FM: It's a very serious scene, it always has been. Take a band like Rush, who is a huge band...they've always approached their music in a very serious manner.
BN: The scene in Canada does seem to be quite different then the music scene here in the US, particularly in Los Angeles, where it's based more on hype rather than music...
FM: That's a generalization but it's sort of true. What you're not going to get from too many Canadian musicians is a bravado - this 'I'm here and I'm cool' attitude or swagger.
BN: And that's something that I've always admired about you and your whole outlook on the music business. Your music and your attitude has always come across so sincere...
FM: I guess what it comes down to is 'what is the dream?' If it's someone's dream to be famous, they feel they have to have money and therefore act famous and act as if they have money in order to get money and fame to come to them. That's pretty much how most people would fulfill their dream. In my dream, from the inception of when I started playing music, I've never cared about fame...in fact, I actually dislike it. I don't like being recognized or told that I'm great...it makes me feel embarrassed. It's a complex in a sense. That's why you would never see me get in or out of a limousine, even in my heyday. I would always try to remain as normal as possible and I would never refuse to meet someone. So my dream has never been about selling records or being famous, or even being considered good at what I do. My dream has always been about meeting the guys who I think are great players and being able to hang with them, talk about music with them, and learn from them. This is my dream - having their peer respect. Unfortunately it eluded me for almost my entire career until I quit in the '90s. It was after I quit when I began to hear about other guitarists such as Zakk Wylde, Steve Vai, Steve Lukather, Marty Friedman, and all these guys saying that 'Frank Marino was one of the huge influences on my life.' I had no idea that was happening until the late '90s.
BN: It's funny you say that, because I know so many guitarists who look at you as a major influence on their life. In fact, I've known Marty Friedman for many years and I remember he always talked about how you and Uli Roth were such huge influences on his style of playing.
FM: I never knew it, Bob. I spent my entire career in that Leber/Krebbs 'shell' where every gig I went to I was treated like the enemy. I just got used to it, I knew I just had to hang in my dressing room. So I became a loner in that sense.
A Conversation With FRANK MARINO Page 9