Shock Treatment: So Brad, can you tell me who’s all in the Brad Marino Band and what everyone does in the group?
Brad Marino: Sure thing, so the “Brad Marino Band” consists of myself along with Bobby Davis on the bass/back up vocals & Craig Sala on the drums/vocals. We’ve sometimes had an additional guitarist but we’re running lean and mean now as a 3 PCS. It keeps things tight and simple. For the upcoming Spain tour, Gene Champagne will be playing the drums.
Shock Treatment: Tell me about this new record you have coming out Agent of Chaos:
Brad Marino: “Agent of Chaos” is my 5th long player. I’m really excited about this one. It’s got 12 tracks all written by me- which surprisingly is a first- in albums past I’ve collaborated with someone on at least 1 or 2 tracks or thrown in a cover to round it out but this one is all songs made up by me. It also has a great mix of songs- all the things that make a Brad Marino record. Punky stuff, Power Pop, Rock n Roll and it’s very cohesive: mainly because it’s the same few guys playing on all the songs. My 1st record “Extra Credit” was just me doing everything and Kris Rodgers doing key’s. Since then, I’ve sort of had a small circus joining me because it was fun to collaborate, so some records have 2 drummers or 3 bass players etc. This one has Gene Champagne on the drums, Bobby Davis does most of the bass, Ron Mullens does all the keyboard playing. It still took a circus as outside of those main 3 guys though we have guest spots from Dave Strong, Zack Sprague, James Cap Nunn but otherwise the main instrumentation and vocals is just the 4 main guys. Another big part of the record is the mix- I love the work Josh Roman did on this one. We started working together on my “Basement Beat” LP in 2022 and he’s done some other projects with me but this one especially sounds great. I really think people will dig this one- some who have heard it say it’s the best I’ve done even.
Shock Treatment: Speaking of the record, what inspired the name of the album?
Brad Marino: I was listening to a podcast while driving and someone on the show referred to another character as an “Agent of Chaos” and I thought “hmmm agent of chaos- that sounds like me!” It stuck and I decided I just wanted to use it. I rarely speak out on anything but it seems like when I do it inevitably ruffles somebody’s feathers but that’s part of saying what you believe or think about a situation or topic- music, politics whatever- even if it causes a little chaos- and there has been some chaos over the past couple years with some of my relationships in music so that also made it seem like the perfect title.
Shock Treatment: You’re getting ready to take the Brad Marino rock n roll show on the road in Europe soon, are you excited for that?
Brad Marino: Yes! Always excited to go to Europe and play my rock n’ roll. This will be my 2nd tour of Spain with the BMB and 3rd overall jaunt to Europe as the BMB. When The Connection split up I wasn’t sure if I’d ever go back or bother to start a band and here we are doing our 3rd tour-matching what the old band did- so that’s very cool to me especially where I’m at in my life now a little older and wiser-with 2 great young children and wife. It’s great to have that balance in my life and be able to play ‘rockstar’ for a week or so to people who care and show up to support you.
Brad Marino: I was listening to a podcast while driving and someone on the show referred to another character as an “Agent of Chaos” and I thought “hmmm agent of chaos- that sounds like me!” It stuck and I decided I just wanted to use it. I rarely speak out on anything but it seems like when I do it inevitably ruffles somebody’s feathers but that’s part of saying what you believe or think about a situation or topic- music, politics whatever- even if it causes a little chaos- and there has been some chaos over the past couple years with some of my relationships in music so that also made it seem like the perfect title.
Shock Treatment: You’re getting ready to take the Brad Marino rock n roll show on the road in Europe soon, are you excited for that?
Brad Marino: Yes! Always excited to go to Europe and play my rock n’ roll. This will be my 2nd tour of Spain with the BMB and 3rd overall jaunt to Europe as the BMB. When The Connection split up I wasn’t sure if I’d ever go back or bother to start a band and here we are doing our 3rd tour-matching what the old band did- so that’s very cool to me especially where I’m at in my life now a little older and wiser-with 2 great young children and wife. It’s great to have that balance in my life and be able to play ‘rockstar’ for a week or so to people who care and show up to support you.
Shock Treatment: What have you found that’s different about European audiences as opposed to your home town crowds?
Brad Marino: The main difference is the people who come to the shows in Europe are fans- they know your songs and own your records before coming to see you. They’re excited to hear these songs performed live and sing along and dance. They also want to take a photo or ask for an autograph- stuff that never happens here in the US. There are some great shows we’ve done in the states too – no doubt. Spain especially is the best- they’re just passionate rock n roll fans there which is why so many independent or smaller bands like mine go there- you can sell out a 150 person room on a random Tuesday and have a great time.
Shock Treatment: For one of your new tracks, “Calling Your Bluff” you did a video. Can you tell me about how that experience went for you and the band?
