Marc M. Cogman
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Marc M. Cogman

| INDIE | AFM

| INDIE | AFM
Band Americana Singer/Songwriter

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Discography

Welcome to the Danger Show (released 2007) - for sale on CD Baby and ITunes and digital download sites everywhere.

Beneath a Balcony (set for release August 4, 2009) will come out on Time Act Music, a new imprint of powerhouse indie label Vagrant Records.

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Bio

Marc M. Cogman was born in Washington DC in 1981 and came of age in the Boston music scene while studying at the Berklee College of Music. He only spent two years there before dropping out and pursuing an English degree, but he stayed at Berklee long enough to meet the core group of musicians that would shape his musical life for the next seven years.

At Berklee, Cogman formed the hardcore/metal band Chimpira in 1999, which released one record, The Art of Dwelling on the Edge in February of 2001. But things began to unravel soon after, and Chimpira was defunct by August of the same year. However, members of the band decided to press on together, and the five piece indie-rock band The Neon Calm was born.

The Neon Calm spent three years in Boston and two in Los Angeles, and released two full-length records, My Perfect Muse (2002) and One More Rocket Summer (2005). Both records were lauded for their high-level of musicianship, good songwriting, and Cogman’s talent as a lyricist. Through their tours on both coasts, The Neon Calm gained a reputation for putting on a captivating live show.

Always a poet, Cogman decided to follow his Bachelor’s Degree from Emerson College with a Master’s Degree in Poetry at the University of Southern California. He enrolled in 2005 and was awarded his Master’s in May of 2007.

In the summer of 2006, the members of The Neon Calm were moving in different directions, with various members doing more and more session work and touring gigs for other bands. Also, since the completion of One More Rocket Summer, Cogman had begun conceiving a new and different sort of record than he’d ever made before. After the glossily-produced One More Rocket Summer, he was anxious for a more organic sound. Also, after playing in small rock bands his whole life, he wanted to utilize more of the musician friends he’d come to know through his years in Boston and Los Angeles.

To stay musically active during the growing downtime between Neon Calm shows, Cogman began doing small tours of solo acoustic shows under the name Welcome to the Danger Show. When The Neon Calm officially disbanded in the Fall of 2006, Cogman announced that his side project had become his full-time gig. Since Cogman already had the songs for his new record – he’d been performing them solo acoustic for months – he immediately jumped into recording his debut solo album.

The thought procress behind Welcome to the Danger Show was simple. All the songs were written on solo acoustic guitar or solo piano. In making the record, Cogman (with a little help from his friends) would try to re-imagine the songs in a fully-orchestrated form. No matter what came to mind - from a glockenspiel to a string quartet - he was going to find it and record it. For some songs, such as “Chiaroscuro” he knew that less would be more: in addition to acoustic guitar and voice, only a few violins were needed. But in the case of “Incurable Blues”, he’d bring in a full country-blues band, with drums, B3 organ, honky-tonk piano, bass, electric guitar, a slew of percussion, and even a mini-choir with handclaps. The idea was: if the songs worked on the most basic and intimate level, then they should work in whatever incarnation he decided to use. Listening to the final product that is Welcome to the Danger Show, one immediately finds that Cogman achieved what he set out to do.

After the March 2007 release of Welcome to the Danger Show, Cogman and a small backing band began to cement a reputation as one of the best live acts in Los Angeles. With once a months shows at The Mint and Bordello, Cogman brought songs from Welcome to the Danger Show to life, and also previewed dynamic new material.

After a slew of record industry ups and downs, including a 6-month option with Geffen Records a split with his manager in spring of 2008, Cogman returned to the studio last October.

Over the two years since Welcome to the Danger Show, Cogman accumulated enough material to record TWO new full-length albums. Both were completed in early 2009, and the first, entitled Beneath a Balcony, is set to be released in June by Cogman's new label home, Time Act Music. Time Act is a new imprint on one of the great American indie-labels, Vagrant Records (Paul Westerberg, Dashboard Confessional, Thrice, Get Up Kids).

Cogman's second record (and third album, entitled Anthems, due for the fall) are set to raise his profile as one of the great young American singer-songwriters.