The story of bassist Marc Fain, begins in St. Louis Missouri, in 1974. Growing up in a household filled with music of many different styles, Marc was first influenced by a Beatles record at the age of 5. Enthralled by this music, he would play the record over and over again, until he knew it forwards and backwards, for days on end.As Marc grew into adolescence, music continued to become of ever growing importance in his life. At age 10, he saw axeman extrodinare Eddie Van Halen on MTV, and knew immediately what he wanted to do with his life from then on. From that starting point, he then found himself being influenced by many different styles of music, from the New Wave bands like Duran Duran, to the hard rock bands of the hair metal age. By the age of 14, he had found a true love with the sounds of Led Zeppelin, whose power and grace would have a profound impact on his style of playing as the years progressed.Upon receiving his first guitar at age 13, he quickly found his real calling with the bass guitar, and set about making his dreams of rock stardom come true. After years of honing his skills, and playing with various garage and basement bands in the area, in 1998, Marc got his first break when he joined forces with the local hard rock band Chain Of Rocks.Over the course of the next eight years, Marc continued to develop his playing style, and making a name for himself around the St. Louis area playing with Chain, and various offshoots and side projects, such as Gun Metal Grey, Days Of Night, Flames Of Albion, and playing bass on Chain Of Rocks vocalist Russ Dance‘s solo album in 2003.In the summer of 2006, the various personnel changes, and other pitfalls that a hard rock band must endure through in it’s quest for fame, had begun to take a toll on the band, and Marc was forced to begin to look towards a future beyond the band. It was around this time, that he began writing a collection of songs that was to become his first solo album, “Dancing With Dragonsâ€. He found the challenge of creating and recording his own music invigorating, and knew that he wanted to explore other areas of music that he was only now beginning to discover. By the spring of 2007, Chain Of Rocks had run it’s course, and the band had decided that it was time to go it’s separate ways. Heartbroken, but determined to move forward, Marc threw himself into work on his album, and finding a new musical identity for himself. Now being heavily influenced by the sounds of Celtic music and history, Marc has been working on making his new vision into reality.Then, in the fall of 2007, Marc got a terrific opportunity to join forces with former Field Of Grey and Karma vocalist and guitarist Chris “Blackie†Starks, and drummer Rick Banta from the local band Richter Scale, to form the new powerhouse band 8 Years. The new band got off to a very quick start, and spent the next 8 months building up an amazing fan base, and setting records locally for most shows played in the St. Louis area by a local act.In the spring of 2008, 8 Years decided to disband, due to creative differences, and Marc was once again in the position of making a fresh start. Determined to continue moving forward, and putting to practice all that he had learned during his tenure in 8 Years, Marc once again found himself returning to his hard rock roots, and has begun setting about to form a new band, and take the rock world by storm…Layout made byMarc Fain, A brief discography of previously recorded material:
CHAIN OF ROCKS, 1999:...This was the first "official" recording I ever did with a band. This EP was recorded during the winter of 1999, at Jupiter Studios, which has since gone on to become one of the best recording studios in St. Louis, but at this time, it was still ran out of a basement! I have alot of memories with this album, both good and bad. I remember being really nervous, being my first time in any kind of real recording studio. I recorded just about everything with my one and only bass at the time, the B.C. Rich, except for one track, I think I recorded it with a Kramer, I think. I remember not liking the actual process that much, because we recorded with everyone in seperate rooms, and I was set up in the laundry room, having to listen and play with the rest of the band, listening through "the cans", while staring at a hot water heater,lol. This album was recorded really fast, in like 3 days, I think, and it all went by in a blur. One of my fondest memories, was sitting in the control room, watching and listening to our guitar player at the time, Dale Beckner, as he recorded all of his solos in one take! He was truly amazing to watch, and it turned out so well. I like this record, because you can hear a young, hungry band trying to claw it's way out of the gutter so to speak, and trying to carve a name for itself. And I think you can really hear where alot of our influences were coming from at the time. There's alot of Alice In Chains in what's going on there. This record is a great piece in time for me, as they all are, and it marked the beginning, of alot of what could have been...
RUSS DANCE, 2002:...This was the debut solo album recorded by Chain Of Rocks long time singer Russ Dance. It was made, again during the winter, of 2002/2003, if I remember correctly. This album was alot of fun to make, and it was definitely a part of a healing process for me, as I think it was for Russ as well. This album was recorded after surviving a very turbulent breakup with our band Lana's Ex(formerly Chain Of Rocks), and we were in need of expressing what we were going through at that time. Russ had been working on some of these songs for awhile, and one or two of the tracks were leftover from stuff we had been doing with the band at some point. The album was recorded at the Producer/Engineer's house Alvin, who was great to work with. He was very supportive and encouraging throughout the making of this album, and I think helped to push all of us into some different directions than what we had been used to. The guitar work was done by Russ, and by a good friend of ours, Aaron Locker, who we continued to collaborate with for a couple of years after that. There are some really good tracks here, and you can feel that we had a very easy going, relaxed, and creative vibe going on while making this record. I remember feeling almost kind of sad once the process was over, because we had such a good time recording it, and it seemed to come so natural at the time. Very fond memories of this one, and it helped to serve as a release, and a springboard, for the next phase of our careers...
GUN METAL GREY,2004:...Man, what a nutty time it was while making this record! Everything was happening so fast, and we didn't have alot of time to put it all in perspective. Recorded in the summer of 2004, this band consisted of myself, my long time bandmates Russ Dance on vocals, Robby Black on guitar, Michael Dunphy on guitar, and Jeff Arning on drums. This, was a truly live, raw fucking rock band. The influences were pretty straight forward: Guns and Roses, Aerosmith, Motorhead, good loud rock and roll. I was definitely going thru my "Duff McKagan" phase while we were making this record, as you can hear in the tracks, and in the pictures of what I looked like at the time,lol. This album was made during a very tumultous time in my life. Alot of things were changing, some good, some bad, but it was a struggle, and I wanted to just rebel against everything at that point. And I know some of the other guys were fighting their own demons at the time as well, so this was the perfect fucking band for us to be in at that time. Recorded over the course of 2 weekend sessions at an old house in south St. Louis, our producer Gary was alot of fun to work with, and a great guy. We didn't get to experiment as much as we would have liked with this record, because the meter was running, so to speak, and we had shows lined up already, so it was basically go in, throw down the tracks, mix it, and get out,lol. Admittingly, I'm not real fond of the guitar sound of this record, nothing personal against anybody, but again, it was a piece of time in my recording history, and one that should be noted. This group had started off with alot of promise, but sadly, those previously mentioned demons, and other things, brought this phase of my career to a close only a few short months later...
RUSS DANCE: "REDEEMED ROCK N' ROLLER", 2008:In Februrary of this year, I got another opportunity to work with a dear old friend, and and partner in crime, Russ Dance, on his sophmore record, "Redeemed Rock n' Roller". I played bass on three of tracks of the album, and I must say, I was very impressed with what I heard, and played with. During the making of Russ' first album, I had told him, that I thought that he had finally found his niche' musically, but he has really began to come into his own with this record, and is beginning to develop his style. On the tracks I played on, I heard many different influences, from down & dirty rock and roll, to alternative, and beyond, with lyrics of a very uplifting nature. Once again, it was a real pleasure to be able to make a contribution to this record. It happened really fast, as all my recording experiences seem to,lol, but it was alot of fun. All my recording was done in one afternoon at Clayton Studios, near downtown St. Louis. It was a very professional, and very relaxed setting. I am honored that I got the chance to play on these tracks, and I hope that this record brings Russell much success. Thank you, old friend, once again, and rock on!
