~Mario Calire~

"He [Dylan] has obvious advantages to being the songwriter, but there’s a whole other side of it, which is more work, less privacy, and so I’m really happy with my role. I can walk around and most of the time people don’t bother me or recognize me. But if you go with Jake, everybody hounds him. That’s just the way it is. That’s the flip side to success."

"My very first gig was hysterical,” Mario recalls. “I haven’t had as weird a gig since. We were playing background music for a miniature horse auction! Since then I’ve done everything from all-nighters in smoky blues clubs to putting on a tux and playing at a wedding."

”My dad raised me with the attitude that you should be as versatile as you can in order to work. You can learn form every kind of music. It’s all valid. My father was more of a blues, R&B, jazz, rock, funk, boogie woogie guy. I was raised on equal doses of that stuff, and I liked it all."

"A lot of times you’re playing in front of nothing but strangers. The challenge there is to concentrate on the music. It may be the hundredth show you’ve played, but it’s the first time those people have seen you. They’re playing good money to see you play, so you owe it to them to do a good job.”

"I can’t tell you how stoked I am!" -Mario on his Singerland drums.

"People’s biggest misconception is that this life is really glamorous. They don’t see you getting off the bus at 5:00 in the morning and stumbling into the hotel, feeling like hell. That’s the reality of it. But I have nothing to complain about. I feel very blessed to be doing what I’m doing, and I don’t take any of it for granted. This is my dream, and I’m living it. I always wanted to go out on the road and play music and do like my dad did.”

"The Hammer is actually something Mike came up with. I thought it was a diss because of MC Hammer.  He denied it. The kid is a name I got because I was so young when I joined the band." -Mario explaining his nicknames the Hammer and the kid.  from the 12.17.01 chat at the official site