Early career After audio production school, Tarquin worked as an assistant engineer for New York's
Electric Lady Studios and then at Far & Away Studios, owned by Geoff Gray in Goshen, New York. The studio was in a 200-year-old barn with a huge old fireplace and cobwebbed wooden slatted walls. Geoff was a mentor and became a lifelong friend of Tarquin. After about a year Brian went to work as an assistant engineer and sales rep for Look & Company, a 5th Avenue jingle house in the Flatiron district. This was the next stage of his career where he discovered music production libraries and started to compose for them. This propelled Brian to move to California as he states in his book, Survival Guide for Music Composers (Hal Leonard Publishing), "Los Angeles offered me what I could not get in New York, the accessibility to the music industry and as it turned out film and television production companies who needed music." Upon arriving in L.A., he started working at the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather on Wilshire Blvd. by the La Brea tar pits producing music for Barbie commercials. Brian then worked as an assistant engineer at Powerhouse Studios in the San Fernando Valley, while at night performing at The
Roxy Theatre (West Hollywood), The
Whisky a Go Go on Sunset, and
The Baked Potato in Studio City. Tarquin went on to work at various record labels as Restless Records and Virgin Records in radio promotion and finance. He was living in Hollywood at the time, at the famous historical building 1764 N. Sycamore between Franklin and
Hollywood Blvd. in
Jim Morrison's old apartment. Morrison used the apartment to escape from his Hollywood Hills home from the groupies to write poetry. The building as a whole was a Rock N Roll historic monument reeking of the 1960s, where bands like The Rolling Stones and Paul Revere & The Raiders rented apartments. By 1994, Tarquin made the big switch from rock fusion to contemporary jazz instrumental after being inspired by the
Acid Jazz movement from London in the mid-'90s.
Composer In 1991 Tarquin started to compose music for the production company James & Astor in New York City. Subsequently, Tarquin's music was used for the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics on CBS television. During this time, Brian recorded the track "Hollywood Shuffle" which was used on the popular show,
Beverly Hills, 90210. He recalls, "I remember seeing my music used for the first time on that show, what a rush, they played it loads of times, it must of ran morning noon and night for the promos." He went on to compose for
Marc Ferrari's production company called Red Engine Music, later to become MasterSource Music, getting various placements on television and film projects. In 1994 Tarquin's song, "What It Is", which would later appear on his debut solo album
Ghost Dance, was used on the Spelling TV show
Models Inc. In 1997 in partnership with programmer/keyboardist Chris Ingram, he delved into rock electronica music and wrote the theme music for MTV's
Road Rules for Seasons 7 and 8 along with many of the shows cues. He had a long relationship with Bunim/Murray Productions composing music for "Real World" and the original series "Making the Band" airing on ABC-TV in 2000. For ten years Tarquin composed for
All My Children working with music supervisor Terry Walker resulting in receiving two Television Academy
Emmy Awards for his work on the show and 6 nominations. In 2000 he composed for Paramount's show "
Resurrection Blvd." the dramatic series which aired on Showtime. Tarquin composed the opening music and various score for the 2002 film "
The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest" directed by
Mick Jackson. In 2019 Tarquin released
Soundtracks I and
Soundtracks II on his label BHP Music-Guitar Trax Records showcasing the musical highlights of his career in film and television.
Producer and recording engineer Tarquin produced the
Guitar Masters Series from the Jungle Room Studios, which featured guitarists
Jeff Beck,
Steve Vai,
Jimmy Page,
Steve Morse,
Gary Hoey,
Santana,
Billy Sheehan,
B. B. King,
Frank Gambale,
Leslie West,
Chris Poland,
Hal Lindes, and
Joe Satriani. In 2020 Tarquin signed an exclusive worldwide distribution deal with APM and Sonoton Music for film and television representation for his catalog 1st Choice Music It garnered several hits at smooth jazz radio, "One Arabian Knight", "Freeway Jam" (Jeff Beck cover), "Midnight Blue" and "57th Street". The album charted #4 at the R&R and Gavin charts. Tarquin's follow up album was the 1999 release
Soft Touch which again paired him up with Ernie McKone in London at Boogie Back Studios. The album produced the smooth jazz radio hits "Darlin' Darlin' Baby" (O'Jay's cover), "Tangled Web", and the vocal song "Rainfall".
