Marina Verenikina

Marina Verenikina (known as Marina V) is a Russian 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 has released 12 albums and has toured internationally, performing over 1,200 concerts. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband/co-writer, Nick Baker, and their daughter, Violetta, and regularly performs on Twitch.[1]

Marina Verenikina
Background information
Birth nameMarina Gennadievna Verenikina
Also known asMarina V
OriginMoscow, Soviet Union
GenresPop, acoustic
Occupation(s)Singer, musician
Years active1999–present
WebsiteMarina V's Official Website

Early life

Marina V (Marina Gennadievna Verenikina) was born to a nuclear physicist father and a psychologist mother in Moscow, Russia. Marina started singing and writing songs at an early age. Her father Gennadiy Verenikin is of Russian descent and her mother Irina is half Jewish (her family came from Belorussia in 1870s). Marina's middle name means "daughter of Gennadiy". Marina started singing before she could talk, and writing songs at 4 years of age. Her mother arranged for formal music education, and Marina attended classical 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".[2] Marina was discouraged and stopped writing for a while. At the time, the Soviet Union was falling apart and Western culture slowly started appearing on the market; therefore 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.[3]

At 15, Marina won a national competition, beating over 100,000 peers, 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 Moscow, 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 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.[4] and together with her husband/co-writer, Nick Baker, moved to Los Angeles the week she graduated.

Music career
Performance in 2014.

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[2] — 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".[2][5]

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 2006, Marina and Nick Baker toured the Czech Republic and Slovakia.[6]

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. The song "Pesnya o Tebe" appears in Direct Contact, a 2009 Danny Lerner film starring Dolph Lundgren.[7]

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.[8]

In February 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 finalist in the international song contest YouBloom. Marina and Baker wrote the theme song for the 2012 film Truth About Kerry.

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 featured in the programme.[9]

The crowd funded "Inner Superhero" album, featured the song "Hello," with a video filmed in her native Moscow, won the 2013 Entrepreneurs On The Move award. The album was unofficially released in 2013. In October 2014 Marina appeared at The Grammy Museum [10] In March 2015 Marina released her first Tour Documentary, "Enjoy The Ride", filmed during her 2014 U.S. Summer Tour, C Minor To Shining Sea [11]

In 2017 Marina released her next fan-sponsored album, Born To The Stars. The official music video featured cameos from Steel Panther, David Ellefson of Megadeth, Thomas Ian Nicholas of American Pie and Jill Sobule, among many others.

In December 2018 Marina traveled to Moscow with the GRAMMY Museum team to open the first ever GRAMMY Museum exhibit in Russia.

Awards
  • In November 2009, Marina's song "You Make Me Beautiful" was nominated for Hollywood Music Awards[12]
  • In September 2013 Marina's song "Begu" is featured in a Lifetime TV Movie "Taken: The Search for Sophie Parker"
  • In October 2014 Marina appeared at The Grammy Museum [10]
  • In December 2014 Marina wins the Hollywood International Entertainment Award which recognizes artistic achievement & outstanding careers.
  • In November 2019 Marina and Dan Navarro win an award from Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMAs) for their duet rendition of "We Belong" by Pat Benatar, a 1984 hit penned by Lowen and Navarro. https://www.hmmawards.com/hmma-winners/ [13]

Discography

Albums
  • Let Me Dream (1999)
  • Lift (2001)
  • Something of My Own (2002)
  • Simple Magic (2005)
  • Marina V : Live at SoundMoves (2006)
  • Russian Bootleg (2006)
  • Modern Fairytale (2008)
  • My Star (2011)
  • Russian Bootleg Vol. 2 (2016)
  • Inner Superhero (2017)
  • Born to the Stars (2017)
  • In V Minor (2020)

EP
  • Small Collection of Interesting Songs (2011)

DVD
  • Enjoy the Ride: A Tour Documentary (2015)

References
  1. "Marina V at Falls Church Episcopal Church". The Washington Post. 2009-07-30. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2017-02-15.
  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. Archived from the original on 2012-04-22.
  3. Pasadena Weekly, October 4, 2007
  4. Illinois College website, IC News & Events
  5. "Days of our Lives : Behind the Scenes". SonyPictures. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  6. Illinois Times, December 21, 2005
  7. IMDB – https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1182609/soundtrack
  8. Artist Official Website, "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-03-28. Retrieved 2010-03-10.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. , 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.
  10. Marina V (2015-03-12), Marina V at The Grammy Museum Q&A and Performance, retrieved 2017-02-15
  11. Mi2N.com – Independent Recording Artist Marina V Tours U.S. In Her Prius (and Gets Sponsorship From Toyota)
  12. Hollywood Music Awards Official Website http://www.hmmawards.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=36&Itemid=107
  13. https://www.hmmawards.com/hmma-winners/
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