Marc Ziegenhagen

This photo: ©1998 Christian Heilman

name : Marc Ziegenhagen

age :

place of residence : Minneapolis, MN

occupation : Pinball Wizard and part-time Monkey (Simian)

favorite MK-BFD album : All of 'em, are you kidding?

favorite MK-BFD song : "The Desired Effect, "Blameless", "Natty Trousers" and "Frang Tang the Valentine Bear". That sensitive shit KILLS me.

personal profile : Hiya. I've been asked to say/type a bit about myself. I don't often get the chance to do this, plus I'm doing laundry right now so this could turn out a bit soapy, but I'm sure it'll come out in the rinse cycle. New paragraph? OK.
Mom sez I started playing piano when I was 3. I can't imagine WHAT the hell I could've possibly played at that age, but I know that by the time I was in 6th grade I was playing songs off the radio which were popular in that day (Styx, Journey, Little River Band, ad nausium) plus bunches of popular TV show and movie themes of the day (Starskey & Hutch and Star Wars come to mind). My parents wanted me to take lessons at one point, and I think I took three before I stepped on a piece of wood with a rusty nail sticking up from it on the way back from a lesson and had to get tetnis shots and, well, that was the end of my piano lessons. I thought I was good enough to not need anyone to teach me at that time. God was I a spearmint pup. New paragraph? K!

My first live gig was with a band I formed (through an add in the community newspaper my mom started in our basement in 1975) and which I named "FYRE" (which stood for "For Your Rockin' Entertainment" [yep, I was a pup]). Our first gig was at a "battle of the bands" at the local roller skating rink called "Skateville". Miraculously, it still stands to this very day (although the drive-in movie theater next door has since been replaced by a commuter bus terminal). We played mostly Journey, Styx, Foreigner (hey, I was 13 at the time and still immersed in the throes of FM radio boredom, sorry to say) and also a handful of songs by Rush and Kansas (boy we thought we were hip). We may have done some Night Ranger too, I'm not sure. We also did some Loverboy. New paragraph, please.

So I played in a couple of bands throughout Junior and High school's, then after graduating in '85 I took a year off to play with this "power trio" band in which I covered bass with a Mini Moog and some Tarus Pedals. The band was called "Future Gleem" (which had nothing to do with tooth paste but would stick to your teeth if you weren't careful). I should have flossed more often, in retrospect. The band never went anywhere or did anything (we played almost all originals) and so, in October of '86 I answered an add in the Big Twin Cities Newspaper for a band that was working full time and needed a keyboardist and promised lots of travel.

This band was called...well, when I joined them, they didn't have a name. But soon they would. I'll get to that (and geezus, I hope someone is interested in reading all this bizness). We played top 40 variety and classic rock. My favorite tunes with them were "Foreplay/Long Time" by Boston and "Lazy" by Deep Purple. We also did some David Lee Roth tunes and I enjoyed doubling the guitar parts of Steve Vai with the guitarist on those numbers. Oh, we also did some Steely Dan (finally I was playing something worthwhile). We played out of town dates for weeks at a time, doing 5-day long stints in clubs during most of those weeks.

Meanwhile, I had been getting more and more into King Crimson, Gentle Giant, and Zappa, but that's jumping ahead a whole lot.

One morning, waking up at a hotel somewhere in North Dakota, the drummer shows me the cover of a National Geographic magazine and says "here's our new name!". I said "National Geographic?!?". He says "no, look closer". There's a picture of a zebra and a gazelle on the cover. Great. "Zebra's and Gazelles". Hm. The title of the article says "Animals of the Serengetti". Yes, they had decided in their epiphany to call the band "Serengetti". Catchy name, doncha think? Doh. I had my doubts.

Anyway, we toured and traveled the bar circuit for 9 months in ND, SD, Minnesota and one horrible week-long gig in Thunder Bay. Somewhere along the way, in early '87, I'd become more absorbed with Steve Vai and what he'd done when he was my age. I'd read about Berklee College of Music through his interviews, did some investigating, and finally decided that I no longer wanted to be the self-taught keyboard wizard bar-room-playing dickface that I'd become. I wanted to go to Berklee and learn to transcribe Frank Zappa music and learn to write music on paper without an instrument nearby.

That's what I ended up doing, and things would never again be the same.

Damn, I gotta go put my wet clothes in the dryer and fold the dry ones. Well, I do think that's enough of a bio for now, don't you? If not and you want more, e-mail me and if the responce is good enough, I'll try 'n finish the story. Otherwise, you've read all that you need to know about Marc Ziegenhagen! Danka shane, oh darlin' danka shane.

link to homepage : Someday, not yet, but for now, you know where to look, yes?

and : This page COMPLETELY kicks ass - almost rivals Mike's page in it's depth and brilliance - and the MK/BFD fans I've met and correspond with are the most sincere and generous people in the world! In fact, "fans" does not do you justice. You all feel much more like friends to me. Seriously. I am so glad that we're an "accessible" band (correspondence wise, of course, DOH!) and that we are able to interact so closely with you all. It feels wonderful.
That's 'bout it. Cheers, y'all.

