Marcin Patrzałek (; born October 6, 2000), known
mononymously as Marcin, is a Polish
percussive fingerstyle guitarist, composer and producer. He is known for combining fingerstyle, percussive guitar techniques with modern electronic and orchestral production.
He first gained popularity in 2015 after winning the ninth edition of Polish
talent show
A talent show is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are performances rather ...
''Must Be The Music'', the prize for which was 100,000
Polish złoty and an additional 100,000 złoty for promotion of his music on Polish radio station
RMF FM
RMF FM (abriviation to ''Radio Muzyka Fakty FM'', translation: ''Radio Music Facts FM''; previously: ''Radio Małopolska Fun FM''; translation: ''Radio Lesser Poland Fun FM'') is the first commercial radio station in Poland, currently broadcas ...
.
After local success he went on to release his debut record ''HUSH'', the release of which was accompanied by singles including Patrzalek's percussive arrangement of
Isaac Albéniz's "Asturias";
the video of the arrangement was released through fingerstyle label
CandyRat Records
CandyRat Records (also stylized as CANdYRAT) is an independent American record label and online music store located in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. They primarily represent instrumental guitar artists, with a focus on acoustic guitar, but include ...
. In subsequent years Patrzałek's popularity grew rapidly beyond Polish borders due to multiple viral releases online. His videos were posted and discussed by notable publishers such as
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
,
Metal Hammer
''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...
,
Classic FM,
Guitar World
''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...
,
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
as well as independently.
Patrzalek's performances have amassed over 150 million views online, the main contributors to this number being his solo acoustic guitar arrangements of major classical pieces such as
Moonlight Sonata
The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, marked ''Quasi una fantasia'', Op. 27, No. 2, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil Countess Giulietta Guicciardi. The popular name ''M ...
or
Beethoven's 5th Symphony, as well as popular music,
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
arrangements, and original compositions.
In 2018 Patrzałek became an official endorser of
Ibanez
is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as ...
acoustic guitars.
At the end of the same year he won the 5th edition of major Italian TV talent show ''
Tu Si Que Vales'', broadcast by
Canale 5
Canale 5 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel of Mediaset, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It was the first private television network to have a national coverage in Italy in 1980.
On 4 December 2012, Mediaset launched Canale 5 HD, a s ...
,
receiving a standing ovation from the judges for the first time ever in the show. The prize for winning was €100,000.
Later he competed in
America's Got Talent
''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distribut ...
which contributed to his popularity overseas, as well as produced multiple viral performances.
Marcin's continued prolific output on
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
and
TikTok
TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.
TikTok is an international version ...
led to him being praised by guitar figures such as
Tom Morello
Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known for his tenure with the rock band Rage Against the Machine and then with Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, Morello ...
,
Paul Stanley
Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popular ...
,
Dweezil Zappa
Dweezil Zappa (born Ian Donald Calvin Euclid Zappa; September 5, 1969) is an American rock guitarist and occasional actor. He is the son of musical composer and performer Frank Zappa. Exposed to the music industry from an early age, Dweezil deve ...
,
Tosin Abasi
Oluwatosin Ayoyinka Olumide Abasi (born January 7, 1983), is an American musician, best known as the founder and lead guitarist of the instrumental progressive metal band Animals as Leaders. He has recorded and released five albums with Animal ...
and
Vernon Reid
Vernon Alphonsus Reid (born 22 August 1958) is an English-born American guitarist and songwriter. Reid is the founder and primary songwriter of the rock band Living Colour, Reid was named No. 66 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's 2003 list of the ...
.
In early 2020 it was announced that Marcin signed an exclusive recording contract with
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...
branch -
Sony Masterworks
Sony Music Masterworks (Sony Masterworks) is a record label, the result of a restructuring of Sony Music's classical music division. Before the acquisition of Bertelsmann's shares in the former Sony BMG, the label was known as Sony BMG Masterwor ...
, 2 singles soon followed. He is currently working on his major label debut album.
Career
2010–2015: Career beginnings and ''Must Be The Music'' win
Patrzałek started playing the guitar at age 10 when he picked up
classical guitar
The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...
under the guidance of local teacher
Jerzy Pikor.
