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"Our hometown of Orlando, Florida had a very big impact on us…" recalls Band Marino singer/guitarist Nathan Bond. "There was an awesome experimental scene which went loosely under the name of 'funbalaya.' Just about every weekend there were amazing and interesting bands to see."
Bond, who is all of twenty-two, speaks as if he's been there and done that. In a way, he has, along with his mates: twenty-four year old drummer Dylon York, twenty-two year old bassist Abe Couch, and twenty year old Jesse Adams guitar/mandolin/harmonica.
Veterans of five national tours with a distinguished line-up of contemporary indie-rock movers-and-shakers (As Tall As Lions, O.A.R., Jason Mraz, and Rainer Maria among others), appearances at SXSW Music and Film Festivals (the latter to celebrate the premiere of The Last Romantic - a film which they scored) plus hosannas aplenty in Rolling Stone (25 Best Bands on MySpace.Com), Band Marino now unleashes its first nation-wide release The Sea & The Beast - an earthy collection of classicist carnival pop tunes wrapped in a rather thought-provoking package.
"The title is taken directly from ‘Arlee Hayes,’ which uses imagery of a storm and some kind of disaster at sea to talk about mistakes and choosing the wrong paths" notes Bond. "The art, in turn, reflects the title but takes a bit of a different spin on it. There are five animals in the boat coming at the monster with spears, and there's five fish being attacked. When The Sea & The Beast was made, there were five of us. I know for a fact that at different times we regularly feel like one or the other….but, of course, this is just scratching the surface…heck, I interpret it differently from day to day!"
Beast already has an impressive track record. Released regionally at the end of 2006, their debut long-player has sold over 2,000 copies. Known for their energetic stage performances, Beast packs the fervor of a gig within its grooves and resonance, but it could have been, dare we say, better? Bond interjects "to be honest, I feel like we could have captured way more of the intensity of the songs had we known more what we were doing and had the resources to do it." Such will be the case with the band's soon to be released EP. Emphasizes Bond of the upcoming release, "most all of our parts will be tracked live, however the songs are mellow and stripped down so the energy and vibe is specifically different."
Bond credits producers Travis Adams and Dave Pierce with bringing Beast to fruition. As the band was rather inexperienced with regard to life in the studio, Pierce and Adams guided them every step of the way. "Sometimes I'll write a song and come up with a lot of the arrangement ideas immediately and the band will take those ideas and run with them and make it way better. Other times I'll just have barely an idea, and then we'll jam on it. It's almost like the songs are taking us on a journey."
--Tom Semioli
Band Marino’s The Sea & The Beast is available now at http://www.bandmarino.net
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