Marc Storace
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| Marc Storace | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 7, 1951 Sliema, Malta |
| Genre(s) | Heavy metal, hard rock |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals |
| Years active | 1971 - Present |
| Associated acts | Krokus |
| Website | [7] |
Marc Storace (Sto-rah-chey) is a Maltese rock vocalist and songwriter. His career in music started in the 1960s, but he is most noted for his position as lead singer and songwriter of Swiss rock band Krokus from 1980. Before joining Krokus, he sang with a number of smaller bands - including one he formed himself - though none were very successful. As well as these bands, he has since undertaken a small solo project and has worked with numerous other rock bands - mainly in the 1990s - as both a writer and singer.
He has a very high, three octave voice, making him a very distinct vocalist, and has been compared to AC/DC's former lead singer Bon Scott in terms of vocal style, sharing many of Scott's vocal qualities. Since he began singing professionally in the 1970s, his style and voice have remained largely the same, with changes coming from age rather than choice.
Marc has recently played a major role in the German film Anuk, in which he acted as well as writing and performing songs for the film's soundtrack.
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[edit] Early life
Born as one of six children to Anthony Storace and Edna Crockford on the Mediterranean island of Malta, Marc taught himself to sing at a fairly early age. His life in music began at the age of fourteen when he made his first live performances with two local bands - Stonehenge Union (who covered the likes of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Kinks) and The Boys (who covered some of he same songs, as well as chart material and more vocally challenging songs). In the late sixties, The Boys (still with Marc as lead vocalist) changed their name to Cinnamon Hades, and changed their genre to cover hard rock acts such as Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and The Who.
Many people who had heard Marc sing at the time thought that he sounded like Bon Scott of AC/DC. He took offence to this, and rejected these comments at the time,[1] saying that he had his own identity.
After his experience in music and wanting to make a career out of his talent, he moved to London in 1970.
[edit] Early career
At the end of 1971, Marc joined Swiss hard rock band TEA. With them, he toured with big acts such as Queen and Nazareth, and released three studio albums: Sprouts, The Ship and Tax Exiles.
In 1976, he returned to England and formed a band named Eazy Money. Their song Telephone Man was included on a metal music compilation called Metal for Muthas Vol.2. In 1979, he received a phone call from Krokus who were looking for a new singer and invited him to a 'weekend jam' in Switzerland. After this sesion, Krokus accepted and initiated him into the band.
[edit] Krokus
[edit] 1980-88
In 1980, Marc recorded and released his first album with Krokus, Metal Rendez-vous. It was Krokus' first big hit, and made it to triple platinum status. With Marc, Krokus' success hugely rose, and from then until 1988 they toured extensively around the United States and Canada with tours lasting up to around nine months at a time, as well as releasing a further six studio albums (Hardware, One Vice at a Time, Headhunter, The Blitz, Change of Address, Heart attack) and one live album (Alive & Screamin'). This intense period or touring and recording naturally wore the band out, and the band went on a hiatus at the end of 1988.
[edit] 1994-Present
In 1994, Marc encouraged fellow ex-Krokus member Fernando Von Arb to reform the band, and so a reunion tour commenced. It went very well, and shortly afterward in 1995, Krokus released another studio album: To Rock or Not to Be. Though this album was not as successful as some of those before it, it brought the band back together and they began touring again, with Marc once again the frontman. 2002 saw Krokus, with an altered line-up to that of the 1988 hiatus and 1994 return, begin touring Europe once more. Their long awaited comeback in the USA began in September 2005. To date, Marc has been the Krokus vocalist for tweny six years, recording 12 albums and extensively touring Europe, the United States and Canada.
[edit] Other projects
[edit] Solo project
In spring 1989, Marc returned to Switzerland and wrote songs for his first solo project, The Blue Album. It contained a collection of pop and soul influenced rock music, and was released in 1991 by shortlived record company Eurostar. It was re-released in 1998 under the name Vergeat-Storace (Vergeat was Marc's guitar player and co-songwriter during the project) in Switzerland.
[edit] Group projects
Shortly after AC/DC vocalist Bon Scott's death in 1980, Marc was offered the vacancy at the band, but he immediately turned it down outright because he "didn't want to look temptation in the eye".[2] He also claimed that he felt Krokus were going to continue to get bigger, and he believed in what he was doing with them, not liking AC/DC comparisons.
In 1993, Marc joined up with the band China, but only released one album with them - a live album of their one and only tour with Marc in 1993 - which was eventually released in 2000 when a live radio broadcast of the event was released on the label Phonag Records. Shortly after Marc left the band, China split up due to the fact - according to Marc - that their use of a different vocalist for each of their albums meant that they could not establish any real identity in the music world.[3]
With two of China's guitarists, Marc formed Acoustical Mountain in the same year. This trio, performing without drums, played rock 'n' roll classics around Switzerland but never released any albums of their own, making them a 'live-only' band. They split and then reformed in 1995, this time with China's bassist replacing one of the guitarists, but with Storace still on vocals. They still did not release any albums, and eventually died out.
In 1994, Marc became part of Manfred Ehlert's Amen, and released an album with them in the same year in Switzerland. Marc was the lead vocalist along with Glenn Hughes, and together they performed rock songs with a light touch of classical music. Marc's second album with them - Aguilar - was released in 1996, but this time it was sung by Marc alone (bar one track which again featured Glenn Hughes as well). After this, Marc left and lost contact with the band.
In 2003, Marc was invited to Los Angeles to sing on The Wars of Gods and Men - an album being recorded by the heavy metal band Warrior. He greatly enjoyed the experience,[4] and the album was released in the USA and Switzerland in 2004.
November 2004 saw German producer Michael Voss ask Marc to sing on the new album from the band Biss, Face-off. It was a melodic rock album with powerful riffs and melodies, and Marc said that he felt that the songs were "too good to be true".[5] The album was released in May 2005.
[edit] Anuk
In 2006, Marc took part in the German Film Anuk, playing the part of Geisterzunge, a tribal medicine-man. Produced by Luke Gasser (who also plays the lead role), the film tells the story of a Bronze Age tribe trying to save itself from eradication by maurauding horsemen. Marc helped to write the soundtrack as well as acting, and he sings on the song On My Own (which he also wrote) along with Gasser and Doro Pesch. His chanting can also be heard on the film trailer.[6]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Krokus
| Title | Year |
|---|---|
| Metal Rendez-vous | 1980 |
| Hardware | 1981 |
| One Vice at a Time | 1982 |
| Headhunter | 1983 |
| The Blitz | 1984 |
| Change of Address | 1986 |
| Alive & Screamin' | 1987 |
| Heart Attack | 1988 |
| To Rock or Not to Be | 1995 |
| Rock the Block | 2003 |
| Hellraiser | 2006 |
[edit] Others
| Artist | Title | Year |
|---|---|---|
| TEA | Sprouts | 1972 |
| TEA | The Ship | 1974 |
| TEA | Tax Exile | 1976 |
| Marc Storace | The Blue Album | 1991 |
| Amen | Amen | 1994 |
| Amen | Aguilar | 1996 |
| Marc Storace & China | Alive | 2000 |
| DC/World | A Tribute to Bon Scott & AC / DC | 2000 |
| Storace & Halsinger | One World | 2000 |
| Warrior | The Wars of Gods & Men | 2004 |
| Biss | Face-Off | 2005 |
