A progressive rock masterwork; extended-length songs with mesmerizing instrumental passages meld seamlessly with catchy hooks and big harmony vocals. Intelligent rock music with heart.

8 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Progressive Rock, ROCK: Avant-Prog

Show all album songs: Awaken The Man Songs


Details:
Din Within is a progressive rock project based in the USA. With diverse influences ranging from prog, rock, jazz, and classical, Din Within puts a fresh spin on the progressive rock genre, creating some of the most exciting contemporary music available today.

There exists a uniquely creative brand of music that is generally labeled "progressive." Quite often it is the artists and groups who most overflow with pretentiousness and egocentricity that are drawn to and create this type of music. The long instrumental passages, complex time signatures, and unique orchestration in progressive music are perfect breeding grounds for musicians looking to placate their large egos. Had Mark Gollihur and Josh Sagerâthe minds and hearts behind Din Withinâcreated this project when they first met in college, this would definitely be another one of those groups.

But Din Within is about the here and now, and Mark and Josh have changed.

The duo met in the early 90's at college, while both were performing with progressive metal groups. Josh was the guitarist in the group Amsterdam, a Fates Warning-esque quartet with rapid-fire riffing and wicked time changes (years before the "math metal" genre popped up). At the same time, Mark was a founding member and songwriter in Ransomed Soul, a power trio which found itself caught in a genre niche somewhere between Queensrÿche and King's X. Both bands pounded it out on the regional rock circuit for several years with a modicum of success. However, the futility of playing challenging music -- in an artistic Mecca like southern New Jersey -- finally drained their spirits sufficiently enough to suffocate their dreams of prog-metal stardom.

After the breakup of Amsterdam and short stints with a few other musical projects, Josh took a self-imposed break from performing and writing to pursue other interests. Mark, too, came out of a short musical hiatus and co-formed Second Story®, a female-fronted neo-progressive project that recorded two albums and played hundreds of shows over their eight-year career.

After returning from his self-imposed sabbatical, Josh began working with Second Story keyboardist (and good friend) John Lewis in an electronica project called Snowcrash; he has also worked on solo electronica, jazz, and contemporary classical pieces. Mark has been a part of some side projects as well, including the symphonic electronica project Mercury Deep and rock/metal solo project Fenton Hardy.

In 2003, Josh and Mark found themselves talking to each other regularly about what they loved and hated about playing and writing music. They found that there was a lot of common ground between them, and discussed starting a cooperative musical venture; different than the ones they were a part of in the past. This project would be one wherein they could set their preconceptions aside and create music without the impassioned arguments, bruised egos, and, well... bullshit, getting in the way. They had both tired of trying to "win" all the time, and realized that their way may not be the only way. (Seems like a simple enough concept, but not necessarily so for progressive musicians.) As a result, Mark and Josh agreed to get together to flesh out their musical ideas in an open-minded series of writing/recording sessions. It wasn't long before they realized there was something to the collaboration, and soon thereafter Din Within was born.

With a pre-nuptial contract to "agree to disagree" in cases of creative stalemates, an understanding that previous instrument roles are irrelevant, and the freedom to try any and all musical ideas before deciding on the "right" one, songs starting developing immediately. Although the music still errs on the side of "progressive," the stigmas attached have been put behind them. Josh and Mark have found this pairing to be both educational and fruitful. It's a truly democratic environment, and it works. What has developed is a great musical collaboration with even greater musical results.

And they hope that, after listening to the fruits of their labor, you agree.

Josh started playing guitar at age 12, after brief stints playing saxophone and drums. He was instantly attracted to the sounds of progressive rock and heavy metal when a friend bought him the Rush album "2112" for his 11th birthday. He was a self-taught player until 1991 when he started taking lessons with guitar legend Scott McGill.

In college Josh studied music composition and education, with classical guitar as his instrument. It is also in college where he met his songwriting partner Mark.

Today, Josh continues his lessons with Scott McGill, concentrating on his jazz and composition studies. His goals are to be able to improvise to his own satisfaction in a jazz format, write that one progressive rock masterpiece, and to someday be able to play everything he hears in his head.

Mark has been a singer for as long as he could talk. He's also dabbled on the piano since a child (his mother, a music teacher, always had one in the house). He studied voice, trumpet and French horn in school, and eventually picked up bass in his teens, following in the footsteps of his father, a longtime bassist himself.

He works at Gollihur Music, where he specializes in the sale of instruments and accessories for upright bass players worldwide.

Mark's musical goals are modest: to continue to enjoy playing and composing, to create music that others can connect with, and to continue growing as a musician, a player, and a person. If there were a single word that could describe his approach to creating music, it would be "Honesty."