Maruo Martins de Oliveira of Love To Bleed

Unending Determination Fueled by Music

MMartins de Oliveira was born in Brazil and raised in the United States, but it was not until later in his life he discovered his Indigenous heritage. He joined his first band at just 10 years old, a rock band called the Stingrays, and it was here that he first composed rock music and then continued with a succession of bands throughout his teens and twenties.

Throughout his life, he benefited from the finest classical music training at the Cleveland Institute of Music and music production at Kent State University and Lakeland Community College in Ohio. During this period he composed in many genres, performed in several bands, recorded local talent and taught masterclasses to his mother’s gifted piano students. His talents have seen no boundaries. From age 20 on, Martins de Oliveira created compositions for classical piano, string ensembles, marching bands and theatre, not to mention rock and roll, and soon the wider public began to take notice.

After his formal education, he produced several albums in his own studio, Studio Lightfield, and was approached by the then-presidential inauguration committee for Bill Clinton. It was Martins de Oliveira who composed and recorded the opening ceremony for Clinton’s Inaugural, called the “Bells Of Hope”. Soon after, he penned and co-produced the song “21st Century Child” for the children’s choir performing at the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.

In this invigorating period, he learned of his roots and was drawn to Native American social justice issues. As with everything in his life, he threw himself wholeheartedly into the ceremony, culture and pain of his Peoples. Soon he was attending local sweat lodges, and sun dancing with Lakota spiritual leader and medicine man Martin High Bear. He formed the non-profit Signal of Love Communications (SOL), which he runs to this day, and initiated and sustained the most successful supply line to the resisting Elders in the Navajo Nation, known as the Big Mountain resistance. SOL supplies winter firewood, drinking water and other vital supplies to Elders in the region, rescues raptors in the northern California region and brings court action regularly against the state of California and timber companies over clear-cutting.

With roots in Brazil Maruo Martins de Oliveira has travelled far to bring the music of Last of My Kind, from his Love To Bleed project to the public. An activist and father of four, his latest project symbolizes the willingness to put love first and represents a compilation of his life’s lessons and experiences. With over 1,000 self-composed piano pieces recorded and a not-for-profit to run, he has shown an indomitable spirit on his journey to help others and reclaim his culture.

Music remains a spiritual foundation for Martins de Oliveira, and he continues to compose and record with mainly Northern Californian musicians on his Love To Bleed project. For him, composing and recording is therapy, constant companionship, and a flow of consciousness and knowledge that never ends. He continues to write symphony and classical pieces, and especially loves to write for his granddaughter.

The newest release from Love To Bleed, Last of My Kind is a moving, spirited album worth a listen.

OCTOBER 2023 || 37