Marty Szucs | SoultoneCymbals.com

Marty Szucs

Marty Szucs

Independent

Marty Szucs (aka. Dr. Zooks) is a Canadian musician born, raised in Calgary, Alberta. He began playing drums when he was 15 years old. Over the past 25 years, he has toured throughout the world as a freelance musician. He has appeared on television and radio, performing with a variety of recording artists. In addition to drumming, he actively writes, arranges and produces music for local upcoming artists.

He began his musical studies at Grant MacEwan Community College in Edmonton, Alberta. He later completed his Bachelor of Music Degree in Jazz Performance through Humber College in Toronto, Ontario as well as a Bachelor of Education Degree through York University. During the course of his studies he developed a strong musical foundation under the instruction of Mark Kelso, Paul Delong, Ted Warren, and Brian Thurgood. While studying in College, he had the privilege to work with Canadian Jazz legends: PJ Perry, Tommy Banks, John Stetch, Kent Sangster, and Mark Dejong.

The early portion of Marty’s music career includes work for Chance Devlin (formerly Peter Robinson) and Big Deal Entertainment, performing with the Livin’ in Swing Orchestra, Livin’ in Swing trio and Coco Locos Band. He then joined Boxtree (Harvest Music) to tour their ‘Sitting Still’ album, and also created ‘Blue Lotus’ with High School friend Leland Nelson in order to implement his original compositions.

Demands for his unique drumming skills eventually brought him to Nashville, Tennessee to work with Reunion Recording artist’s JAKE (4 time Vibe Award Winner and Juno Nominee). His touring resume furthermore includes work with Jill Paquette (Juno Award Winner for Best Gospel Album), Flicker Recording Artist Riley Armstrong, Matt Brouwer (Vibe Award Winner and Juno Nominee), and Jaylene Johnson who was awarded “Contemporary Pop Song of the Year” by the US Gospel Music Association in 2002.

The next phase of Marty’s musical career included work as a Musical Director and Show Band Drummer exclusively for Carnival Cruise Lines. During his contracts with Carnival, he had the privilege to perform with several world renowned entertainers including: Duke Daniels (Original member of “The Platters”), Al Romero (Florida’s “King of Comedy”), Manny Zuniga (“World’s Fastest Juggler”), and St. Thomas’ own Marcus Anthony (“King of that Sweet Soul Music”). He eventually returned to Canada after his final contract, helping implement the Fun Ship 2.0 program with an elite group of musicians aboard the Carnival Breeze for it’s inaugural voyage and 5 month tour through the Mediterranean.

The move back to Calgary enabled Marty to perform regularly at Centre Street Church for Night of Worship services (average attendance of over 6000 people each weekend). He also had the opportunity to work with Brian Doerksen as well as Compassion Canada Worship Artists: Chelsea Amber and Dana Marie. To fuel his creative outlet, he partnered with Canadian Hip Hop Artist Joel Pleasant to create a Hip Hop duo. This duo brought a freestyle jam to the streets of Calgary’s inner city, fusing Rap with funky acoustic beats.

Marty currently resides in Edmonton and continues to work as a freelance musician. He plays for The California Cure and dabbles in co-writing, arranging and production for local singer-songwriters.

My Soultone Set: 

MAIN SETUP...
14" Extreme Hi Hats
6" Extreme Splash
8" Extreme Splash
10" Extreme Splash
16" Extreme Crash
16" Extreme China
17" Extreme Crash
18" FXO 12J
21" Extreme Ride

FOR JAZZ...
14" Natural Prototype Hihats
22" Natural Prototype Crash Ride
22" Natural Prototype Flat Ride

Discography