Now Listening To... With Allison Martin

In a fun new segment, Allison dusts off her literature degree (that now sits, unused) to go over all the books she read in 2024, as well as the songs she associates with each. In this episode, Allison gives a glimpse at her own personal reading repertoire, providing a brief (or realistically, long-winded, nonlinear) synopsis of each book, as well as why each musical selection ties back to her perc...

Filmed several months ago, Allison steps back from the music focus of the podcast and instead offers and opens up about struggles with motivation, mental health, and how her life circumstances at times stand in the way of her success. On the lighter side of things, she also tells a story time of almost getting stranded in downtown Seattle at a Royel Otis show with Kana, her best friend. Be sure to...

After an unintentional hiatus from the podcast, Allison returns to set with predictions and the grand reveal of her 2024 Spotify Wrapped stats. Allison dives into the new artists she listened to throughout the year, with a few curveballs she wasn't expecting to see in her top statistics, and highlights standout songs that made her year-in-music memories. Be sure to follow Allison on Instagram for...

Welcome to the stage... it's Now Listening To's first ever guest hosts, Laura and Kana! In this episode, Laura Nicely and Kana Matsumoto join Allison for the first ever guest appearance on the podcast, and together they recount how they met, what their experience was like in high school (and all the accompanying drama) and watching Allison grow as a musician and person, and how creativity and the...

In the final installment of her Latin/Hispanic Heritage month trilogy, Allison does a direct analysis of Karol G's MI EX TENIA RAZON and how stylistically and aesthetically, it is a direct homage to Selena Quintanilla and her legacy in the Latin music industry. In this episode, she outlines the biography and careers of both Selena and Carolina, the borrowed styles of music across Latin America, a...

Allison continues exploring the concept of her Latin identity during Hispanic Heritage Month, and how music shaped how she defines what it means to be "Latin enough" as a third generation Latina, who self-identifies as a "No sabo" Spanish speaker. In this episode, she outlines her Hispanic identity, how elements of culture and outside sources have influenced her Latin sense-of-self, and specific m...

In this episode, Allison tries her luck (and fails? succeeds? you can be the judge of that) at taping back into her more critical, technical background with musical analysis. She explores her understanding of the subgenre of Latin Indie, the importance of its existence, and discusses the techniques and artists that have paved the way for this genre. Additionally, she critiques the music industry&#...

In this episode, Allison takes you back to simpler times: the time One Direction ruled her every thought and action. Allison recalls how she first entered the One Direction fandom, covers personal anecdotes from forming a girl band with her childhood best friends, sobbing in religion class after Zayn left One Direction, to diving headfirst into her merchandise collection, and most shockingly, her...

In this episode, Allison gets vulnerable, and takes you back to the beginning of her journey as a vocalist in high school. With subtle mockery, and genuine correction from a place of developed understanding, Allison guides her listeners through her time in an acapella group, getting over the jitters of performing as a solo act for the first time, and fine-tuning her vocal skills in hopes to contin...

In this episode, Allison takes a step back from formal introductions, and lets her audience in on the most intimate part of her life: her music taste. In this iteration of the podcast, Allison invites her listeners to take a deep dive through her Spotify: from her Wrapped playlists ranging from age 16 through 21, her recently played and on repeat, to having the shock of her life when she sees that...

In the debut episode of Now Listening To... , Allison lays out what to expect from the podcast, including but not limited to: visiting her past, including all her previous musical endeavors, research based video essays ranging from the niche-indie artists she found via Instagram, to top-charting reggaeton artists and their impact on her Latin identity, and anything and everything that falls in bet...