Nick Marechal

Listen to "Nick Marechal Reaching Beyond His California Roots" on Spreaker. In 1968, Nick Marechal was just another kid in the San Fernando Valley learning to play guitar. Elvis was a hero making a come back. Garage bands were in every neighborhood. FM radio ruled. That period provided inspiration for writing the song “Son of the Blues.” In the early 1970s Nick received lessons from the late great Ted Greene. Nick’s picking style, knowledge of chords, and an appreciation for the American songbook came from Greene. Right after high school Nick played in bar bands. While attending community college he became interested in mathematics and engineering, as well as music. Nick eventually earned a PhD in mathematics from UCLA in 1986. In 1988, Nick became a member of the technical staff at The Aerospace Corporation and retired in 2013 at the rank of distinguished engineer. During that period he authored both journal and conference papers in the fields of imaging radar and lasers. Nick's logo is based on a soundwave which forms his initials "NM". In the 1990s he performed in a three piece blues rock band Power Spectrum. Later, Nick began recording with the help of session players Mike Finnigan (Hammond B3), Leland Sklar (bass) and John Robinson (drums), and later John Ferraro (drums). “It would be an all star band, if I wasn't in it,” Nick likes to say. In the last few years, Nick was introduced to Grammy®-winning engineer and producer Niko Bolas by a good friend Fred Walecki of West LA Music fame. Niko brought Nick to Capitol Recording Studios and sent Nick to voice builder Gary Catona. That was a lucky break for a guy from the Valley who knows a few theorems and how to bend strings. In the Fall of 2018, Nick continues honing his skills and recording at both Capitol Studios and East West in Hollywood with a team of legendary professionals; Quinn Johnson on keyboards, Andrew Ford on bass, John Ferraro on drums, Greg Mathieson on B3, and he has recently featured a horn section (arranged by Quinn Johnson) on a couple of the forthcoming tracks. Make sure you bookmark Nick's Soundcloud account to keep up with all the latest.