Typical Situation

Ronja Peterson destiny must have been music. ”Since the day she was born her dad would play guitar & sing to her at bedtime, however It seems he misunderstood the “rock“-a-bye baby part, because he would do ”rock” songs! “It was her third grade teacher Mr. Niels, who arranged for the class to performed a rendition of the “Spice Girls” , it inspired her parents to sign her up for the church choir and piano lessons. She started to get serious about music at 15 at the boarding school she was attending for business. She spent all her time attending the music activities, and performed her own song in front of an audience for the first time. It was after she traveled to New Zealand and Australia to try backpacking and extreme sports, that she decided to explore the music scene in America. She ended up attending the “Musicians Institute” in Hollywood where she obtained her AA Degree in Music. It was there that she went across the hall and asked a fellow student “do you have a black marker?”

Cy Passley became interested in music when he was 5, he heard Voodoo Chile by Jimi Hendrix, he was enamored by the sound of the guitar from then on. At 11 he would steal his dads “Fender Strat Guitar” at night and take it to his room to play. When his dad realized what he was doing he started teaching him a few chords and he let him have some fun with it. By 16 hes was performing and has been playing ever since. He also says he’s a huge nerd, he’s into Sci Fi, Fantasy, Table Top Gaming, Video Games, Technology in general, Music Gear, Comics and Movies. He also ended up attending the “Musicians Institute” in Hollywood, when he received an AA Degree in “Guitar”. It was there he was trying to jam with a band called The “Black Magic Voodoo”, when a very beautiful Ronja Peterson came across the hall to asked him for a black marker. He looked at her and replied, “Can you sing funk rock?”

…and that was it The “Black Magic Voodoo” Band was launch & later the name was changed and…….

“Typical Situation”
Was Born

Kyle Turek became interested in music when he was a youngster watching guys like “Chad Smith”, “Aaron Comess” and “Dennis Chambers”, he thought they were so cool. He was 6 or 7 when he started playing the piano, but it wasn’t until he turned 10 and got his first drum set and that he really became passionate about music. Then 4 years later he saw a guy named Aaron Haggerty perform, it was that very day he told himself that ”he wanted to sound like that!” Aaron, who is now a good friend, is still one of his biggest influences in the 12 years Kyle been playing drums. He also plays guitar, bass and piano and he loves to produce or program on Logic and Reason. If he wasn’t a performer he would probably become a producer, and perhaps, someday he will do just that. He also attend the “Musicians Institute” in Hollywood and received an AA Degree as well. It was there that he meet Ronja and Cy and became the bands drummer. Kyle is also responsible for the current name of the band, “Typical Situation”.


Michael Marigliano, or Mike as he prefers to be called, started learning piano at 11. However he wasn’t really motivated to learn or play music until he was 13 when he decided to learn guitar. He practiced guitar for a good year when he decided to try the bass guitar as well. It was almost immediately that he realized that he had been playing the wrong instrument for the past year. So at 14 he decided to make the bass guitar his main instrument which he has been playing and preforming with for a few years now, He also picked up drums along the way, and stills play piano and guitar. Mike has also earned an AA Degree at the “Musicians Institute” in Hollywood . After “Typical Situation” had worked with several talented bass players, Mike joined the team and has been playing with them ever since.

Keith Hetrick grew up with music, he started off playing trumpet when he was 9, then switched over to french horn at 14, then finally over to piano at 17. Piano became his love, and he has been playing ever since. He mostly does song writing and producing now but has recently decided to return to performing again. His musical career, has taken him all over the United States with various classical ensembles including; ”Bands of America Honor Band”, ”Four Seasons Youth Orchestra”, “Tournament of Roses Honor Band”, to name just a few. He has had the privilege of representing the United States of America as a “Musical Ambassador” overseas. Where he has performed in 8 different European Countries with the prestigious “Sounds of America Band”. Members for this band are selected from all across America and are or have attended distinguished music schools and programs across the nation. He recently just got into contemporary music, and is currently producing “House”, “R&B”, “Pop”, and “Hip Hop” music, and he is also attending the “Musicians Institute” in Hollywood in hopes to further his progress in the musical and business aspect of the industry. Keith has recently joined “Typical Situation”, and they are excited about this new venture with him.

