Brad Marino - Extra Credit

Hailing from Rochester, New Hampshire singer, guitarist, songwriter Brad Marino has various reasons to rejoice at the moment. Not only has RUMBAR Records released is brilliant debut solo album but, as you will read below, he and his lovely wife Caity (remember the girl in front of the Jukebox on the cover of an E.P. by a band we will not mention the name here? :-) ) are now the proud parents of a little boy.

Brad has spent the past year writing, recording, playing every instrument, and co-producing ‘Extra Credit’ with a little help from his friend Kris Rodgers on the keys and mixing board. 

Let's talk to a man who has obviously plenty of reasons to be cheerful.

1) For the viewers of this blog who would not know you, What would you tell about you and your musical background to introduce yourself?

Sure! Please allow me to introduce myself. I co-founded The Connection with Geoff Palmer. I’ve been the lead singer, guitarist and co songwriter for The Connection since we started in 2011. Before that I was a drummer in a punk rock band, Rydells and have also recorded and toured with The New Trocaderos, Tommy and The Rockets and had a short stint as bassist in Kris Rodgers and The Dirty Gems.

2) About the debut full length solo record "Extra Credit",  what can you tell about the recording process? Can you also explain choice of the title? What are you referring to?

The process was interesting because I played all the instruments myself. I would make a demo on garageband and then remove the fake drums and play along with myself in the studio to get the drum tracks. I recorded some guitar, bass and vocals at a recording studio and did some recording at my home studio. It was a lot of fun playing everything myself. I then would send the bounce to Kris Rodgers who would add his keyboards, he also mixed the album so that was very convenient. As for the title of the album, in a previous interview back in 2017 I mentioned how I was a student of rock n roll and was always ‘looking for extra credit’. My friend Michael Chaney pointed out that “Extra Credit” would be a cool album name and I ran with it.

3) Do you use the nowadays digital recording technology or do you only work with analog machines in analog studios?

In a perfect world I would love to record only on tape/analog but unfortunately recording studio time is extremely expensive. I always record drums in a professional studio and do as much in a big studio as will fit in the budget. I have some nice gear right at home and am able to record quite a bit at my home studio which is nice since I don’t have to worry about the clock running and the bill growing.

4) Leaving the Chuck Berry track on the side, are your own 10 songs specifically composed for the purpose of this record or are they songs you have gathered over the years and were deemed not fit to make it to a The Connection record?

The majority of these songs were written in 2018 for the purpose of this album. “C’Mon C’Mon C’Mon” I actually wrote about 10 years ago for the Rydells and put it on the shelf when that band stopped. “From The Start” was one that I wrote in 2014 and just never got around to recording with The Connection. Everything else was written and recorded within a few months last year. “Fit to Be Tied” and “Don’t Do The Crime” were written by my friend Michael Chaney.

5) What is your favorite topic/topic that comes easily when you write a new song?

It is sort of cliché but the easiest topic is girls/relationships. Everyone can relate to relationships gone bad or falling in love, heartbreak. I don’t usually write from any sort of experience it’s just what comes to mind. I think most songwriters would tell you that the easiest topic to write about is relationships whether from personal experience or the experience of a friend or whatever.

6) Does your solo album and also the forthcoming solo album of Geoff mean that the Connection is on a indefinite hiatus?

The Connection is not broken up, just on a bit of a break. It just turns out that after last year’s album “Wish you Success” Geoff and I decided to both do solo albums. We’ve been a band for almost 9 years and have always been involved in other projects, The New Trocaderos, Kurt Baker Band, The Guts, Tommy and the Rockets etc. It’s just that these projects are under our names as solo albums. I anticipate doing more solo releases and recording more with The Connection, the more music- the better!

7) Do you have a new video on youtube  featuring a track from the new LP?? 

Sadly, no. I may still try to put one together but it is a huge pain to make videos!

8) Are you gonna put a band together and perform this solo album on the road? Are you gonna play any famous cover songs? 

Yes, in fact just last weekend as of this writing I played 2 shows as the Brad Marino Band. I have Craig Sala (Kris Rodgers, The Connection, Kurt Baker Band) on drums. Chris “B FACE” Barnard (The Queers, Mopes) on Bass and Kris Rodgers on the keyboards/back up vocals. We did 2 show’s, one in Portsmouth, NH and one in Boston, MA to celebrate the new release. I think we will do a couple more in the fall and I’d love to do a few shows in Europe sometime.

9) Are there any bands in The USA today you consider yourself close to?

Close as in friends? I’m friends with a lot of cool people in cool bands. RumBar Bands both locally and not. And of course lots of cool bands from Europe and such. I always like playing with cool bands and hanging out with cool people who “get” it when it comes to music. Some current bands I have really been digging on lately are The Peawees from Italy, The Gold from Madrid and Justine and The Unclean from over here in Boston.

10) To what kind of music did you listen to as teenagers? What were your favorite bands as a teenager? Name 3 bands that you consider still have an influence on your own work today.

As a teenager I was into a lot of punk rock and pop punk. Pretty much once I got into the Ramones it was all Ramones all the time. At first I liked bands that were influenced by The Ramones, The Queers, Riverdales, ETC and then I moved onto the bands that inspired the Ramones and became a big Rock n Roll Fan. They still have a huge influence on me, I’d say Green Day still are an influence since they helped turn me onto the Ramones and other bands and The Beach Boys were another one I was into a lot as a teenager, mainly because everyone grows up with them and they were a big influence on The Ramones.

11) What are the plans for 2019 as far as your solo career is concerned? 

Well my wife and I just had our first child so I think this year will be about parenting more than music. I was lucky to play a couple solo shows recently and will do a couple more in the fall. I have been writing a lot of songs lately. The Connection will hopefully get back in a studio to cut a couple new tracks this summer and I am planning on recording a few more tracks for an eventual second solo album or new single in 2020.

12) Anything you wanna add? 

Thanks for doing the interview, I appreciate the chance to talk about the album! Hopefully we can hangout sometime in Belgium again !

PURCHASE IT HERE IF YOU ARE BASED IN THE USA:
https://rumbarrecords.bandcamp.com/album/extra-credit

OR HERE IF YOU ARE BASED IN EUROPE: 
https://belugarecords.se/products/brad-marino-extra-credit