In her relatively brief career as a musician, Monica Martin has toured in Australia, New Zealand, around Europe, and throughout the United States. She’s performed on late night night television, shared the stage with world-renowned bands like The Head And The Heart and The Lumineers, and played a bunch of major music festivals. Though she’s done so much already, Martin seems to only be getting started. The Los Angeles (by way of Wisconsin) singer-songwriter, whom you might know from PHOX, is now releasing music under her own name and preparing to release a new album.

Recently, Martin spoke with My First Band host Tyler Maas about collaborating with James Blake, her plans for the future, and everything that brought her to this point. Over the course of the conversation, Martin talked about the experience of moving from Chicago to the small Wisconsin town of Baraboo as a kid, reluctantly joining a band after high school, and some of the most memorable and significant moments from her tenure in PHOX.

My First Band is sponsored by Mystery Room Mastering and Lakefront Brewery. The show is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and wherever else you get podcasts. You can also listen to rebroadcasts of previous My First Band episodes on WMSE every Wednesday from noon to 12:30 p.m. CST. Music used in this episode comes courtesy of Devils Teeth (“The Junction Street Eight Tigers”) and Monica Martin (“Go Easy Kid”).