Full Name: Edward Claude Marubini
Age: 36
Birthday: 27 September 1977
Appearance: One would rarely describe Ted as very striking or commanding in presence, which is odd considering his 6 feet of height and reasonable build. Perhaps it's the slight slouch he usually has, the product of habitual bending over his guitar. Or it could be the unassuming manner he has, never quite relaxed but never quite tense, either. Generally speaking, he keeps himself looking average, with his hair cut at about a half-inch to an inch, businesslike. On-stage he's taken to wearing an old suit he found in a thrift shop with a button-down shirt to match, sometimes scrapping the jacket for an old olive-colored waistcoat. Off-stage he is more casual, but rarely will you see him wearing a T-shirt. He prefers collars.
Role: Lead and Rhythm Guitar in Sturm
Musical Style: Ted's eternal dissatisfaction with what he perceived as one-dimensional riffs led inevitably to a more contrapuntal approach, with jazz-inspired chording and complimentary riffs. This carried over to Sturm, where he'll often employ this "lead rhythm" to fill space around Lionel's riffing. However, he can recognize when the riff demands unity over flair. Meanwhile, his lead style, thanks to his subpar technical memory, tends towards improvisation around a few "key" licks. These licks vary from trills to bebop-guitar arpeggios to furiously alt-picked "cascade" runs. He uses the neck pickup almost exclusively for soloing to get a smoother, horn-like tone with the lower gain. He considers his biggest influences to be Dave Murray, Grant Green, John McLaughlin, and Chuck Schuldiner.
Personality: Ted is overall rather quiet and serious in person, but a fairly good conversationalist. He simply prefers talking less more often. In the studio, however, he can change quickly, becoming a relentless perfectionist, both to himself and to his bandmates, leading to some strain during records...unless things go well. On-stage he is similarly reserved, focusing primarily on his playing. He has a noticeable Baltimore accent, tinged slightly with a Boston accent.
Biography: Edward Marubini grew up in Upper Fell's Point, Baltimore, MD. Like many middle-class kids, he took piano lessons courtesy of his parents, but his heart wasn't in it. Eventually, spurred on by a love for Iron Maiden, he took up guitar in middle school. He stuck with it and played in various short-lived bands through high school. With music as his main passion, he decided to apply for Berklee College of Music, and succeeded. Though he played primarily jazz at Berklee, Ed also took a liking to jazz-influenced metal bands, like Death and Cynic. He played in a speed metal band, called Kary, for two years under the stage name of Ed Sturm (bandleader's idea, don't even ask). After graduating from Berklee (1998), he moved to New York City to play with his fellow graduate Matthew Holmes, forming the Stormcloud Trio with drummer Paul Dupré. After a few years of Stormcloud, session work, and some teaching, Ed began feeling the urge to play a heavier style of music, and answered an advert by the (in)famous Izzie Martinez to start a metal fusion group. The group, Sturm&Drang, released a self-titled CD before breaking up because of intractable musical and personal conflicts.
Shaken by the experience (which he prefers not to talk about), Ed moved back to Baltimore. Unfortunately,
Sturm&Drang's reputation preceded him, in more ways than just music. Few bands that wanted to play with the Great Jazzhole Ed Marubini (though he had to admit that one was clever), so he started going by Ted. With his new nickname, he joined a thrash metal band called "Evil" and took up teaching for a day-job. Ted eventually left Evil, feeling restricted, and composed some solo material for a while before joining area trumpeter Maurice Anderson's new quartet.
A few months after the Quartet made its live debut, Ted met Bey Jackson, and they formed the alternative/power metal band Cor Leonis with Charlotte King on drums, Don Roberts on bass, and Carson Roberts on vocals, Ted (under his old alias of Ed Sturm) playing lead guitar and Bey playing rhythm along with piano and co-lead vocals. They released a self-titled record to mixed reviews. Don got the boot shortly thereafter, and Carson quit after "difficulties" with Bey. Ted took up vocals as best he could, and they got by with session bassists for a while. With the partial lineup, they entered the studio again.
The first day in the studio proved to be a big shakeup for Cor Leonis, as Bey abruptly left the band and cut off contact with Ted. The same day, Victor Holden joined the band. With only two original members remaining, they rebranded as an instrumental trio and recorded the EP
Rebirth. The EP released quietly but to some positive reviews. They hit the Baltimore clubs with a vengeance, and started to gain a reputation for their frequently improvisatory shows.
A few months after the release of
Rebirth, Cor Leonis played a gig with a mediocre band named Trap, with one Lionel Anderson on lead guitar. Ted and Lionel struck up a friendship almost immediately, and Ted invited him to jam with Cor Leonis after Trap fell apart. After some jamming, they found potential. However, due to the difference from Cor Leonis's self-titled and EP, a name change was in order. Ted remembered his old stage name, and the band christened themselves...Sturm.
Gear: Ted's first guitar was a Greco strat copy, unfortunately destroyed in an onstage accident. Not long after that, he got a
Taylor acoustic, which stays at home nowadays, strung up with flats. Shortly before leaving for Berklee, he (with parental help, obviously) purchased a blue Les Paul Studio Lite, which he named
Blue Fire. With eventual exchange of the pickups for a secondhand Bill Lawrence set and coil-splitters hidden in the volume knobs, it became his primary guitar through the '90s and 2000s, up through Cor Leonis in both its incarnations. Shortly after Sturm was formed, Ted went to buy fresh strings and found an old Ibanez Destroyer. Something about its sound struck him as perfect for Sturm (he eventually concluded it was the pickups, one of which was a replacement and the other of which was rewound, both anonymously). He bought it immediately and named it
Philosopher.
Blue Fire and Philosopher are his two main guitars nowadays, with Blue Fire being tuned to Drop-C and Philosopher to D Standard normally. On the "Unexpected Tour" he restrung Blue Fire for D Standard and brought it as his sole guitar. He plays into a Blackstar 50-watt amp and a 412 cab. His pedals are a Boss compressor (always on), a Tube Screamer (slight boost for leads), and an MXR Chorus (for leads, cleans, and "texturing").
Ted's bandography (does not include session work):
Ever Ending (new-wave) (1989-1990) (guitar/synth)
Blackout (hard rock) (1991-93) (rhythm guitar)
Ed, Edd, and Eddy (yes, really) (comedy rock) (December 1992) (guitar/straightman)
The Sign of Four (acoustic jazz-rock) (1993-94) (guitar/leader)
Stormcloud Trio (jazz-fusion) (1995-2004) (guitar)
Kary (speed metal) (1994-96) (rhythm guitar, as Ed Sturm)
E&A (acoustic jazz) (1995-1998) (guitar)
Sturm&Drang (hard rock/fusion) (2004) (guitar, last time as Ed Marubini)
Evil (thrash metal) (2004-2005) (rhythm and lead guitar, as Ed Sturm)
Maurice Anderson Quartet (cool jazz) (2006-present) (guitar, first time as Ted Marubini)
Cor Leonis (alternative/power metal) (2006-2009) (lead guitar/vocals/co-leader, last time as Ed Sturm)
Cor Leonis II (fusion/experimental metal) (2009-2010) (guitar/leader)
Sturm (melodic death/thrash metal) (2010-present) (lead and rhythm guitar)