Marina Verenikina

Marina Verenikina

Marina V performing live at Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena California in 2014.
Background information
Birth name Marina Gennadievna Verenikina
Also known as Marina V
Born October 3, 1982
Origin Moscow, Soviet Union
Genres Pop, acoustic
Occupation(s) Singer, musician
Years active 1999–present
Website Marina V's Official Website

Marina Verenikina (known as Marina V) is a Russian-American singer/musician. She was born in the city of Moscow in the Russian SFSR to a nuclear physicist father and a child psychologist mother. She now lives in Los Angeles and tours internationally.

Early life

Marina V (Marina Gennadievna Verenikina) was born to a communist nuclear physicist father and a psychologist mother in Moscow, Russia. Marina started singing and writing songs at an early age. Her father is of Russian descent and her mother is half Jewish of Belorussian descent. Marina's middle name means "daughter of Gennadiy". Her mother arranged for formal music education, and Marina attended music school each day after the regular school, from age 6 until age 14 (she graduated summa cum laude). At age 10, Marina performed one of her original compositions for her piano teacher, who dismissed it as "nonsense".[1] Marina was discouraged and stopped writing for a while. At the time, the Soviet Union was still under control of the Communist state, and Western culture was forbidden; the only music Marina was exposed to as a child was classical and Russian folk songs. After a friend gave Marina a bootleg cassette of The Beatles, she was inspired to write songs again. She learned many Beatles songs, which also helped to improve her understanding of the English language.[2]

At 15, Marina won a national competition for a fully funded scholarship (Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX)/Freedom Support Act - sponsored by US Senator Bill Bradley) to study in the United States. After living in Springfield, Illinois for a year, she returned to Russia, and started working to save enough money to return to the US, where she felt a greater freedom for individual creativity. At the same time, Marina learned that her mother was moving to Australia, and that the Russian school system would give her no credit for her time studying in America. After graduating from high school at 17, after saving enough money for a plane ticket, Marina returned to Springfield, where she enrolled at Illinois College. During this time she battled with severe depression, and began to write more and more songs about her experiences and relationships, channeling her emotions into music. She started performing during her freshman year, and started touring the Midwest. She graduated cum laude with a combined degree in international studies and economics-business and a minor in Spanish.[3]

Music career

Shortly after she turned 19, Marina met guitarist Nick Baker, who inspired her to take her musical talents seriously; she sold her pickup truck and bought a piano. She entered in her college's talent competition and sang her original composition "Leaving", winning first prize. She decided then to start recording her music and was able to finance a recording session for her debut CD Let Me Dream through paid pre-orders from students and faculty members. Her first show, at a coffeehouse in Jacksonville, Illinois, was filled to capacity. Marina and Baker began writing songs together and began touring around Illinois, enjoying considerable success. They decided to move together to Los Angeles, California where they currently reside. Virtually unknown in Los Angeles, Marina and Baker accepted any gigs they could find — including a successful tour of several Borders Bookstores[1] — and sent out hundreds of demos to anyone and everyone in the music industry. Eventually they caught the attention of David Krebs, a manager who has worked with Don McLean, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, AC/DC and Aerosmith, among others. In 2005, Marina joined forces with Jack Douglas, whose discography ranges from John Lennon and George Harrison to Aerosmith. Douglas produced two tracks for her Simple Magic album: "Underneath Your Sky" and "Killing My Dream".[1][4]

In Sept 2006, Marina released her first live album, "Live at SoundMoves", which was recorded in one session at SoundMoves recording studios in Burbank, CA, in front of Marina's fans who sponsored the entire production. In January 2008, Marina released "Modern Fairytale", recorded with Nick Baker, Marina's band & their friend/engineer Jared Brown at the home studio of legendary musician Graham Nash. In 2009, "Sunshine Guaranteed" from "Modern Fairytale" was featured on a popular iPhone game, Tap Tap Revenge2.

In January 2011, Marina and Baker released "My Star", produced by the Guy Erez (known for his work with the Gipsy Kings, Ryan Cabrera, Jennifer Love Hewitt). It was sponsored entirely by Marina's listeners. She raised $30,000 via marinav.com. One of the songs, "Killing My Dream", featured guitarist and former KISS member Bruce Kulick.

In Feb 2011, Marina and Nick were flown to London to receive an award from Bob Geldof for their song "You Make Me Beautiful", which was a Grand Finalist in the international song contest YouBloom.

In 2011, several of Marina's songs aired on NBC's soap opera, Days of Our Lives. In July 2011, Marina released an EP entitled "Small Collection of Interesting Songs", which featured 3 of the Days songs.

In December 2011, one of Marina's songs aired in an emotional Days Christmas episode, garnering significant attention to Marina's music from millions of fans around the world.

2013's "Inner Superhero" album, also written by Marina and Nick, was again funded by her fans. The video for the song "Hello," filmed in Marina's native Moscow, won the 2013 Entrepreneurs On The Move award.

Accomplishments

[10]

Discography

Albums

Other

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "From Russia to L.A. to London with Love: Soviet-Born Singer/Songwriter Marina V Relishes the 'Simple Magic' of Being a Cultural Ambassador with 3 Shows in London April 5th, 6th & 11th" (Press release). Los Angeles. Business Wire. 2007-03-29.
  2. ↑ Pasadena Weekly, October 4, 2007
  3. ↑ Illinois College website, IC News & Events
  4. ↑ "Days of our Lives : Behind the Scenes". SonyPictures. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  5. ↑ The Washington Post, July 30, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/29/AR2009072901539.html
  6. ↑ IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1182609/soundtrack
  7. ↑ Illinois Times, December 21, 2005
  8. ↑ Hollywood Music Awards Official Website http://www.hmmawards.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=36&Itemid=107
  9. ↑ Artist Official Website, http://www.marinav.com/sponsor.html
  10. ↑ , Marina released an EP, Small Collection of Interesting Songs, which features Every Breath, I Never Knew and Did You Know, the songs that have appeared on Days.
  11. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F0HdAYcWTo
  12. ↑ http://www.hieawards.com/
  13. ↑ http://russianchicagomag.com/marina-v/
  14. ↑ http://69.94.12.84/press.php3?press_nb=174821

External links