Danny Marino

Danny Marino (born September 6,1984 in Montreal, Canada) is the guitarist, songwriter, and one of the founding members of the band The Agonist (known as The Tempest prior to May 2007). He is the nephew of legendary rock/blues guitarist Frank Marino of Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush. He has often stated publicly that Frank has been a large inspiration to him, along with musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, Michael Amott of Arch Enemy and Omar Rodriguez of The Mars Volta.

History
Danny grew up in a musical family. His uncle Frank Marino has been guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist for rock band Mahogany Rush since the early 70's, and his father Norman Marino plays bass professionally. His older brother followed his father's footsteps and took up the bass at an early age, later playing in bands such as 3 Mile Scream (Corporate Punishment Records) and, currently, The Catalyst. As a child, Danny had little interest in pursuing the family's musical roots. Instead, he focused on sports, playing soccer, baseball, basketball, and volleyball. But at the age of 15 he was bit by the musical bug. He began playing around with the bass, but quickly switched to guitar as he found it a better creative outlet. He began playing in bands with high school friends, and by age 18 he joined the band Solace. Solace was soon in need of a new singer and auditions were held, finally deciding on Alissa White-Gluz. Changing their name to The Tempest, they began work on what would later become part of their first album Once Only Imagined released by Century Media Records. In late 2006, while recording their first full length album with producer Chris Donaldson (Cryptopsy) they received a lucky break. Donaldson was in Europe touring with Cryptopsy, and happened to be listening to some of their unmastered tracks while Century Media Records representatives were present. Taking an immediate interest, they began communicating with Marino, which would ultimately end in a recording contract.

Signing with Century Media sparked the need for a band name change. It was thought that The Tempest could lead to copyright problems and to avoid this they decided on The Agonist. The Agonist released their first album August 14, 2007 called Once Only Imagined. They then released their first video for the song Business Suits and Combat Boots (directed by David Brodsky) on August 28, 2007. That September they began a 3 month tour of North America, touring with Sonata Arctica, Overkill, and Enslaved. They are currently writing in preparation for the release of their second album, due to be released January 2009.

Trivia

*On his paternal side, Danny is of Italian and Syrian ancestry. He is of Irish ancestry on his maternal side.
*His band, The Agonist, is known for its vegan lead singer Alissa White-Gluz's lyrics about environmental problems and animal rights. Danny himself is not vegan, but he is a strong believer in the importance of environmental protection. He is also an animal lover and has 2 kittens adopted from the SPCA.
*Sharing the same name as Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino, Danny has never used 'Dan' as a first name. Danny often jokes about having heard far too many Dan Marino references growing up.
*Although playing in a metal band, Danny states that his musical interests vary from classic rock to blues, jazz, and electronica.

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