Biography
Hi, I’m Martin Oostenbrug from The Netherlands and this is the story behind my music.
Growing up in a musical family, I was surrounded by music from an early age. At the age of six, I began violin lessons. Soon after, I also took piano lessons, sang in a children’s choir, and went on concert tours with the youth orchestra of the Music School Delft. As a teenager, my interest shifted from classical to pop music. I eventually traded the violin and piano for a keyboard, which let me play for hours with headphones on without disturbing anyone. But the keyboard had its limits, so it didn’t take long before I upgraded to a synthesizer. That moment sparked my lifelong passion for synthesizer music.
Inspired by icons like Jean‑Michel Jarre, Vangelis, Tangerine Dream and Jan Hammer, I dreamed of creating music in that same spirit, ideally for film and television. With this dream, I enrolled at the Music Academy in Rotterdam (Rotterdams Conservatorium, nowadays called Codarts). That adventure was short‑lived, and through an old school friend I eventually found myself working professionally as a DJ. More than twenty years later, my body started telling me that the DJ lifestyle no longer matched my age.
In 2017 I switched careers to IT, and with a more regular lifestyle my old love for synthesizer music slowly resurfaced. In 2023, I bought a Roland synthesizer and quickly picked up where I had left off. I found a nice 80s cover band to play in and at home I slowly developed my skills recording covers of popular synthesizer anthems in Apple Logic. Just to get familiar with all the features of the DAW. By the summer of 2025, I finally felt ready to start recording my own music.
And now, with Synth World, I’m excited to share my music with anyone who loves cinematic, futuristic synth sounds.