“Typical Situation”
creates Powerful music together!

Influenced by

“John Mayer”, “Stevie Ray Vaughan”
“The Red Hot Chili Peppers”, “Muse”, “Maroon 5?
“Jamie Cullum”, “The Police”, and others



They play a mix of
Funk/Blues/Rock/Jazz/Pop/Alternative



They Have Created A Very Unique Sound All Their Own. A Unique Sound That Has Graced Such Establishments As:

“The House of Blues”

“The Music Box Theater”

“Joe’s Joint”

TRiP Santa Monica

O’Brien’s Irish Pub

Complete Actors Place

Among Others




They’re Always Striving For Excellence Both In Their Music & Their Stage Presents
See What the Critics Have to Say…….




“Typical Situation shine with strong stage presence, solid rock tunes and apt musicianship. They play on the traditional elements of blues-rock with ease. Catchy hooks and groovy jams work in tandem, as do they, further encapsulating the inherent grittiness of the genre without sacrificing originality”.

-Cat Veit






“The sound is bigger than the size of the band”!

- Buck Smith (from Australia) at The Green Room





“All Star Band Members, for sure”!

-Veka Prameshti Arifin, Monka Magic Vinyl
- Today's Limelight

Typical Situation had a fairly untypical formation. The Los Angeles-based quintet started due to a fateful encounter between guitarist Cy Passley and singer Ronja Petersen. During their time at the Musician's Institute in Hollywood, Ronja went across the hall to ask Cy, "do you have a black marker?" and Cy asked, "can you sing blues rock?" The rest as they say, is history. With the addition of Matt Barreca (drums), Anne Seidler (keys), and Michael Marigliano (bass), the band has played shows throughout Southern California and recently at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas to be featured on Project Rock Warrior. Recently, Bestnewbands.com caught up with the band to discuss their style, how having two Danish band members has added a European flair to their sound and what Ranja was really thinking when Cy asked her the question that changed their collective lives.



What inspired you guys to start playing music?

Mike Marigliano: Being with friends that played inspired to me to play and learn from them.

Ronja Petersen: I grew up with music my entire life. I had a strong drive to make music and there was no way I wasn’t going to do it.

Anne Seidler: I started playing because of my best friend. She taught me how to play and I fell in love with the piano.

You have an interesting sound, what would you describe it as and who are some of your collective influences?

TS: We've been told it sounds similar to a funky Maroon 5 with Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan influenced guitars, heavy rock drums, and vocals similar to The Cranberries. Some of our collective influences include John Mayer, The Police, Muse and Red Hot Chili Peppers.



Your singer, Ronja Peterson, and keyboardist, Anne Seidler, are from Denmark. What type of sounds do they bring to the table and who are some the artists they listened to that are uniquely Scandinavian?

TS: Hahaha, they say pretty sounds. Ronja and Anne listened to a lot of Scandinavian artists such as Thomas Helmig, Tim Christensen, and Lisa Ekdahl.



"Blamed For Peace" is a song that is both poignant and powerful. Is there s a specific situation in the world that inspired you guys to write this song?

TS: A number of events inspired us to write it. The purpose of the song is to feature people that are helping our world. We believe that by doing this, the actions of those people will inspire others to create a more positive environment throughout the world. Hunger, war, terror, and natural disasters are the focal point of our media outlet. Our goal is to demonstrate to everyone how much good is being done for our world.

During that infamous first encounter between Ronja and Cy, was there any nervous moments, especially after he pretty much called her out on the spot?

TS: Ronja was thinking, "This is not gonna work out," but when she looked over shoulder and saw Cy do a thumbs up to a drummer, she knew it could just work. She's been enlightened to the style of blues by Cy since she hadn’t sung it before that time.



What’s the plan for the rest of 2010?

TS: We're planning to finish our first album by the end of the year. We're also looking for a great manager, a booking agent to book us a national tour, investors for our "Blamed For Peace" campaign, and as much exposure as we can get!

- Daniel Kohn - BestNewBands.com