last update: 5/9/99

name :	Marc Ziegenhagen
age :
place of residence :	Minneapolis, MN
occupation :	Pinball Wizard and part-time Monkey (Simian)
favorite MK-BFD album :	All of 'em, are you kidding?
favorite MK-BFD song :	"The Desired Effect, "Blameless", "Natty Trousers" and "Frang Tang the Valentine Bear". That sensitive shit KILLS me.
personal profile :	Hiya. I've been asked to say/type a bit about myself. I don't often get the chance to do this, plus I'm doing laundry right now so this could turn out a bit soapy, but I'm sure it'll come out in the rinse cycle. New paragraph? OK. Mom sez I started playing piano when I was 3. I can't imagine WHAT the hell I could've possibly played at that age, but I know that by the time I was in 6th grade I was playing songs off the radio which were popular in that day (Styx, Journey, Little River Band, ad nausium) plus bunches of popular TV show and movie themes of the day (Starskey & Hutch and Star Wars come to mind). My parents wanted me to take lessons at one point, and I think I took three before I stepped on a piece of wood with a rusty nail sticking up from it on the way back from a lesson and had to get tetnis shots and, well, that was the end of my piano lessons. I thought I was good enough to not need anyone to teach me at that time. God was I a spearmint pup. New paragraph? K! My first live gig was with a band I formed (through an add in the community newspaper my mom started in our basement in 1975) and which I named "FYRE" (which stood for "For Your Rockin' Entertainment" [yep, I was a pup]). Our first gig was at a "battle of the bands" at the local roller skating rink called "Skateville". Miraculously, it still stands to this very day (although the drive-in movie theater next door has since been replaced by a commuter bus terminal). We played mostly Journey, Styx, Foreigner (hey, I was 13 at the time and still immersed in the throes of FM radio boredom, sorry to say) and also a handful of songs by Rush and Kansas (boy we thought we were hip). We may have done some Night Ranger too, I'm not sure. We also did some Loverboy. New paragraph, please. So I played in a couple of bands throughout Junior and High school's, then after graduating in '85 I took a year off to play with this "power trio" band in which I covered bass with a Mini Moog and some Tarus Pedals. The band was called "Future Gleem" (which had nothing to do with tooth paste but would stick to your teeth if you weren't careful). I should have flossed more often, in retrospect. The band never went anywhere or did anything (we played almost all originals) and so, in October of '86 I answered an add in the Big Twin Cities Newspaper for a band that was working full time and needed a keyboardist and promised lots of travel. This band was called...well, when I joined them, they didn't have a name. But soon they would. I'll get to that (and geezus, I hope someone is interested in reading all this bizness). We played top 40 variety and classic rock. My favorite tunes with them were "Foreplay/Long Time" by Boston and "Lazy" by Deep Purple. We also did some David Lee Roth tunes and I enjoyed doubling the guitar parts of Steve Vai with the guitarist on those numbers. Oh, we also did some Steely Dan (finally I was playing something worthwhile). We played out of town dates for weeks at a time, doing 5-day long stints in clubs during most of those weeks. Meanwhile, I had been getting more and more into King Crimson, Gentle Giant, and Zappa, but that's jumping ahead a whole lot. One morning, waking up at a hotel somewhere in North Dakota, the drummer shows me the cover of a National Geographic magazine and says "here's our new name!". I said "National Geographic?!?". He says "no, look closer". There's a picture of a zebra and a gazelle on the cover. Great. "Zebra's and Gazelles". Hm. The title of the article says "Animals of the Serengetti". Yes, they had decided in their epiphany to call the band "Serengetti". Catchy name, doncha think? Doh. I had my doubts. Anyway, we toured and traveled the bar circuit for 9 months in ND, SD, Minnesota and one horrible week-long gig in Thunder Bay. Somewhere along the way, in early '87, I'd become more absorbed with Steve Vai and what he'd done when he was my age. I'd read about Berklee College of Music through his interviews, did some investigating, and finally decided that I no longer wanted to be the self-taught keyboard wizard bar-room-playing dickface that I'd become. I wanted to go to Berklee and learn to transcribe Frank Zappa music and learn to write music on paper without an instrument nearby. That's what I ended up doing, and things would never again be the same. Damn, I gotta go put my wet clothes in the dryer and fold the dry ones. Well, I do think that's enough of a bio for now, don't you? If not and you want more, e-mail me and if the responce is good enough, I'll try 'n finish the story. Otherwise, you've read all that you need to know about Marc Ziegenhagen! Danka shane, oh darlin' danka shane.
link to homepage :	Someday, not yet, but for now, you know where to look, yes?
and :	This page COMPLETELY kicks ass - almost rivals Mike's page in it's depth and brilliance - and the MK/BFD fans I've met and correspond with are the most sincere and generous people in the world! In fact, "fans" does not do you justice. You all feel much more like friends to me. Seriously. I am so glad that we're an "accessible" band (correspondence wise, of course, DOH!) and that we are able to interact so closely with you all. It feels wonderful. That's 'bout it. Cheers, y'all.