Ben Marino

Music director

Born and raised in Allendale, NJ, Ben Marino grew up in a musical home. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA where he graduated Summa Cum Laude with dual degrees in drum set performance and music education. Following graduation, he traveled to over 45 different countries and 5 continents working on Seabourn Luxury Cruise Ships. In 2013-2014, he was the on-stage drummer for Green Day's American Idiot The Broadway Musical, 3rd National Tour (U.S. and Canada). Ben is a well-versed studio session musician and has worked with world-class producers and engineers such as Susan Rogers (Prince, Barenaked Ladies), James Saez (Michael Jackson, Nine Inch Nails, Madonna), Ted Paduck (Aerosmith, NSync, Run DMC, Erika Badu), George Massenburg (Earth, Wind & Fire, Billy Joel, inventor of the Parametric EQ), Jun Murakawa (Nine Inch Nails, John Mellencamp), and Brian Charles, among others.

He is an active member of Dev Hynes' project, Blood Orange, since June 2016, appearing on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, headlining international festivals from the U.S. to Japan, and selling out large multi-thousand seat theaters across the world.

Ben has contributed to live performances and recordings with: Blood Orange, Carly Rae Jepsen, Nelly Furtado, Empress Of, Jimmy Abegg, among many others.  In addition, he has shared the platform in the Contemporary Christian Music genre with artists Martin Smith (Delirious), Reuben Morgan, Brooke Fraser, Nigel Hendroff, Hillsong Worship, Hillsong Kids, and Israel Houghton through his involvement with Hillsong (Church) NYC.

His original project, forBrothers, recently released it’s 2nd album entitled “Fool {live and acoustic}”. The quartet has been described as a modern blend of Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young vocals with a touch of over-driven guitar and melodic bass lines; or quite simply put, “folk on steroids.”

When not touring, Ben resides in the NJ/NYC area, performing, recording and teaching.