Frank Marino
guitarist / singer / composer
Canada
„Probably the most underrated guitarist/singer ever!“ Such an attribute is mentioned regularly in association with this virtuoso musician from Canada. When it comes to the top all-time guitar-greats from the late 60’s to the 70’s the same axe men are "the usual suspects": Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Ritchie Blackmore, Jimmy Page, David Gilmour. In those „best of...“-lists Frank Marino always seems to be forgotten – although he’s considered of being influential, has a high reputation among colleagues, critics as well as fans, can refer to a string of successful albums with his trio Mahogany Rush and spent years performing to packed arenas mainly across Northern America. That things didn’t turn out the big way for him internationally can be attributed to two facts: Marinos‘ work was, as he calls it, „under-promoted“ and commercial radio didn’t like his music too. It’s not their kind of short, catchy tunes, these 10 to 15 minute long sonic journeys that are dramatically structured and include soft, melodic passages as well as hard, powerful and fast ones. This timeless, tasty, richly faceted jam-style surpasses all boundaries of genres by fusing rock, blues, psychedilia and even jazz into a classy, largely instrumental amalgam of its own in an unique tasteful tone. The uncompromising dedication to his artistic vision very probably cost the highly gifted player success in the mainstream-market and becoming a household name.
Frank Marino
guitarist / singer / composer
Canada
„I certainly don’t care about fame… I really don’t like it. It goes against my religion to be famous“, Frank Marino is quoted in an interview on classicrockherandnow.com. „I’m just a guy who plays music and I got lucky, and people happened to see me, and people happened to like what I do.“ A honest statement by an exceptional musician who’s a convinced Christian believer and had the skills to make a worldwide-career.
Francesco Antonio Marino was born on November 20, 1954 In Montreal (Canada) to a Christian Syrian mother and a Sicilian father. He is one of five children and only has a 7th grade education that even included a short stint in military school. It was in the late 60’s the hippie-teenager experimented with LSD. “This experience became the basis of everything that I was to do in music, including the name Mahogany Rush, which was a description I would use to describe a certain sensation that I was having on the trip.“ After blowing his mind on acid in 1968 Frank was sent to the psychiatric ward of the Montreal Children’s Hospital. There the former drummer learned how to play the six-string „while recuperating from my trip. The guitar became a soothing help for me because of my great fear of letting my mind wander back into the trip.“ So he began to play music by Jimi Hendrix „because it matched perfectly to what I was going through at the time.“ From that starting point the native Canadian devolped his own style on the favoured 1961 Gibson SG (with DiMarzio pickups) and founded Mahogany Rush in 1969.
The business side was never Frank’s cup of tea. The record company’s people asked him „to be more proactive in terms of selling and caring about marketing“, he told classicrocknowandthen.com. „I was always at odds with them, always at war with them, because they wanted me to act like I wasn’t me and I wouldn’t do it …and I’m stubborn so it created problems. I got out of there as soon as the contract was over; it was just not for me.“
The price of Frank Marino‘s mixture of authenticity and tenacity: this man never reached the recognition and popularity he had deserved, but went off-tracks on his own instead, making a name for himself by being an extraordinary live-performer and building up a devoted fan base that has grown over the years. It was them who convinced the extremely big ice hockey fan who had retired from the music business in 1993 to return on the pitch for playing his first gig in five years.
Fate has sometimes not been kind to this guitar slinger. In 1989 he bought himself a studio, went to the one that had stored the 24-master-tracks of all the albums that Mahogany Rush had recorded – from their debut „Maxoon“ (1972) up until „Juggernaut“ (1982) – and wanted to pick up the 600 plus tapes. „I found out that day some girl at the studio had been selling those tapes at night to bands to record on“, Frank Marino reveals in the interview on classicrockhereandnow.com. „My entire catalog of everything that I ever recorded was wiped out and does not exist. After I’m long gone there will be no history of my work except whatever was on the vinyl. That has never happened to a musician in the history of music!”
Roundabout three decades later destiny struck again when he was diagnosed with the unbearable painful „adhesive capsulitis“ (frozen shoulder). The reason for the debilitating medical condition was the following: Bruce Springsteen’s video crew had recorded two long concerts (twelve hours in total!) of Mahogany Rush in Cleveland. They delivered a magnificent video shoot, but the drums‘ audio-tracks were damaged or didn‘t exist at all in some places. „So the only answer was to go into the studio and find each beat that was concerned and replace them one by one.“ Frank started that puzzle-work on the fourteenth of December 2010 - almost fifteen hours a day, seven days a week – and finished it in August 2021. The joint damage came somewhere in the middle of the project, but being a focused master of editing the work was continued without stopping up until the end.
In a statement, posted on June 30th 2021, he wrote: „With sorrow I am forced to announce my immediate retirement from touring, and possibly all things related to continuing my career.“ So the recording of the six-DVD-/Blu-ray-Discs-box „Live at the Agora Theatre“ constitutes the last concert Frank Marino will ever have played. „The whole show is“, according to a review, „a guitar tour de force marathon of unbelievable magnitude!“
The married father of three daughters, who is described as a down to earth, sympathetic, genuine and sociable person, lives in his hometown of Montreal still.
