The Biography

Marco Minnemann (born December 24, 1970 in Hanover) is a German drummer. Minnemann moved to Munich at the age of 19, where he became the drummer in the crossover band Freaky Fukin Weirdoz in 1992. Along the way, he founded the progressive rock project Illegal Aliens with singer Artemis Gounaki. In 1997, he joined the H-Blockx, with whom he remained until 1999. In the following years, he worked with Paul Gilbert, Udo Lindenberg, Paddy Kelly, Terry Bozzio, Chad Wackerman, Wolfgang Schmid, Kreator, Mike Keneally and Nena, among others. As one of seven drummers, he was invited by the band Dream Theater to audition in October 2010 to find a successor to Mike Portnoy, who had left the band in September 2010. The bonus DVD of A Dramatic Turn of Events, released in 2011, includes the film of the rehearsals and auditions. He has been active in the fusion trio Aristocrats since 2011. He also played drums on Steven Wilson's 2012 world tour with his solo album Grace for Drowning. In 2013, he played on the recordings of Steven Wilson's third solo album The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) and the subsequent tour. He then played with Joe Satriani on his tour. In 2013, Levin Minnemann Rudess appeared with Tony Levin and Jordan Rudess. Since January 2016, he has also been the drummer of “The Mute Gods”, a project by Nick Beggs, who became known as the singer/bassist of the band Kajagoogoo and also plays in Steven Wilson's band. Since 2017 he has been the drummer in the progressive rock supergroup The Sea Within with members Roine Stolt, Daniel Gildenlöw, Jonas Reingold and Tom Brislin (Camel).