Marcus Curly is the frontman of Unreal Underground and responsible for composing the band’s songs.
Curly was an avid member of the underground music scene in the 80s. After serious health problems in the 90s and 2000s, he began a six-year composition project in 2018.
While the composition work was underway, in 2019 Marcus accidentally found a pile of sheet music from songs he had composed before he became ill while cleaning an outdoor storage building.
Through these events, Marcus has accumulated over a hundred compositions, of which over 40 have been recorded between 2019 and 2026. Nine of the songs have been released between November 2024 and January 2026 on major streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Deezer, YouTube, etc. The remaining songs are being finalized in collaboration with artistic producer Von Kilvio. The aim is to release songs every 1-2 months.
Marcus Curly’s musical background
In his early teens, Marcus listened to a lot of American country music such as Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, etc.
Unlike his circle of friends, his listening list also included classical music, such as Mozart, Vivaldi, Wagner and, as a Finn, of course, Sibelius – this may have been because Marcus’ mother worked as a music teacher in his youth and she occasionally took young Marcus to classical music concerts.
As a big movie fan, film music also played an important role, and the LP collection included records by Ennio Morricone, Jerry Goldsmith, and Nino Rota, among others.
As a teenager, Marcus had a great musical awakening when the radio began to play legends from the 70s and 80s such as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, ZZ Top, Eagles and David Bovie.
Although there had been instruments in his childhood home, from Hammond organs to accordions, playing himself had not previously inspired Marcus. However, the guitar playing of Tommi Iommi, Ritchie Blackmore, Billy Gibbons and Mick Ronson was so magical that he had to get his own guitar at the age of 14. First an acoustic guitar as a birthday present and a couple of years later a Stratocaster with the summer salary he earned through his own hard work.
As a musician, Marcus has not received formal musical training, but taught himself to play the guitar. In addition to playing the guitar, the Hammond organ was often in heavy use after school, inspired by classic film music. Music theory and the ability to read and write music came into the picture in his teens (under pressure from his mother).