Features
Evan Marien: New York’s Finest Part I by Allee Futterer
Everyone has heard stories about musicians trying to make it in New York. Between day jobs, low budget gigs, and life in the city it’s almost rare to hear about someone actually doing well.
Originally from Illinois, Evan Marien started getting his act together on the bass in early high school. After realizing that music was something he wanted to pursue professionally he picked up and moved to Boston where he began at Berklee College of Music in 2006. During his tenure at Berklee he played for professor Dave Fiuczynski all over the east coast and the Midwest. His local gigs also included weddings, historic jazz club Wally’s and the opportunity to play with legends such as Joe Lovano and Jack DeJohnette. After leaving Berklee he moved to New York where he is busy as a bassist. Carrying endorsements such as Markbass, Mono, Campbell American Basses and Rotosound Evan has a lot of support for his various projects and especially writing his own music. He is in the process of completing his own album meanwhile playing for acts such as the Mass Ave Project. Last year tours included going to Russia, Estonia, Holland and France, though this year Evan says there are more European dates in the works!
To Evan the best parts of New York include the classics: food, parks and people. “I get around on the subway here, which I find a great place to learn music for a gig… though New York’s transit has a bad rep I enjoy it just as much as riding my bike around on a warm day or recharging at a park.” With the scene being so fast paced he doesn’t always know his schedule until the last minute, some gigs are booked months in advance and some come up the day before. Having a floating schedule enables Evan to do more than just play bass, as he is a producer and private instructor teaching lessons on Skype as well.
When it comes to songwriting and producing Evan uses mostly software such as Reason to get thoughts reverberating in the atmosphere. After shaping his melodies and harmonies he has people come in to track over them! One of Evans claims-to-fame is his abundance of online videos; because New York is such a visual place he has found it very important to be active in the online scene. To see more of Evan’s playing and hear his music follow the links below:
Visit Evan online evanmarien.bandcamp.com
