LAKEPORT — In the world of art and music, it’s rare when you come across an artist that can make them both collide.
Mike Marin and Darrin Zeune—who form the band named ParriaH—have done just that with their release of “Everything’s Breathing” last month.
Through many years of practice, Marin has become an exceptional guitar player, but it wasn’t until he met his creative partner, singer, drummer and engineer Darrin Zeune, that his songwriting career took off. Marin and Zeune met through a mutual friend who used to pass by Marin’s one room studio at the time and was often held captive by the music emanating through the walls. Their mutual friend introduced the two and an instant musical connection was born. The two would meet at Zeune’s residence, which was equipped with a fully equipped recording studio, to begin collaborating on their ideas—the ideas that one day would become ParriaH.
After the first few sessions it wasn’t long before they discovered the common thread of their musical influences, stemming from the hard rock days of the 70s and 80s, music from bands like Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, The Cure and Marillion to name a few. The two musicians had both been in various bands before, which resulted in what seemed like a natural fit when the time came to combine their musical forces. The music that followed included an array of different styles ranging from psychedelic, to heavy metal, with even a unique blend of R&B.
A short time after the creation of their music was founded Marin’s interest spread into the visual side of their music; it was there that Marin discovered his love for graphic design. He labored over the many different images that their music created in the mind and began the journey of designing ParriaH’s album artwork and logo. Marin took the artwork a step further making individual artwork for each track.
“Why create just an album cover,” Marin said, “but rather create artwork for each song?” While streaming the record, each time the song changes, so will the album artwork. Having enough songs for an album and the art concept complete, Marin and Zeune went to work on production on what was to become “Everything’s Breathing.” As the title track of their first album it encompassed the feel and raw power of their musical styles, styles that proved to carry a lot of weight. The album “Everything’s Breathing” was released in February of 2019 and is now available on iTunes, Amazon, and other major streaming sites.
Today, Marin continues to build his business as a graphic designer, and even though he has already created logos, and designs for many of his national clients, he continues to pursue his quest to expand his creations and have both his music and graphic art heard and seen on a global level, all from the little town of Lakeport, California, where he resides with his wife and three boys. Marin’s philosophy is “If you can spend your life enhancing the lives of others through art, then that’s the kind of life I want to live.”
