Bassist Joey DeMaio celebrates his birthday today and this is a good opportunity to tell you some interesting facts about him:
(Photo: Ultimate-guitar.com)
1. He was born on March 6, 1954, in the city of Auburn in New York.
2. He is a childhood friend of the singer Eric Adams with whom he will form the band "Manowar".
3. He began his musical career as a bass player in several school bands.
4. He went on tour as part of the musical Godspell which debuted on Broadway in 1971, where he received playing lessons from the conductor.
5. This isn't the only musical Let Joey be involved. He was also acclaimed as musical director and bass player for the touring productions of "Jesus Christ Superstar", "Hair", and "Charlie Brown".
6. He worked as a pyrotechnics man as part of the concert tour designed to promote the album "Heaven And Hell" by "Black Sabbath".
7. During the tour, Joey met the guitarist Ross the Boss who was part of the punk-rock band "The Dictators", which opened for "Black Sabbath".
8. They immediately became friends and decided to form a band, following Ronnie James Dio's suggestion during the tour.
9. At the end of the tour with "Black Sabbath", in 1980, the two formed "Manowar". They added drummer Donnie Hamzik and singer Eric Adams, a former classmate, and friend of DeMaio.
10. In 1981 the band received a recording contract and in 1982 released their debut album "Battle Hymns".
11. Starting with the debut album "Battle Hymns" DeMaio became the leader and main writer of the band, with whom he released 11 studio albums until 2014.
12. Also starting with the debut album, Joey began to be involved in the production of a significant part of "Manowar" albums.
13. He developed a very unique, virtuosic, and distinctive playing style and sound on the bass guitar, turning the instrument into a leading instrument.
14. In addition to his unique bass playing, DeMaio also sings, plays keyboards and, as of 2018, also plays guitar on the band's albums.
15. In 2003 he founded a record company called "Magic Circle Music" which also became the band's record company. The company soon expanded into the "Magic Circle Entertainment Group" which Joey manages with his international team of talented business professionals.
16. In 2007 "Magic Circle Entertainment Group" hosted its first music festival, "Magic Circle Festival" which has since become a household name for true metal fans all over the world.
17. In 2006 he became the manager of the Italian metal band "Rhapsody of Fire".
18. He also serves as an album producer for the American symphonic metal band "HolyHell".
19. In 2012, DeMaio wrote his first song for the action film "El Gringo".
20. In 2015, he collaborated with the game developer "Hi-Rez Studios", USA, and provided music for their online game "SMITE".
21. Joey has a Ph.D. in musical arts.
22. He appears as a special guest conductor of the "Cologne Youth Symphony Orchestra" in Germany.