marlon oreilly

Hey there...
I love to sing (I do it practically 24/7) I also love to write a great song that moves people. Especially when they come up to me and tell me of a personal experience that is related to that song. Amazing!
I started my journey singing Elvis songs in front of my family. Didn't we all do that? Anyway... I would slick my hair back and slide out on the wood hallway floors at our house on Ascot Street in Coquitlam, BC and start singin' and shakin my leg like the King did. My cousin Jim & I would gather up my brother Joel & his sister Colleen and we would get a whole band going for some of our family shows. That's where I wrote my first song. It was called School Sucks... hehe. Go figure. Jim & I wrote that one. I still remember it and have the Lyrics kickin' around somewhere?
My Dad had a Gas Station growing up, right until I was 19. He was in that business about 30 years. I think he thought that either me or my brother would take it over one day. Needless to say he sold it in 1990. I was going to be a HUGE Rockstar... right?!! Funny I say that too because that is where my singing days really took off. I would have the big shop broom, would then grab an air hose and hold it on top of the broom... as if it were my Mic & Cable and would start wailing away anything that I was listening to at the time. For the most part it was MJ. He was my hero, role model and was almost like an addiction. He was unreal! Magical! I had him plastered all over my room. But... my room changed from time to time in that regard. It went from Michael to Bon Jovi and all the 80's glam bands to, huge posters of girls. What can I say? Heather Thomas was my girl. Well, I was 17... give me a break?
Anyway... back to the Gas Station. One day I was singing probably the worst song you could imagine (if someone was watching you that is)... Samantha Fox's "Touch Me". Looking back on it, it's kind of funny really. Here's how it went: Mike Roy, the drummer in a local band was getting gas and happened to be out of his car and heard singing in the distance. Actually he probably saw me running around with my props. So there I am singing away as usual and he's standing at the front of the open bay doors and says "Hey, do you want to be in a band?" He scared the crap out of me! I must have jumped a foot. I then started laughing (as I was turning about 8 shades of red) and said "Sure" ... but I didn't really think he was serious.
I was wrong. He called that night to set up a rehersal time and I couldn't believe it. I mean, singing in a band was cool, but I really hadn't ever given it much thought. I was having a great time in our family room with my hand made Mic stand and Microphone I made out of cardboard. I used to pretend I was a rockstar just about everyday.
So... It ended up taking forever to hook up at a rehersal. I'm sure with all of the trouble they had had previously, (I had heard they tried oout many different singers) the guys thought, ya we'll get to it when we have time. After a few weeks went by, we finally got together at Bruce's (bass player) house to Jam. They gave me this crapy microphone and it was plugged into an even crappier guitar amp. That's what I started the first song through. Of course at the time I didn't care if I sang through a Fisher Price radio... I was singin'! The first song was Bryan Adams' "Hidin' From Love" and while I sang the first line.. "I'm ridin' in the middle, half way into you" .... the smile on their faces said it all. The song ended and Mike says " You're in."
Snow Blind was born. We stared rehearsing more and eventually began playing home parties. It was a blast. One of my friends' Uncle had a bar in Langley, BC and said we could play there. We told everyone we knew and we played our first gig to a packed house in there when I was 15. Unforunately I wasn’t allowed to play in any other clubs (legally) so we couldn’t do much elsewhere. We eventually got a new bass player and dropped a guitar player, the normal things that happen as a band progresses.
The guitar player, Jeff Fairbank (which is what we changed the band name to: Fairbank. He signed his name one day on Mike’s old drum head for fun and I looked at it and said “Hey, that would be a cool name for a band?” It stuck) & I started writing songs. He gave me a tape one day with only guitar on it and said “Do you want to try and write some lyrics to this?” I said “Sure.” Fortunately for me, I had just been dumped by this heartless witch... ok, never mind… I won’t get into that. Anyway, it helped me write the song in about 10 minutes because I wanted to kill her! Well… I kind of wanted to have her back too but she started dating the mechanic at the Gas Station. Yes.. the mechanic! She moved through guys like I don’t know what?! The song was called “You Took That Love Away” and I brought it to the next band rehearsal. There were a few other people there hangin' out and everyone loved the song! To make a long story short(er) Jeff & I wrote for over 10 years together and they were all amazing songs. We went through many different band members over those years but the two of us seemed to stick together. We were also very good friends. We had a few differences in the end as our musical styles changed and I guess it was time for us to do our separate things. We parted ways in 1994. The good news is we have kind of reunited in the last year and started writing a new song. I think it’s pretty good so far.
And the journey goes on....
So one day a former girlfriend of mine calls me up out of the blue and says “I want you to meet my boyfriend?” I am thinking WHAT? So she tells me he is a guitar player and he is really good. Of course I am thinking, oh God… please help me because everyone knows a musician and they always say they are amazing. Then I hear them and think all my friends are on drugs. I think it took quite some time to meet him. One day I invited him over to our place in Pitt Meadows, BC. His name was Steve Lezetc. I had a few songs I had written and had played all the instruments on. He heard it and thought he could record something cool. I figured he could add some things to it and it would sound ok. Well Steve starts playing and I thought… Damn, this guy is good. Needless to say we erased my guitars and he re-recorded the whole thing. It was unreal after that. It was called “Just Ain’t Sane.” We just kept going from there and have been writing together now since 1996.
Our new CD is due out for release this year and we are working hard to get it done soon.
Thanks for reading. I look forward to meeting “YOU” soon.
M.
Stay tuned....