Marco Minnemann

Marco Minnemann (born 24 December 1970) is a German multi-instrumentalist and composer who primarily plays drums.

Marco Minnemann
Marco Minneman behind a drum kit, holding a crash cymbal with his left hand after having hit it with a drumstick in his right.
Minnemann performing in 2016
Background information
Born (1970-12-24) 24 December 1970 (age 53)
Hannover, West Germany
Genres
Occupation(s)
Instrument(s)
  • Drums
  • percussion
  • guitar
Member of
Formerly of
Websitemarcominnemann.com

Career

Minnemann has released over a dozen solo albums as drummer, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist, and performed on over 100 studio albums with dozens of artists and groups.[1][2] He has previously been a member of the German funk-metal crossover band Freaky Fukin Weirdoz and has performed and recorded with German rock band H-Blockx and Grammy-nominated English musician Steven Wilson.[citation needed] He is the drummer for the Mute Gods, a trio led by Nick Beggs of British new wave band Kajagoogoo, and he has performed with Joe Satriani since 2013.[citation needed] Minnemann appeared on the cover of the June 2007 issue of Modern Drummer, with the magazine writing that "he has been instrumental in developing the advanced concept of complex interdependence",[3] a drum technique allowing him to play varying patterns with each of his feet and hands.

In 2006, Minnemann recorded a 51-minute live drum solo that served as the basis for his Normalizer 2 project, in which he shared the track with several musicians and asked that they each write and record their own work accompanying the composition. A number of the resulting recordings were released as duo albums, including Trey Gunn's Modulator,[4][5] Alex Machacek's 24 Tales,[6] and Mike Keneally's Evidence of Humanity.[7] In 2011, he auditioned to play with the American progressive rock band Dream Theater. It was ultimately decided that he would not join the group, as he did not know their discography very well and did not want to commit to them fully.[8]

In late 2017, Minnemann joined international prog-rock rock supergroup the Sea Within and appears on their 2018 debut.[9] Formed by Swedish guitarist and singer-songwriter Roine Stolt, the band also features bassist Jonas Reingold, guitarist Daniel Gildenlöw, and keyboardist Tom Brislin.

Minnemann is a member of instrumental rock power trio the Aristocrats, playing alongside Guthrie Govan and Bryan Beller.[10] In 2019, the group released their fourth studio album, You know what...?[11]

In 2020, Minnemann and collaborator Randy McStine formed McStine & Minnemann. The duo released two albums that year: the self-titled McStine & Minnemann and McStine & Minnemann II.

Minnemann was featured as a voice actor in the second season of the Titmouse-animated series Metalocalypse. The episode, which also featured Mike Patton of Faith No More, aired on Adult Swim in 2008.[citation needed]

Books

  • Ultimate Play Along Drum Trax
  • Extreme Interdependence: Drumming Beyond Independence (with audio CD) – (2001)
  • Maximum Minnemann (2006)

DVDs

  • Extreme Drumming (2003)
  • The Marco Show (2006)
  • Marco Minnemann: Live in L.A. (2007)

Discography

Solo

  • The Green Mindbomb (1998)
  • Comfortably Homeless (1999)
  • Orchids (2002)
  • Broken Orange (2003)
  • Normalizer (2003)
  • Mieze (2004)
  • Contraire de la chanson (2006)
  • Housewifedogandtwokids (2007)
  • A Mouth of God (2008)
  • Catspoon (2009)
  • Evil Smiles of Beauty/Sound of Crime (2012)
  • Symbolic Fox (feat. Guthrie Govan) (2012)
  • EEPS (2014)
  • Celebration (2015)
  • Above the Roses (2016)
  • Schattenspiel (2016)
  • Borrego (feat. Alex Lifeson and Joe Satriani) (2017)
  • My Sister (feat. Alex Lifeson) (2019)
  • Their Colors Fade (2023)

with Freaky Fukin Weirdoz

  • Senseless Wonder (1992)
  • Mao Mak Maa (1993)
  • Culture Shock (1995)
  • Hula (1997)

with Illegal Aliens

  • Thickness (1995)
  • Red Alibis (1997)
  • Time (1999)
  • International Telephone (2000)
  • Swine Songs – Best Of (2006)

with H-Blockx

  • Fly Eyes (1998)

Minnemann/Brinkmann

  • Motor (2002)
  • The Shining (2010)

Fabio Trentini, Marco Minneman, Mario Brinkmann

  • Disarmed (2005)

Minnemann/Brinkmann/Trentini/Zimmer

  • Play the Police (2007)

with UKZ

  • Radiation (2009)

Normalizer 2

  • Marco Minneman – Normalizer 2 (2010)
  • Mike KeneallyEvidence of Humanity (2010)
  • Jason Sadites – Behind the Laughter (2010)
  • Trey GunnModulator (2010)
  • John Czajkowski – West ZooOpolis (2010)
  • Mario Brinkmann – Normalizer 2 (2010)
  • Alex Machacek – 24 Tales (2010)
  • Phi Yaan-Zek – Dance with the Anima (2010)
  • Jimmy Pitts – 2L82B Normal (2010)
  • Aaron Ruimy – A Few Minor Modifications (2010)
  • At War with SelfCircadian Rhythm Disorder (2015)

Phi Yaan-Zek with Marco Minnemann

  • Deeper with the Anima (2012)

with Shiloh Sheray

  • S+M (2011)

with the Aristocrats

with Matte Henderson

  • The Veneer of Logic (2013)

with Tony Levin and Jordan Rudess

Pitts Minnemann Project

  • The Psychic Planetarium (2016)

with the Mute Gods

with the Sea Within

  • The Sea Within (2018)

with Randy McStine

  • McStine and Minnemann (2020)
  • McStine and Minnemann II (2020)

Selected recordings with other artists

2000s

2010s

2020s

  • Alberto Rigoni – Odd Times (2020)
  • Alberto Rigoni – Metal Addicted (2021)
  • Jess Lewis – Seafoam (2021)

References