After two years he started studying
flamenco
Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...
techniques, being taught by Spanish guitarist
Carlos Pinana. Later, at age 13, Patrzalek started playing fingerstyle on an acoustic guitar.
It quickly became his main instrument and after around a year of self-taught practice in 2015 he won the ninth edition of Polish talent-show ''Must Be The Music''. Around that time he started creating
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...
on his computer and combining it with guitar playing, which later resulted in the creation of his debut record ''HUSH.''
2016–2018: Debut album, ''Tu Si Que Vales, Revamp'' EP
In 2016, at age 16, Patrzałek released his debut LP, ''HUSH.'' The album is composed of ten pieces: six original tracks (
acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
with electronic and orchestral production elements), two arrangements and two electronic remixes. The album was released independently on October 7, 2016, with distribution in Poland by Polish label
My Music. In the same year Patrzałek became a finalist in the International Fingerstyle Competition Guitar Masters and next year won first prize in the International Classical Guitar Joaquin Rodrigo Competition. In March 2018 it was announced that Patrzałek had become an official endorser of
Ibanez
is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as ...
guitars - he plays the AE900-NT model. Around this time he started gaining notoriety due to his solo guitar arrangement videos he posted on YouTube. His 2016 arrangement of "
Toxicity
Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...
" by
System of a Down
System of a Down (also known as SoaD or simply System) is an Armenian-American heavy metal band formed in Glendale, California, in 1994. Since 1997, the band has consisted of Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards); Daron Malakian (guitar, voc ...
became his first video to amass tens of millions of views on YouTube and Facebook. Other endorsements such as
Fishman and
Elixir Strings were soon to follow.
In 2018 Marcin Patrzałek became the winner of a major talent show for the second time. He was victorious in the fifth edition of ''Tu Si Que Vales'' in Italy. During his audition Patrzałek played his viral Beethoven's 5th Symphony arrangement and received four positive votes from the judges as well as 100% "yes" votes from the
live studio audience
A studio audience is an audience present for the recording of all or part of a television program or radio program. The primary purpose of the studio audience is to provide applause and/or laughter to the program's soundtrack (as opposed to canned ...
; the judges gave Patrzałek a "golden buzzer" pass to the final. There he performed original arrangements of "Asturias" combined with "
Innuendo
An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...
" by
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
. Patrzalek competed against three other contestants in the final and won with over 50 percent of votes from the television audience.
On November 12, 2018, Patrzałek released his first EP titled ''revAMP'', a compilation record of his most popular arrangements. Earlier in the year an original single was released titled "Baba Yaga".
2019–present: ''America's Got Talent,'' record deal
After gaining more international recognition between his videos and talent show performances Marcin toured multiple countries and continents in 2018 and 2019.
In 2019, he auditioned for
season 14 of ''America's Got Talent''. During the judge cuts round, he was one of seven acts that successfully advanced to the live shows round
[Archived a]
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
but eventually eliminated at semi-finals. His performances broadened his audience and led to him signing an exclusive contract with Sony Masterworks, a division of Sony Music.
So far, two singles were released under the imprint: "Moonlight Sonata," and "Snow Monkey". Both tracks were produced by Marcin and include additional modern electronic elements. The former quickly became one of Patrzałek's most popular releases, while the latter includes heavy
reggaeton
Reggaeton (, ), also known as reggaetón and reguetón (), is a music style that originated in Panama during the late 1980s. It was later popularized in Puerto Rico.
It has evolved from dancehall and has been influenced by American Hip hop m ...
influences uncharacteristic for his previous work and fingerstyle guitar in general. During the
coronavirus pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
he gathered millions of followers on social media platforms Instagram and TikTok due to his increased activity.
In March of 2022 Patrzałek was a special guest at a series of 7 concerts at the
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
in London, as part of the
''Classical Spectacular'' show. Soon after, he released his first official collaboration on YouTube - a duet with Japanese guitarist
Ichika Nito.
Marcin is said to be working on his major label debut album.
Albums
References
External links
Official websiteMarcin website at Sony Masterworks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patrzalek, Marcin
2000 births
Living people
Polish guitarists
21st-century guitarists
America's Got Talent contestants