Friendly Rich, born Richard Marsella, is a Canadian avant-garde

Avant-garde

Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....

 composer/musician from Brampton, Ontario

Brampton, Ontario

Brampton is the third-largest city in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada and the seat of Peel Region. As of the 2006 census, Brampton's population stood at 433,806, making it the 11th largest city in Canada. It is also one of Canada's fastest growing municipalities, with an average...

. His music has been featured on CBC

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

 and The Tom Green Show

The Tom Green Show

The Tom Green Show is a North American television show that first aired in September 1994 on Rogers Television 22, a community channel in Ottawa, Ontario, until 1996, and was later picked up by The Comedy Network in 1997...

.

Rich has composed background music for three seasons of MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

's The Tom Green Show. Since 1994, he has recorded exclusively for his own eclectic record label, The Pumpkin Pie Corporation. Rich has a Masters degree in music at the University of Toronto

University of Toronto

The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...

 under the supervision of Dr. Lee Bartel and composer R. Murray Schafer

R. Murray Schafer

Raymond Murray Schafer is a Canadian composer, writer, music educator and environmentalist perhaps best known for his World Soundscape Project, concern for acoustic ecology, and his book The Tuning of the World...

. His main areas of study include musical instrument construction and parade pedagogy.

Friendly Rich has produced and composed nine full-length CDs, which have been featured on CBC Radio One

CBC Radio One

CBC Radio One is the English language news and information radio network of the publicly-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial free and offers both local and national programming...

 (five documentaries for Outfront

Outfront

Outfront was a Canadian radio program, which aired on CBC Radio One from 8:43 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday to Friday evenings, following the now defunct Nighttime Review....

), CBC Radio 2 (continuous airplay on Brave New Waves

Brave New Waves

Brave New Waves was a Canadian radio program which aired on CBC Stereo, later known as CBC Radio 2, from 1984 to 2007. Airing weeknights from midnight to 4 a.m., the show profiled alternative and indie music and culture, including film, comics, literature and art...

), TFO

TFO

TFO is a Canadian French language educational public television network in the province of Ontario. It is the only French-language television network in Canada whose operations are based entirely outside of Quebec....

 (VOLT) and Muchmusic

MuchMusic

MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...

 (Muchnews, BradTV).

Friendly Rich is the founder and director of the Brampton Indie Arts Festival

Brampton Indie Arts Festival

The Brampton Indie Arts Festival was created by local musician Richard Marsalla in 2000-2007, and restarting in . It was conceived as an annual event to promote underground artists such as musicians, filmmakers, dancers and visual artists....

, an annual event which promotes underground artists, held in February at the Rose Theatre

Rose Theatre, Brampton

The Rose Theatre Brampton is located in downtown Brampton, Ontario. A series of public events throughout September 2006 culminated in a grand opening on 29 September featuring Diana Krall...

 in downtown Brampton. Since 2000, this event has attracted such artists as Nash the Slash

Nash the Slash

Nash the Slash is a Canadian musician. Though a multi-instrumentalist, he is known primarily for playing electric violin and mandolin, as well as harmonica, keyboards, glockenspiel, and other instruments .Nash worked as a solo artist beginning in 1975, then founded the progressive rock band FM in...

, The Nihilist Spasm Band, Ron Sexsmith

Ron Sexsmith

Ronald Eldon "Ron" Sexsmith is a Canadian singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario, currently based in Toronto. He started his own band when he was fourteen years old, and released the first recordings of his own material seven years later, in 1985...

, Cuff the Duke

Cuff the Duke

Cuff the Duke is a Canadian band from Oshawa, Ontario. They play a blend of traditional country and folk music with indie rock influences, and can be categorized as an alt-country group.-History:...

, Bob Wiseman

Bob Wiseman

Bob Wiseman is a Juno winning Canadian musician, filmmaker, singer-songwriter, and actor. Wiseman was an original member of Blue Rodeo.-Career:Wiseman was raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He studied piano at York University...

, John Oswald

John Oswald (composer)

John Oswald is a Canadian composer, saxophonist, media artist and dancer. His best known project is Plunderphonics, the practice of making new music out of previously existing recordings .-Philosophy:Oswald coined the term "plunderphonics" to describe his craft in a paper called which he...

, Moneen

Moneen

Moneen is an indie rock band from Brampton, Ontario, Canada.-History:The band formed in 1999 after the dissolution of another band, called Perfectly Normal. Moneen's original bass player, Mark Bowser, was replaced by Chris Slorach, who left the band after the release of The Theory of Harmonial Value...

, Scott Thompson

Scott Thompson

Scott Thompson is a Canadian television actor and comedian, best known for his time as a member of the comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall.-Personal life:...

, and Hayden

Hayden (musician)

Paul Hayden Desser who records as Hayden, is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Thornhill, Ontario.His early works are a largely eclectic mix of genres from grunge rock to alt country, as demonstrated by his first full album, Everything I Long For, released in 1995. Since then his work has become...

.

Friendly Rich and his live ensemble The Lollipop People signed a deal with Hazelwood Records (Germany) to release two albums in Europe. They have since toured Europe 3 times in the last three years, and have released three records in Europe to date (We Need a New F-Word, Dinosaur Power and Sacred Prune of Remembrance).

Film and 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
  Thom Fitzgerald
  Thomas "Thom" Fitzgerald is an award winning American-Canadian film director as well live theater director.-Life:Fitzgerald was born and raised in New Rochelle, New York. His parents divorced when he was five years old. He moved with his mother and brother, Timothy Jr., to Bergenfield, New Jersey,...
  
  's 3 Needles
  3 Needles
  3 Needles is a 2005 Canadian drama film directed by Thom Fitzgerald. The title, refers to the three main characters who make a deal with the Devil in order to survive a global epidemic...
  
   (director's cut) starring Lucy Liu
  Lucy Liu
  Lucy Alexis Liu is an American actress and film producer. She became known for playing the role of the vicious and ill-mannered Ling Woo in the television series Ally McBeal , and has also appeared in several Hollywood films including Charlie's Angels, Chicago, Kill Bill, and Kung Fu Panda.-Early...
  
  .
• 2006 - Old Trout Puppet Workshop short film (featuring The Lollipop People).

External links

• The Pumpkin Pie Corporation, Friendly Rich's centre of operations.
• Myspace, Friendly Rich's myspace account