Monica Martin (Singer)

American singer-songwriter Monica Martin grew up in rural Wisconsin after being born in Chicago, Illinois. Her early soundtrack involved waiting for Billie Holiday videos to load on dial-up internet and riding in a busted Geo Metro to punk shows in Milwaukee. She trained as a hairdresser and had no musical plans beyond joking around with harmonies over the radio. That changed when she fronted PHOX, an experimental folk-pop sextet formed outside Madison, Wisconsin.

Monica eventually traded the cold Wisconsin winters for sunnier climes, noting, "Wisconsin is cold as f*ck." She now lives in a little periwinkle casita and describes herself as feeling freer than ever. She's currently working on songs that she calls "explorations in romantic f*ckery," mixing lowkey pop with blue note whispers, golden-era Hollywood dramatics, and psychedelic theremin flickers. Monica is still figuring out her identity but is happy to share her cautionary tales: "I made hundreds of mistakes so you don't have to." Her work often reflects her mixed-race heritage and her Black upbringing, though she rarely speaks about it directly. She has kept her personal life relatively private, focusing instead on her music and her growing social media presence.