Simply put, there are few musicians in Fresno that parallel the skill and mastery of their instrument as demonstrated by bassist Marino Mongelli, more commonly known as Spacehooker.
As a performer that pairs electronic mixes with scorching bass riffs and gritty vocals, Spacehooker offers a one of a kind experience for local music fans.
Spacehooker’s unique sound, loosely labeled as industrial funk, produces a tremendous amount of audience feedback and energy.
The master bassist’s creativity comes from several influential sources.
“When [my brother and I] grew up, my dad was super heavy into jazz,” said Mongelli. “I think I was blessed in always having music in the house. We’d wake up in the morning and he’d have something mellow in the background while he was cooking in the morning, you know?”
His style also derives from his brother’s developing tastes during their childhood.
“Watching my brother grow up, he was always in funk bands and kind of soulful bands, just because that’s what we grew up listing to,” said Mongelli. “And then he kind of ventured out and started showing me these tapes of like Sabbath. He sent me a couple of Sabbith albums when I was young, and it f—ed me up in a good way.”
He continued to develop his breadth of skills fresh out of high school when he twice toured Europe.
“That was with a band from here called ‘Mindbender,’” said Mongelli, who describes the band as a melding of Alice in Chains and Primus. “We’d do it during summer. Every time we went there, we had the time of our lives, man. The band was pretty decent, too. We went over really well.”
With more relaxed laws, touring in areas including the Czech Republic, France and Germany was preferable to the restrictions of performing at local venues.
“I was young. We’d be playing bars around here and I’d have to sit outside and wait until we were on and go inside, play it, and then I’d have to split right after.”
Mongelli founded Spacehooker and released his first album, “Deth Funk” in 2010. The project was based on a culmination of his tastes, his experiences and provides him with an outlet to share some of his unpublished musical ideas.
“It’s just a melding pot of a lot of the s–t I listen to, you know?” said the 40 year old. “As far as Spacehooker goes, I think I had a lot of insight to start this thing because in the most recent band that I was in, I had tons of ideas. But toward the end, we just really weren’t hitting with each other. I had all that s–t recorded somewhere, and figured that eventually, I’d use it.”
On Saturday, April 27, Spacehooker performed at the Babylon for the CD release party of his second album, “The Bionic Demo.” The powerful and fast paced album demonstrates the strength of his electronic compositions in addition to his incredible skill on bass guitar.
Although Spacehooker’s latest music is currently only available for purchase at his live performances, concert bootlegs are available on YouTube that showcase his incredible talent.
“I’m going to start working on a little video thing for one of the songs,” said Mongelli. “As soon as I get that done, I’ll start getting the music out there and start sending the CD everywhere. I definitely want to get it out there.”
The next opportunity to catch Spacehooker live is at Crazy J’s in Tulare on Saturday, June 8. A local Starline performance is tentatively scheduled for sometime in late June as well.
For more information and updates, search for “Spacehooker” on Facebook.
