Friendly Rich

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Friendly Rich (real name Richard Marsella) is a Canadian avant-garde composer/musician from Brampton, Ontario. His music has been featured on CBC and The Tom Green Show.

Mr. Rich has composed background music for 3 seasons of MTV's The Tom Green Show. Since 1994, he has recorded exclusively for his own eclectic record label, The Pumpkin Pie Corporation. Rich just finished a Masters degree in music at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Dr. Lee Bartel and composer R. Murray Schafer. His main areas of study include musical instrument construction and parade pedagogy.

Friendly Rich has produced and composed 7 full-length CDs to date, having been featured on CBC Radio One (5 documentaries for Outfront), CBC Radio Two (continuous airplay on Brave New Waves), TFO (VOLT) and Muchmusic (Muchnews, BradTV).

Friendly Rich is also the founder and director of the Brampton Indie Arts Festival, an annual event which promotes underground artists, held in February at the Rose Theatre in downtown Brampton. Since 2000, this event has attracted such notable artists as Nash the Slash, The Nihilist Spasm Band, Ron Sexsmith, Cuff the Duke, Bob Wiseman, John Oswald, Moneen, Scott Thompson, Hayden, and many more...

Friendly Rich and his unique live ensemble The Lollipop People recently signed a deal with Hazelwood Records (Germany) to release two albums in Europe. The group plans to tour Germany in early 2007.

Life is busy with Friendly Rich and The Pumpkin Pie Corporation, but as Friendly always says, “one can either produce, or become produce”.

[edit] Film/Television Credits

1994 to 1996 - Composer for children's tv series "The King Stanlislav Show" (Russia)
1998 to 2001- Background music for MTV's "The Tom Green Show"
2005 - 3 pieces used in Thom Fitzgerald's 3 Needles (director's cut) starring Lucy Liu.
2006 - Currently composing original music for Old Trout Puppet Workshop short film (featuring The Lollipop People).