About Marco Minnemann

Minnemann was born in Hanover, and started playing organ at the age of 6, then switched to drums and guitar at the same time at the age of 11. Marco's fame as one of the extraordinarily talented drummers and composers, reached him at the age of 19 all the way to Munich. The first 'cross-over' band Freaky Fukin' Weirdoz offered him a position as drummer in 1992, in connection with a major deal with BMG Ariola. The "Weirdoz" were the originators of the so-called 'cross-elimination' style of playing, and are considered to be among the greatest pioneers of it's modern sound. Also the "Weirdoz" had a gig with Nina Hagen on the album "Mao Mak Maa" where a fantastic cover version of Ian Dury's hit "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick" was created. Marco was immediately booked to play a Nina Hagen tour. The successful collaboration with the "Weirdoz" ended in 1997 after Marco's having worked together on four albums: "Senseless Wonder", "Mao Mak Maa", Culture Shock" and "Hula". Almost simultaneously, an engagement with the Top Ten 'cross-over' band H-Blockx came up on the album "Fly Eyes". During 1997-1999, they played over 200 gigs together. Meanwhile, Marco's reputation as a talented drummer reached out worldwide. Prominent were solo workshops, for example, at the Frankfurt Music Fair, PASIC in Dallas, and a solo performance at the "Modern Drummer Festival" in Toronto, where Marco had the honor of being the first German drummer to display his talents there. This performance, in the eyes of professionals and music trade magazines, catapulted him into the Top Ten of the drumming world. Following Dumfest included the Australian TUDW fest and the Motreal Drumfest in Canada. Even while working with the "Weirdoz", Marco produced with his former wife Artemis Gounaki, she is a well-known singer and a vocal coach in Germany, four albums with their band "Illegal Aliens", with the titles of: "Thickness", "Red Alibis", "Time" and "International Telephone"and two albums, focused more on drums and less on vocals called "The Green Mindbomb" and "Comfortably Homeless". Illegal Aliens stopped working in 2001 when the couple Minnemann/ Gounaki were divorced. Since then, there have been 4 solo albums:"Orchids", "Broken Orange", "Mieze" and the 2CD set"Contraire de la chanson", which are more on par with his talents as a multinstrumentalist, composer and Producer. "Motor" and "Normalizer" came out in 2003 in collaboration with the soud designer Mario Brinkmann and "Disarmed" along with Italian Bass Player Fabio Trentini followed in 2005. Moreover, Marco could follow his passion for Jazz and Funk by playing with the Wolfgang Schmid's Kick band. Schmid was ex-bassist in Dolinger's "Passport" and composer of numerous film soundtracks. Marco also co-produced and played instruments on Paddy Kellys (The Kelly Family) solo CD which entered the charts in 2004 and played on the double platinum CD "Nena feat Nena". Marco performed and recorded with artists such as: Paul Gilbert, Nena, Udo Lindenberg, H-Blockx, Mike Keneally, FFW, Gianna Nannini, Garry Willis, The Kelly Family and many more.