Andrew Martino

Drummer best known as a member of Canadian rap-rock band Down With Webster. His band’s first album, Time to Win, Vol. 1, spawned three platinum-selling singles: “Your Man,” “Rich Girl$” and “Whoa Is Me.”

His band blew up through online platforms like MySpace and was named Online Artist of the Year at the Canadian New Media Awards in 2010.

Martino officially joined Down With Webster, in the fall of 1998 in Grade 9. The band wasn’t meant to be the start of a lifelong career. For the guys, it was all about jamming in someone’s dad’s basement and having fun.

Down With Webster had found its success. Fans showed up at concerts by the thousands. Multi-platinum album sales followed, along with six Juno nominations and multiple Much Music Video Award wins.

Martino and his bandmates were inspired to move in a different creative direction encompassing everything from the songwriting process to the sonic esthetic of the music, to the artwork and visuals.

And so, on Facebook, Down With Webster announced a hiatus from shows and a new band: Honors.

Honors is making sure everything happens at the right pace. Working on the creative process, releasing songs and being online are a big part of it.

Spare time is rare for Martino. He finds himself happy his music job and hobbies are more or less the same. A smaller part of his life is producing and working with other artists.

“I enjoy the flexibility he says, “You can create things that are fresh and new.”