters is that we are just as violent as you can be, the difference is society chooses peace. but if you push the subjugated to violence thru no conversation between classes, and no redress of grievances, it will be dire for everyone”, and “politeness will not save you from a system set up for you to fail, it will only make your destruction feel safer”, brought another dimension to the song that made it worth multiple listens. The speech fit almost rhythmically perfect – I didn’t have to speed the speech up or slow it down- just cut some natural pauses, and it fit like a glove. I recorded it myself about 3 entirely separate times but to me, my parts weren’t good enough, until I brought it to The Sound Emporium in Nashville. Grant Wilson produced it, David Keith on drums. We had a fantastic session recording together, and the result is one I know we’re all very proud of.”
“The lyrics for ’Skeleton Chair’ originated in a therapy exercise in 2012 to describe the tastes and smells of one infantry experience of mine in 2007 of destroying a house with extra ammo, turning into a wildfire and the series of events that followed because of it. I wrote the music in 2011 and recorded demos of the song with the original band members in Los Angeles. When ‘Antiquate Hate’ was being made in 2015, we ran out of budget to re-record it. Now it shines beyond my vision imagined, with the Nashville session musicians and Zack Rapp on guitar and violins, and Nathan Yarborough producing at Blackbird Studios.”
“’Trendsetter’ was also one of the first group of songs I wrote for The Quarantined. I was originally trying to write the lyrics as a fuck you to Hollywood. The verse riff is inspired by an esoteric jam suggestion joke between musicians: A swung blues context for the bass part from Korn’s ‘Blind’, under things that would work in jazz but nowhere else- so I took that as a challenge and worked out the verse riff. The bridge riff is heavy, and that came to me trying to make a Soundgarden/RATM type riff. We played it at our first show in my friend’s backyard for a Cinco De Mayo party she was having. I let each iteration of the band take the songs’ roots (its riffs and lyrics) and grow it into something original to the band playing it. Each version is different; it’s been a fun thing to see over time. This one at Blackbird, Jerry Roe and Luis Espalliat fucking blew my mind in the studio. Zack was added later on, and fucking blew my mind again – I told him to riff like Duane Allman and I think he got it.”
“’Instagram Hell’ lyrically came from a day that Facebook went dark for everyone for around 8 hours – everything (seemingly) came to a halt in news. No network personality knew what to say or report on, everybody on the other social networks complained excessively that they didn’t know what was going on in the world, and yet life went on as normal for everybody who didn’t run their entire business or life on Facebook. I wrote ‘Instagram Hell’ in 2 of those 8 hours. Musically, it came from a drop D power chord finger exercise (the chorus), mixed with a fast run thru Bon Jovi type chords in the verses, ye olde 1-3-7-4. I recorded it originally via a crowdfunding campaign done with Plaid Dog Records during the Pandemic, and I’m very grateful to my donors. The energy and precision Jerry and Luis bring to this song is such an understated skill- it makes the song to me the most catchy on the album. Zack’s slide guitar is perfect, it reminds me of the intro to Breaking Bad.”
“All these songs came together by slowly, over 14 years, carefully shepherding my recordings, lyrics, and the best ideas I could make into the most skilled, most enabled studio to execute them at the highest level possible. And this time, it is The Sound Emporium and Blackbird Studios. ‘Unspoken’ was recorded at Sound Emporium, and the rest of the album was recorded at Blackbird Studios. Nathan having the knowledge and skill to execute everything in my demos but with better tones and space makes the record the beast that it is. I’m beyond honoured and proud to have this team of musicians, producers, studios, videographers, directors, to make this dream come true. It’s been a privilege to work them, and their dedication to their craft is what enables me to have this art to share with the world.”
How would you describe the sound on the album? Has there been a change or evolution in style since you first began?
“I would describe our sound as a congress of punk, metal and grunge music, and the style has been the same since our inception. The music is an extension of me: a side that describes my human condition to the best of my ability, and the wisdom I’ve learned through the choices I’ve made. The evolution I live, is to progress as a thinking member of society, and as a musician so that the art form is informed by my existence and what I experience, see, think and feel. I always try to improve, to always be the eternal student of music and life, as life imitates art, and art imitates life. The videos tell a story to give the feelings and generalizations in the songs an interesting modality to illustrate the stories into a allegorical world. The greatest evolution has been watching my core, raw feelings put into poetry because of life, then taking on a new life via music and video, which turns into an art form that expresses solutions and catharsis to the world around me… is fucking amazing to be the source of.“
Is there a central message or theme you were trying to convey in the release? Is there a moment in the release that really captures that idea?
“When tyranny becomes the norm, in order to survive, you will need an Aversion To Normalcy.” In nemesis (friend of mine), after ‘Hench’ is describing every reason he has to kill his nemesis, he chooses not to, in order to break the cycle of violence that perpetuates the fascist society he helped build.”
Looking ahead, what are your aspirations as an artist? Where do you see yourself in the next few years, both musically and personally?
“As of right now, I’m solely focused on completing the mission I’ve given myself of getting ‘Aversion To Normalcy’ to every country, in one form or another. I feel that the American art form of grunge can be so much more than its legacy of self-destruction. For the next few years, I’ll dedicate myself to that, so that in ten years, I’ll have a classic album and video story for people to reference when they listen to The Quarantined. When I have another section of songs to share, I’ll do my absolute to record at another best studio in the world to make the next best record of all time- you know, the best-case scenario; I’ve been advised to plan for that, not just its inverse.”
What's next after this release? Do you have any new releases or shows on the horizon?
“The music videos will be a big factor in creating a live show and they are in production right now. I’ll need a kind of funding I just don’t have at the moment, but I feel like with the right investors/sponsors, it can be a musical adventure similar to none before, that sparks a revolution of spirit and American culture. I’m prepared to do some acoustic solo appearances in the fall, but I expect 2026 to be a live performance year.”
What sort of reception have you had to news of the release and some of the early singles? Are there any memorable moments that stand out?
“So far we’ve gone viral on TikTok 3 times. We crossed 26k monthly listeners on Spotify, starting from 3 on June 24th. We still have 4 more songs to release, 6 music videos, and two radio campaigns to go, I’ve got big plans still waiting to deploy into 2026.”
Is there anything you would like to say to our audience? How can they connect with you and help support you?
“Follow us on YouTube and TikTok, like and share any videos there; truly amazing music videos from WildTree Productions are on the way, we are making them right now and for the next few months. We’ve got an amazing company curating the delivery of content, and so much more performances, behind the scenes and interesting stories told thru impactful music. You’ll feel it in the plums. Deep, deep down in the plums.”
“Enjoy the audio of ‘Aversion To Normalcy’; on the streaming service of choice. Sign up for our newsletter on our website. If you’re in a donating mood, our full discography is available to buy via Bandcamp, where there is an option to pay what you want.”
“’Aversion To Normalcy’ as a whole will be available everywhere November 12, 2025, with a new single released per month until November 12th.”
Sean’s journey with The Quarantined is clearly a deeply personal one, woven with threads of his own experiences and a keen observation of society. His dedication to using music as a vehicle for profound storytelling and catharsis is evident, and it’s clear that ‘Aversion To Normalcy’ is more than just an album – it’s a mission. With powerful themes, compelling narratives, and a commitment to pushing the boundaries of grunge, The Quarantined are undoubtedly a band to watch.
For more from The Quarantined, be sure to follow the band on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
