Rock pianist Marco Benevento is a lifelong musician with a passion for instrumental sounds. Benevento will perform at the 8×10 in Baltimore on Saturday, Feb. 25. Tickets are available online or at the door.

The Towerlight: When did you first take up the piano?

Marco Benevento: I took lessons as a kid, but the things that really sparked me along the way at a young age were synthesizers and little keyboards and stuff. It kind of opened up a new door for me as a kid. Taking piano lessons is kind of boring overall, especially when you’re a kid. So sitting down in front of a synthesizer and having tons of different sounds and just scrolling through them and hearing it in your headphones is kind of a big turn-on for me. It made me sit down at the keyboard a little longer than I would have sat down at a piano.

TL: Did you always know you wanted to pursue music as a career?

MB: No, definitely not. I was into sports. I was into soccer and all sorts of different things. Music was always there, though. My dad liked to sing and my uncle played guitar and stuff. It was always a family thing. I didn’t really decide that I was going to go to music college until my junior or even senior year of high school. I applied to Berkley College of Music and got in and I just fell in love with playing music all day while I was there. It was so much fun. I actually went to Berkley as a film scoring major and I also wanted to do audio engineering, like audio recording and stuff like that. But while I was there, I switched majors to performance.

TL: So you’re pretty lucky you’ve found what you love.

MB: Yeah, I am. Now that I see it, how some people are still searching for jobs, some people are even still searching for what they want to do, never mind a job. It just sort of became the thing that I liked and I was fortunate enough to turn it into a way to vie for my life. I’ve got two kids now.

TL: How have you developed such an old school style with your music?

MB: I’m a big fan of the instruments that stand the test the time. The piano is one, for example. And you know the good thing about vinyl is that people are kind of more interested in it now than ever before. I actually sell more records than my CDs. It’s like having the big artwork.And it’s such an old thing that’s coming back and is now becoming this collector’s sort of thing.

TL: A lot of artists are now putting out vinyl.

MB: When you put on a record at home, it really sounds different than an MP3. It’s kind of nice to hear. When you’re recording your stuff you’re not recording it in MP3 quality. You’re recording it in the highest quality you can. So it’s nice to have that outlet for people who really want to hear those nuances and having every single production aspect on the vinyl.

TL: You’re known for rock piano. How do you combine that with your old-school style?

MB: Rock piano has been around since like the late 50s with Gerry Lee Lewis, but I don’t know if they called it rock. But I mean, rock piano has been around for a while, especially with rock piano stars like Elton John. So that’s pop-rock piano kind of stuff. I’m sort of blending this version of that pop-rock element with a more experimental sound. One of the biggest ways that it’s experimental is that it’s instrumental music. I think that getting into jazz along the way maybe kind of steered me in that direction. I’ve just have always liked instrumental music. Anytime I heard an instrumental track on the radio like Booker T. or even like Axel F. and like “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” by the Allman Brothers, I always liked that element with just all music.

TL: Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

MB: Oh, on a beach. No, I have no idea. It’s been a constant growth for me – touring and playing music. I’m constantly interacting with different musicians. I just worked with John McEntire, the drummer from Tortoise. So 10 years from now I would like to maybe do some more collaborating with people like John. I’ve collaborated with Matt Chamberlain, another great drummer, this guy from Phish, and Trey and Mike the guitarist and bass player. I could see myself meeting people along the way and doing some shows with some people. I could see myself recording from home in the future, too.

TL: Can you tell us about your new album?

MB: I have a new seven-inch record, also known as a 45-inch record, that’s out. There’s a song on each side. So that’s out and about. You can see it online. It doesn’t have a name, but the two songs on it are definitely worth mentioning. The first song on side A is called “Escape Horse.” And the song on side B is called “Fireworks.” On side A, the guys playing are Mike Gordon, the bass player from Phish, and Matt Chamberlain, the drummer with lots of people, mainly Tori Amos. On side B is with Andrew Bar, the drummer from the Bar Brothers and the bass player’s name is Reed Mathis.

TL: Would you ever consider singing?

MB: Yeah, absolutely, I am considering it actually. I just haven’t yet. I don’t know why. I like girls’ voices better, like on my new record I have the girl from Rebel Buckets. Her name is Cal. She’s on one of the new tracks. I also wrote lyrics to one of my tunes with my wife and had her sing on it. So those doors are there. They’re half-way open.

– Compiled by Megan Flannery