Brad Marino: That was fun- our friend Tino from the band “Burn Kit” sat in on drums since Gene who played on the track lives in Canada. Videos are kind of a pain to me but they’re good to have for the almighty algorithm.. you need to have a good idea and place to shoot in my opinion. Some kind of vision and that’s the hardest part . For this track- a real 77’ style punk rock n roll tune, I thought the local skateboard shop/park would be a rad backdrop and it was. People were just skating around us on a Saturday- it’s a big indoor park you pay like $10 bucks and can skate all day- pretty good deal. It’s called Red Alert Skateshop in Rochester, NH. It was fun watching the skaters and Tino not only is a musician but a top notch skater as well! Hell, I even got on a board for the 1st time in 20 years!
Shock Treatment: Harkening back to your childhood, did you have a favorite video from a band that you’d get excited about when it’d come on or that maybe inspired you to make one for yourself?
Brad Marino: There was a lot of great videos when I was watching in the late 90’s/00 or so- I spent a lot of time watching MTV or VH1 for sure. I’d be more into doing videos if I could do one as elaborate as those 90’s videos. Some that I remember liking- New Radicals- the one in the mall- that was cool. I also liked “Bittersweet Symphony” – it was simple but effective.. As I’m typing and thinking- Blink 182- “ All the small things” spoofing on all the 90’s videos was obviously a big one on “TRL” ha! In my head for a song sometimes I have a great idea but we just don’t have the resources to do much more than a performance video.
Shock Treatment: And since we already turned on the way back machine, what bands do you feel most inspired you to want to pick up a guitar and start writing music?
Brad Marino: Honestly at first it was those bands on MTV/VH1- it wasn’t so much the song as the reaction to it -when a band was playing or lip syncing to an audience. That draw of the audience- especially the female members of the audience definitely peaked my interest in wanting to play. It all just looked so fun- Back then- everyone looked cool to a 12/13 year old-even if they were impossibly lame to look back on. There also was a lot of good solid rock music still back then that inspired me to want to learn whether it was Smash Mouth, Lit, Offspring, Green Day. As far as songwriting that didn’t happen until later when I was like 15/16 and playing in a band- we were doing covers of Rancid, Ramones, Misfits etc. and that’s when I’d take my first steps at trying to write. As a songwriter now I have a lot of influences but the main ones are obviously Joey and Dee Dee, Mick & Keith, Paul & John, Paul Collins, John Felice, Billie Joe, Buddy Holly those kind of guys.
Shock Treatment: Other than the European tour, what lies in store for you guys in 2026?
Brad Marino: 2026 is starting off with a bang!- new album and the tour in Spain. We’ll see- Bobby usually books us on some cool shows. He tries to get us gigs opening for bands we like that are bigger than us. We’ve opened for some great contemporary artists and legendary artists we are influenced by. I don’t want to be lugging my gear through a snow-covered sidewalk and up the stairs to play a club show when its 10 degrees outside and playing for 13 people- so we are a bit picky about the gigs we take. I’m sure some cool opportunities will arise but also it doesn’t get much better than 10 days touring in Spain! As usual I’ve already got another albums worth of material ready to record before the most current album even comes out so I have to restrain myself from hitting the studio too quick but my guess is after the tour sometime this summer we’ll get in a studio and start chipping away at a few new tunes.
Shock Treatment: Where can people go to listen to your music and buy your records?
Brad Marino: All the usual places- Spotify/Apple/Youtube. Bradmarino.bandcamp.com. You can buy the new record from the labels : Spaghetty Town Records in the USA. Ghost Highway Recordings in Spain & Beluga Records in Sweden.
Spaghetty Town Records
Ghost Highway Recordings
Brad Marino: 2026 is starting off with a bang!- new album and the tour in Spain. We’ll see- Bobby usually books us on some cool shows. He tries to get us gigs opening for bands we like that are bigger than us. We’ve opened for some great contemporary artists and legendary artists we are influenced by. I don’t want to be lugging my gear through a snow-covered sidewalk and up the stairs to play a club show when its 10 degrees outside and playing for 13 people- so we are a bit picky about the gigs we take. I’m sure some cool opportunities will arise but also it doesn’t get much better than 10 days touring in Spain! As usual I’ve already got another albums worth of material ready to record before the most current album even comes out so I have to restrain myself from hitting the studio too quick but my guess is after the tour sometime this summer we’ll get in a studio and start chipping away at a few new tunes.
Shock Treatment: Where can people go to listen to your music and buy your records?
Brad Marino: All the usual places- Spotify/Apple/Youtube. Bradmarino.bandcamp.com. You can buy the new record from the labels : Spaghetty Town Records in the USA. Ghost Highway Recordings in Spain & Beluga Records in Sweden.
Follow Brad Marino at the links below:
Get the new album Agent of Chaos NOW at the links below:
Ghost Highway Recordings
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