Felix Sama Podcast #2 - Lewis Martinee

**SPEAKER_2** (0:03)
Dropping it right about now.

**Felix Sama** (0:08)
So, yeah, I'm real excited because it's The Felix Sama Podcast. It's what I love doing. And I took a little hiatus, but now I'm back. I did the Stevie B and produced the Stevie B Freestyle and Show for a while. And now it's time to do what I do best. And that's interview people that are interesting and got something to say.
So in the studio today, I got the one and only Lewis Martinee, the super producer. How are you doing, man?

**Lewis Martinee** (0:38)
Good, man. What's happening?

**Felix Sama** (0:40)
Loving life, man. So we got a lot to talk about. So let's get right into it. Just a little history on how you get started because I don't really like doing the whole, from the beginning and all that stuff, but there are people there that really don't know you. So just give them a little synopsis on how you got into the music business.

**Lewis Martinee** (1:00)
So I started by playing drums and percussion in a rock band, and then quickly went on to DJing, and then I went on to recording, and there was producers around town that liked what I was doing. They had me come in and help them out with mixes and additional production and remixes, and that's how I started doing the studio work.

**Felix Sama** (1:22)
Now have you always lived in Miami? Were you born in Cuba?

**Lewis Martinee** (1:25)
I was born in Cuba, then went to California in the beginning, and then moved to Miami about five or six years later. So I've been pretty much all my life here in Miami.

**Felix Sama** (1:37)
Do you miss LA?

**Lewis Martinee** (1:38)
I love LA, I go all the time. So Miami and LA, those are my two favorite cities.

**Felix Sama** (1:44)
Yeah, so what happened when you were producing music in the very beginning? I know that Exposé wasn't your first group. What was your first introduction to dance music?

**Lewis Martinee** (1:56)
Well, when I was DJing, I was DJing dance music and like I said, other producers would come and like what I was doing and I would started going into the studio and learning how to get around the studio. Back then it was not digital, so you had to know what you were doing.

**Felix Sama** (2:10)
Who was your mentor? Like you're my mentor, but who was your mentor?

**Lewis Martinee** (2:13)
Well, probably Ray Martinez.
He had some club hits back in the day and he started bringing me into the studio. He's the one that introduced me to the recording studios.

**Felix Sama** (2:25)
What hits did he have? I don't even know who he is.

**Lewis Martinee** (2:28)
He had a song called If There's Love. Another one was called In New York.

**Felix Sama** (2:34)
In New York, that one? Wow.

**Lewis Martinee** (2:36)
And he did also Match Made Up In Heaven. You remember that one?

**Felix Sama** (2:40)
Yeah, by Jill.

**Lewis Martinee** (2:40)
Yeah, I remember that song. Well, he's the writer producer.

**Felix Sama** (2:42)
No shit. Wow.
Match Made Up In Heaven. I used to play that actually on the radio. I forgot the name of the record label. It was a logo.

**Lewis Martinee** (2:51)
Paris.

**Felix Sama** (2:52)
Yeah, a local Miami record label.

**Lewis Martinee** (2:53)
I did his logo. I do artwork too. So I did his logo, Paris International.

**Felix Sama** (2:57)
Wow.

**Lewis Martinee** (2:58)
Just like Joey Boy Records. I did that logo too.

**Felix Sama** (3:01)
Yeah. Now, did you ever get a chance to work with like the likes of Gloria Estefan?

**Lewis Martinee** (3:06)
No, I mean, I know we were actually working a lot in the same studio like I would leave and she would come in studios like International and Criteria Studios.

**Felix Sama** (3:15)
Yeah.

**Lewis Martinee** (3:16)
But I know I never did work with her. I know Emilio and Herb real well, and whenever we see them, we catch up a little bit.
But yeah, I'd love to work with them one time. That would be great.

**Felix Sama** (3:29)
How did you know that you finally were headed in the right direction? Was it when you first heard Point and No Return on the radio? When did you know you were on your way?

**Lewis Martinee** (3:41)
Well, before Point and Return, I had a song that was a hit, really big here in Florida, it's called Woman by a group called That I Made.

**Felix Sama** (3:50)
Oh, you did that song by Safari, Wild Safari?

**Lewis Martinee** (3:53)
No, no, no, Technolust.