EP. 93 - Faceless musician Marino on his music getting 100M+ Spotify streams

Eric (0:05)

Why the mask?

SPEAKER_1 (0:06)

I literally did not want to be seen.

Eric (0:08)

Are you an industry plant?

SPEAKER_1 (0:09)

Spotify. Thought that Marino was an AI project.

Eric (0:12)

Are you willing to play something that you haven't shared publicly yet?

SPEAKER_1 (0:15)

For sure, here we go.

Eric (0:17)

Got a little teary man, I was like, that was beautiful. Could you take off the bag?

SPEAKER_1 (0:21)

I guess, here we go.

Eric (0:29)

This is Marino. He blew up this year, hitting 8 million monthly Spotify listeners, 100 million plays on a song, and number 14 on the Billboard music charts. He's 23 Seeing songs from his bedroom with a bag on his head. Today, he shares everything. Why he hides his identity, how Spotify thought he was AI, and new unreleased music he's playing live. Watch this pod to learn why Marino is the future of music. And if you're a creator, my company, Karat, helps creators with business finances. We're giving sign up bonuses to creators setting up business banking with Karat. Learn more via link below. Marino, over 8 million monthly Spotify listeners, a hit song with over 100 million plays. You're ranked number 14 on the Billboard charts. Your music has blown up. How do you feel?

SPEAKER_1 (1:17)

I feel amazing. It's honestly just insane to see that it's done all this, and I've never left my house really while making it. It's honestly, I didn't expect it at all.

Eric (1:26)

Why the mask?

SPEAKER_1 (1:27)

Well, I've never been too fond of showing my face, but I think for me, the mask really symbolizes being insecure about your physical self, your mental self, just everything, and having that anxiety and just wanting to hide yourself. I mean, when I was going through my worst anxiety, I literally did not want to be seen. I stayed in the house 24-7. So, I think the bag kind of just represents seclusion, pulling away from regular life and just not want to show yourself. Another thing is when you're not the most attractive or whatever, it can be kind of hard to want to show yourself on the internet, and sometimes the internet is harsh. I mean, the way music is, is you have to promote it with TikTok, Instagram, YouTube shorts, all these things, right? I hate to say it, but in some senses, if you're not the most attractive, some people might swipe immediately.

Eric (2:20)

It feels almost the mask protects you, because you're scared to let people see who you are.

SPEAKER_1 (2:29)

Exactly.

Eric (2:30)

It's through Marino, through this mask, that you can share and talk about these feelings of anxiety and fear. Can I ask, do you like how you look?

SPEAKER_1 (2:42)

I would say no.

Eric (2:44)

I'm gonna ask another question from like that. Do you like yourself?

SPEAKER_1 (2:48)

Depends. I would say it's really the physical that I've always had problems with. The more mental side of things. I think I've come to love the way or like the way that I am and operate, even if it is a little bit weird and stuff. And I guess with the anxiety, you kind of can be harsh on yourself and think like, why am I like this? Why can I just be like this? Like why can I not be like this person or whatever? I've always had this weird relationship with ego and confidence and then like self-hatred and stuff like that. Like I feel like sometimes I'm so self-confident and then I get knocked down or or there's other parts of me that aren't confident at all.

Eric (3:33)

Can I ask the design of the mask too? Did you come up with that?

SPEAKER_1 (3:39)

Yeah, I mean, the first mask looks a lot different than what the mask looks like now. It's always been drawn on just a paper bag.

Eric (3:48)

Yeah, I'm looking at it. It's literally just a paper bag.

SPEAKER_1 (3:52)

Yeah, I can't even see through this thing right now.

Eric (3:54)

Yeah, you're completely blind right now.

SPEAKER_1 (3:57)

But I'm hoping to upgrade it soon to try and get to the point of where I can see through it really well and be able to perform in the future with it. But yeah, I mean, it was just my idea. Just like put an X and a smile on a cardboard bag.

Eric (4:11)

The expression Marino has, is it happy?

SPEAKER_1 (4:14)

I would say it's forced happiness.

Eric (4:16)

Like a pained smile.

SPEAKER_1 (4:18)

Yeah, it can never go away. Like no matter how much I try, I mean, the smile is not going to go away.