{"id":47903,"date":"2021-03-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-22T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/features\/marc-ribler-the-daily-vault-interview\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T11:03:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T11:03:34","slug":"marc-ribler-the-daily-vault-interview","status":"publish","type":"feature","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/features\/marc-ribler-the-daily-vault-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Marc Ribler: The Daily Vault Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"marc-ribler-3_536\"<\/div>\n

A veteran of the rock \u2018n\u2019 roll industry, singer\/songwriter\/guitarist\/producer Marc Ribler has shared the stage with the likes of Steven Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, and many more. His career began in the mid \u201980s with the band Nightflyer. Their minor success opened the door to opportunities including opening for Sam & Dave, Sly And The Family Stone, and Rick Danko of The Band. Marc then settled into a rewarding career in the \u201990s as a songwriter for RCA. His songs have charted in the Billboard Top 100, the American Top 40, as well as in Canada and across the world. Marc currently holds down the responsibilities of lead guitar for fellow New Jersey native (and E Street Band member) Steven Van Zandt in his group Little Steven And The Disciples Of Soul.<\/p>\n

In addition to these accomplishments, Ribler has composed scores for commercials and television, including advertisements for V8 Juice, Green Mountain Coffee, and what he describes as \u201ca thought-provoking Trojan Condoms commercial.\u201d Marc has also had his hand in numerous shows benefitting charitable causes, including a \u201c50 Licks\u201d Rolling Stones tribute show benefitting the Asbury Angels foundation, and the “Empty Sky Memorial” benefit for surviving families of 9\/11. <\/i><\/p>\n

Ribler is a living proponent of the classic New Jersey rock \u2018n\u2019 roll sound that the world has come to love. \u201cThe Asbury Park Sound,\u201d as Marc describes it, is coursing through his veins. He is part of a legacy of rock pioneers including greats like Springsteen and Little Steven. With his third studio album, <\/i>The Whole World Awaits You, Marc Ribler intends to continue that legacy.<\/i><\/p>\n

Your third solo album is The Whole World Awaits You<\/i>, and the first single off of it is \u201cShattered.\u201d Those are some pretty poignant titles; what can you tell us about what they mean and how you came up with them?<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cShattered,\u201d I actually wrote with a friend of mine, Christina Aldendifer, in Nashville, but I forget who came up with the title. Obviously there\u2019s been other songs called \u201cShattered\u201d; you know the Stones had one. But it\u2019s a great verb\u2014it makes you think, \u201cWow, something\u2019s going on here,\u201d you know? When people break up, someone can get shattered. I think we\u2019ve all been shattered or maybe have shattered people in our lives, right? <\/p>\n

And how about The Whole World Awaits You<\/i>. What was the inspiration behind that?<\/b><\/p>\n

Well, I think that that\u2019s sort of like the grand question. It\u2019s our quest or journey. All the possibility that\u2019s ahead of us, you know, infinite possibilities. It\u2019s just this positive statement of what could be. We\u2019ve been through this really rough year, that\u2019s been really challenging for most people, maybe the most challenging of their lives. So it\u2019s sort of saying that this too shall pass, and there\u2019s unlimited possibilities for great things ahead. It\u2019s all part of this adventure.<\/p>\n

\"marc-ribler_600\"And \u201cShattered\u201d is the first single?<\/b><\/p>\n

Yeah, \u201cShattered\u201d was released a couple of weeks ago. It\u2019s the first single, an actual vinyl single. We\u2019re actually selling signed vinyl copies on my website. There will be a couple of other singles before the album comes out in July, but those will just be streaming, downloadable. This first one we actually did a vinyl pressing of it\u2014you know, old school, sit on the carpet, look at the cover while you watch the vinyl spin on your turntable.<\/p>\n

I think that a lot of people these days think \u201cOh, it\u2019s just streaming music.\u201d When I was kid, it was this whole experience about the world behind what made records. Like, who are all these people? Who are these musicians? The studios they were made at? The record companies that put it out? Who are the songwriters? So it\u2019s all this information that kind of blows past everybody right now, because if you\u2019re just streaming, you\u2019re just getting these soundbites. You\u2019re not getting the full experience.<\/p>\n

So I feel fortunate and I\u2019m really happy that a lot of people are getting back into vinyl, because it\u2019s like a meditation. You know, you put the tone arm on your record, you sit on the carpet cross-legged, you read the lyrics, it\u2019s like a whole meditation. I think it\u2019s a good way to slow down a little bit in this world that\u2019s moving so quickly all the time.<\/p>\n

Where did you record the album?<\/b><\/p>\n

I recorded all the basic tracks at a place in Long Branch, New Jersey called Shorefire Studios. The owner of that studio is a guy by the name of Joe Demaio and he\u2019s a great engineer. So I did the basic tracks there and then did most of the overdubs here at my home studio. Then when I was finishing the mixes during COVID, I had a friend of mine put on a trombone part from his home studio in New York. And another friend put on some trumpet from his studio. So those two pieces we did virtually, but the basic tracks and a lot of the album was recorded at Shorefire. I recorded the vocals at my studio.<\/p>\n

<\/b>Are the players on the album your solo band, or studio musicians?<\/b><\/p>\n

They\u2019re my guys in the sense that we\u2019ve been working together for years. Whenever I get a call to work, like when Steven Van Zandt called me to get a band together, these are the guys that I call. Rich Mercurio on drums, you know, he\u2019s worked with Sara Bareilles and Idina Menzel. Jack Daley, he was the bass player with Lenny Kravitz for many years. Andy Burton, the keyboardist, worked with John Mayer and Cindy Lauper. These are some of the best musicians on the planet. We\u2019re very close friends and we do very well on the road together.<\/p>\n

