Composer Cliff Martinez started his career as a drummer. He played in 1313 with Lydia. He also drummed for The Dickies and The Weirdos. After reading in a newspaper that Captain Beefheart was auditioning drummers he flew out to Los Angeles and got the job. Cliff's drumming can be heard on the 1982 Beefheart album Ice Cream for Crow.

In 1983 Cliff, joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers for the recording of their first album  What Is This?  Cliff also played on the Chili Pepper's second album Freaky Styley.  In 2012 Cliff was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

A tape of "weirdo rude vocal/body noises" recorded on a MIDI percussion controller with his friends John and Dix Denney was his entrée into film and television. The tape led to a job scoring an episode of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. The tape was also, heard by Steven Soderbergh, who hired Cliff to do the soundtrack for Sex, Lies and Videotape. Cliff has since composed scores for, over forty films including Contagion, The Lincoln Lawyer, Drive, Spring Breakers, and The Neon Demon.