Romance of Thieves

Born Nicolas Herbert Martin on January 5th, 1995, in San Francisco, California, Romance of Thieves was raised in the small town of Alameda, CA. At age 13, he set his sights on taking the Bay Area by storm and becoming a sensation. Growing up, his parents exposed him to every genre of music but he has come to enjoy the genres of R&B/Soul, Funk, Hip-Hop/Rap, and Rock & Roll the most. After performing in the San Francisco Grace Cathedral Men and Boy's Choir and beginning saxophone and piano lessons, at age nine, Martin wrote his first song, which would later be the opening track of his debut mixtape. Three years later, right before his 13th birthday, using his own home GarageBand studio, he began teaching himself how to record and produce. He began studying with Jazz greats and expanding his repertoire by taking funk classes with Joe Bagale. However instead of continuing his Jazz and Classical education, immediately after winning the Stanford Jazz Camp’s award for "most talented musician under 14," Martin switched his focus to R&B/Soul music. In 2008, Martin joined Akustiq, a fusion trio, which eventually transformed into what would be The St. Valentinez. This music eventually became Martin's focus and in August of 2009, at age 14, he wrote his debut single “Far Away.” With the release of this “poppish” R&B track, William “Esquire” Randolph V brought Martin onboard B.O.D. Productions and produced the remix to Far Away. The remix gave Martin the idea to begin working with emcees. At this point, he was only acquainted with three, good friends Nosa “Nono” Edogun, José Garduño, and Marcus Porchia. “Far Away” Martin was written up in a blog at youthradio.org, stated to be a future pop sensation. With the help of producer William Randolph V and the support of manager Andrew P. Cooper, Martin wrote and composed the hit single for The St. Valentinez, Fly Away. With beautifully crafted lyrics and innovative music backing them, Romance of Thieves is proving to be a real artist. Martin is devoting all of his time and energy into graduating high school and focusing on his musical passion. "Music is my life, jump in, just know, that if it ain't got soul, it ain't got shit."