Interview October 2022
Unsung hero: artistic self-realization instead of commercial concessions
INTUITION/IMAGINATION
How does intuition present itself to you – in form of a suspicious impression, a spontaneous visualisation or whatever - maybe in dreams?
All three, and more, including just a "feeling".
Will any ideas be written down immediately and archived?
No, I just remember them until I use them.
?: How do you come up with good or extraordinary ideas?
If you mean musical or poetic ideas, they just happen, pretty much all the time.
Are great ideas based on intuition and do they reveal themselves in a kind of clear as well complete version that just has to be realized? Or is it endless trials and errors (after the first spark) that result in constant developments up until the final result?
No, I'd say they're more of a revelation. I'm a religious person so I take seriously any feelings of that sort, whether or not they relate to music.
What if there is a deadline, but no intuition? Does the first fuel the latter maybe?
A deadline assures an intuition, in my view. I work best under pressure, otherwise I tend to be lazy.
INSPIRATION
What inspires you and how do you stimulate this special form of imaginativeness?
The word "inspires" means God breathes. I stimulate inspiration by prayer, while listening closely.
How do you separate the good from the bad and which ideas are worthwhile to be explored further or whether one idea has the potential of being outstanding really?
All ideas can be good or bad, depending on their use and need, to say nothing of style. There's a place somewhere for all ideas. It's been said that on a piano of 88 notes there are no right or wrong notes, but each note is right at one time and wrong at another.
Has it to appeal to you primarily or is its commercial potential an essential factor?
It must appeal to me. Commerciality doesn't play into it at all, but that doesn't mean I turn up my nose at commerciality. There are certainly some very commercial things that also appeal to me, like The Beatles, for instance.
Do you revisit old ideas or check what colleagues/competitors are up to at times?
Sometimes I'll look at some of my own older ideas, but I rarely look at what others are doing.
CREATIVITY
Which time/place/environment suits your creative work process the best (tranquillity or pressure) and which path do you take from theory/idea to creation?
Any environment, really. And my path is usually through just playing, hopefully with others for more variable inspiration.
What is better in the realization process: speed and force creativity i.e. grasp the magic of the moment, or a slow, ripening process for implementation/elaboration?
I prefer the magic of the moment. I don't think it helps to spend too much time analyzing things when purely creating. Analysis and elaboration comes when I'm acting as producer, to myself or to others.
If problems occur during creativity or one’s stuck even, how can these be solved?
One thing I've found to be helpful is to think of a title first. This helps with lyrical content, for me. From there, music can be put to the content. One trick that worked for me once or twice was to do everything with my left hand for a few days. This gets the right-brain to become more active and, as it is the creative side, the result can be astounding as to how creative one becomes.
How important are self-doubt and criticism (by others) during such a process i.e. is it better to be creative on your own, only trust your own instincts, or in a team?
Again, it depends on the circumstance. I usually end up working alone, but that's primarily because I spend a lot of time alone. But I'm always open to others, and even to criticism. That's why I prefer to work in a band.
Should a creative always remain true to him-/herself including taking risks & going against the flow or must one, for reasons of (commercial) survival, make concessions to the demands of the market, the wishes of clients and the audience’s expectations?
In my view one should never allow the market to guide one's Art (and I never have done so nor do I do now), unless the purpose in the first place is to make hit records at all costs. Then one should absolutely rely on the market and the public, or it would be a waste of time.
How is innovation still possible if one has established a distinctive style and, just in case, is it good to be ahead of one’s time even one hazards not being understood?
Innovation will ultimately overturn style, and change it, unless one does try to maintain a known style for whatever reason. But then innovation is somewhat stymied, although still good.
When does the time come to end the creative process, to be content and set the final result free - or is it work-in-progress with an endless possibility of improvement?
It's been said that it takes at least two people to make a great work of art... the artist, and someone to tell him when to stop.
In case of failure or - worse - a creativity crisis how do you get out of such a hole?
Live by the motto, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
SUCCESS
Should/can one resist the temptation to recycle a ‘formula’ one’s successful with?
Absolutely, where art is concerned. Absolutely not where commercial success is concerned.
Is it desirable to create the ultimate/timeless work, but doesn’t “top of the ladder” bring up the question of “what’s next?” i.e. isn’t such a personal peak “the end”?
I certainly have no desire to create anything of that sort. Frankly speaking, it's not even possible because it is completely subjective. If you want to see proof of that, just look at what people wore as clothing a few years ago, or longer. It's all subject to the times, even if some seem more timeless than others for a while.
MY FAVORITE WORK:
Right now I'd have to say it's my current concert BluRay/DVD Box Set, because it's so varied, at six hours long. It just represents a lot of what I am and what I do, musically, vocally, song-writing and tonally. You can read about its details here:
https://mahoganyrush.net/dvd/. More Marino at https://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialFrankMarino.
