Ryan Martinie was born on August 6, 1975 in Peoria, Illinois. Martinie was raised in a Christian non-denominational church in Illinois, where his grandfather was one of the choir leaders. Therefore, he was exposed to hymns, orchestral music, and other forms of non-secular music. His father also played guitar, piano, and “has a nice voice that he has good control over.” When asked why he decided to play bass, he said, “Why I requested the purchase of a bass is really still a mystery to me. I can only articulate that I remember being drawn by the sense of connection it shared with all of the other instruments.” He studied jazz bass and won several high school awards for classical vocals. Some of his early influences include Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and several big band jazz groups. He was in a Dream Theater styled progressive rock band called Broken Altar.

In 1996, Mudvayne was formed. They initially had a different bass player, Shawn Barclay. In 1997, still with Shawn as their bass player, Mudvayne released their first EP, Kill, I Oughta. However, in 1998, after seeing Broken Altar live, Mudvayne asked Martinie to join their band. Although he was initially reluctant to part ways with Broken Altar, he joined Mudvayne upon realizing that they were serious about their band. Martinie became a cult bass player, receiving positive critical acclaim for his unique and technical style of playing, that “adds Mudvayne a whole new dimension”.

Martinie has a “not yet defined” side project that he intends to materialize, saying “People are going to have to see my ugly mug again whether you want to or not. For me this is a great time for me to woodshed and to gather my ideas. To spend a lot of time reading and exposing myself to lots of different types of thought. Fiction and non-fiction. I’m definitely not sitting here idle. There is a lot going on it’s just whether these things end up being Mudvayne things or other things I’m not going to worry about what ends up being what or where it goes”. He said that his playing style will differ from that which was heard in Mudvayne. On 2 August 2012, Korn announced that Ryan Martinie will join them on their European tour that kicked off in Poland, as the band’s bassist. Korn bassist Fieldy and his wife, were expecting a child.

In 2015, Martinie began playing with a jazz fusion / progressive rock trio Soften The Glare They recorded their first album Making Faces which was released on September 1, 2017.