“Shattered” is reminiscent of that classic New Jersey rock \u2018n\u2019 roll sound that the world has come to love. Can you tell us a little about your influences for that song and the others on the record? <\/b><\/p>\n

In the \u201870s, I used to listen to this radio station called WABC; it was a pop station, but it was an incredible melting pot. On the radio would be The Eagles, The Jackson Five, The Rolling Stones, Simon And Garfunkel, this great spectrum of sounds. And probably growing up hearing songs like \u201cMr. Tambourine Man\u201d by the Byrds, its actually a Bob Dylan song, just those jangling sounds. The Eagles have a jangly, acoustic guitar driven sound, so probably some of the textures used on their records.<\/p>\n

When I write a song, I\u2019ll get out the palette and think about what colors to use. Some things have more aggressive guitars or drum parts. Some things might have some cool percussion parts. Actually the B-side of \u201cShattered\u201d is a song called \u201cHand Me Down,\u201d and we used East Indian percussion on it\u2014djembe, tabla. Every song kind of tells you what it wants to be if you keep your ears open. This sort of a jangly Americana rock thing.<\/p>\n

Do you play a 12-string guitar just on the record, or live as well?<\/b><\/p>\n

I play that live also. In fact when I was touring with Steven Van Zandt And The Disciples Of Soul, there were several songs where I would play the 12-string. I actually have one over here, it\u2019s quite a different sound. This is a Rickenbacker, a new Rick. [Plays a few chords.] It\u2019s like this jangle; the first four strings are tuned in octaves and it gives it a sparkle. What kind of music do you play? <\/p>\n

I play blues and soul music, Memphis music.<\/b><\/p>\n

Oh yeah. I play that stuff, too. I don\u2019t sing that way, but I certainly write music like that for other people. You know, a lot of American guitar players were influenced by British players playing blues. But they got it from Black American guitar players. It\u2019s kind of watered down. I learned the blues from people like Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, and Johnny Winter, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page. They all got it from Albert King, B.B. King. They got it from the kings. It went across the pond and came back and now it\u2019s everywhere.<\/p>\n

Yeah! I know that you\u2019ve played with some of the New Jersey greats. Could you share a couple of highlights from over the years?<\/b><\/p>\n

Well, touring with Steven And The Disciples of Soul has been a highlight. Steven is, as Peter Wolf from J. Geils calls him, the minster of rock and roll. He\u2019s the keeper of the flame. So, when we were in London, Paul McCartney came to the show, and the band was pretty explosive. It\u2019s a 15-piece band with horns, me and Steven play guitar, and there\u2019s great rhythm section. So, Paul came to the show and he wanted to sit in.<\/p>\n

Steven has relationships with all the rock royalty. One time in LA, Springsteen wanted to sit in with us. With Steven, I\u2019ve also played with Elvis Costello, who\u2019s just a great singer-front man. So yeah, through the years we just came in contact with these people either through Steven or from touring, in the studios, you kind of meet people. New Jersey certainly has a thing, that Asbury Park sound that Steven and Bruce brought to the world.
<\/b><\/p>\n

\"ribler_svz_bruce_638\"
<\/b>Marc Ribler, Steven Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen<\/i>
<\/b><\/div>\n


Very cool. And are you planning to tour once this records releases in July?<\/b><\/p>\n

We\u2019re talking about that, and hoping to, but I think until we get into a safer place with the pandemic it\u2019ll be a minute. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019ll be later in 2021. I can do local shows, but I don\u2019t know about flying and going overseas… that might not be until late in the year or 2022. But certainly, I\u2019m already planning some local shows. A lot of the venues in Jersey are now at 50% capacity. I\u2019ll probably stick to New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut until we get to herd immunity, where it\u2019s much less likely for people to get COVID. <\/p>\n

When can we expect the next single to come out?<\/b><\/p>\n

We\u2019re going to release the video for \u201cShattered\u201d later this month, probably around March 28th. And then the next single, a song called \u201cWho Could Ask For Anything More,\u201d will be out in early May. We\u2019ll release five singles before the album comes out on July 9th. People can go to my website, marcribler.com<\/a>, and get the vinyl singles there and my previous albums. <\/p>\n

One more question: a lot of people are trying to break into the music industry these days, just like always. Do you have any advice for young musicians that you want to share?<\/b><\/p>\n

Sure. The music business will lift you to the highest heights and it\u2019ll drop you from the top of a mountainside and crush your ass. It\u2019s all I\u2019ve ever done, and it\u2019s brought me great joy and it\u2019s brought me great stress and pain. You have to be willing to go through whatever you have to go through. Nowadays you have to have several different ways of making a living in music. Years ago, I was just writing songs and making money as a writer. I would gig, but I didn\u2019t have to rely on gigging. I would say to be as diversified as you can, be open to what you need to do to continue playing music. And enjoy yourself! Work with people who are like-minded and creative, who you can learn from, and who can learn from you. Enjoy the process, enjoy writing songs together, enjoy playing together. It\u2019s a community thing, you know? Get out there, play in front of as many people as you can, share your music. The audience will let you know whether or not you should be doing it. If it\u2019s in your heart to do it, follow your dream\u2014just know that it\u2019s not always going to be a beautiful sunny day. There\u2019s going to be some rain, some snow, some cold-ass weather. It\u2019s worth it if you really love it. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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