Soft Touch would chart #9 on the R&R and Gavin charts. His final album with Instinct Records was the 2001 release
High Life. which was produced by Chris Ingram recorded in New York and Los Angeles. The album generated radio classics as "Riders on the Storm" (
Doors cover), "Celtic Tales" and "Charlemagne". In 2002 Passion Jazz label released a compilation of Tarquin's music called
Sanctuary. In 2005, with Chris Ingram, they created the successful Megabeats Series among other productions including
Downtempo Drama Vol. 1 for Megatrax Productions in Los Angeles. In 2008, Tarquin released
Fretwork for NuGroove Records. This included
Brian Tarquin Collection (1996-2008),
El Becko (Jeff Beck tribute), and
Third Stone From the Sun (Jimi Hendrix tribute). and in 2002 released their debut album
Electro Ave.,
Jungilzation (2006), was released by
Cleopatra Records and featured the theme song "Tekken" from MTV's
Road Rules Season 8. "Semester at Sea", charting Top 40 on the CMJ RPM charts. In 2006
Jungilzation and
Bob Marley Remixed were released on Tarquin's label BHP Music-Guitar Trax Records distributed by Redeye.
Jungilzation charted #25 on the CMJ RPM charts. The band dismantled, but after a long hiatus in 2018 Tarquin revived Asphalt Jungle as solo project and released an experimental album of heavy metal dubstep with
Crazy Train. During the pandemic lock down in 2020, Tarquin delved into the Lofi Jazz genre with his alter ego Asphalt Jungle. Persuaded by Rod Linnum aka "LoFi Rod", a fan of Brian's early Smooth Jazz releases, Tarquin successfully entered into the new format releasing a host of new singles through DashGo distribution. Brian states, "Lofi really reminds me of the Acid Jazz days when we were combining hip hop grooves with jazz progressions and overtones; adding cool horn riffs with clean guitar octaves ala
Wes Montgomery". Singles as "Magna Fi", "Sunshine in Her Eyes", "Acid Test" are popular among Spotify
Studybeat lists.
Rock Instrumental (2008 - Present) In 2008, Tarquin released his first rock instrumental solo album called
Fretwork featuring
Steve Morse,
Billy Sheehan,
Frank Gambale,
Max Middleton, Randy Coven,
Will Ray,
Andy Timmons,
Hal Lindes and
Chuck Loeb. It was dedicated to the 911 victims and Friends of Firefighters organization. The following year he released
Jeff Beck Salute "El Becko" and
Brian Tarquin Collection (1996-2008) for NuGroove Records. Brian, then, developed the guitar series "Brian Tarquin & Heavy Friends" which began with the 2014 release of
Guitars for Wounded Warriors on Cleopatra Records. The album featured guest appearances by
Billy Sheehan, Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal,
Reb Beach,
Chris Poland,
Gary Hoey, Alex De Rosso,
Hal Lindes,
Chuck Loeb and
Steve Morse. This was benefit album raising awareness for veterans and driving donations to the Fisher House Foundation. In 2017, horrified at the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Tarquin composed, engineered and produced the album
Orlando in Heaven featuring jazz icon
Larry Coryell on two tracks along with
Mike Stern,
Tony Franklin,
Hal Lindes, Denny Jiosa,
Will Ray,
Chris Poland and vocalist
Phil Naro. The album charted #6 on the Jam Band charts. It benefitted the Catholic Charities of Central Florida who provided case management and support services for victims and family members of the Pulse shooting in Orlando. In 2019
Orlando in Heaven received a Global Music Gold Award for "Best Album". This same year saw Tarquin produce the rock vocal album
Band of Brothers dedicated to veterans featuring
Joel Hoekstra,
Steve Morse, Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal,
Gary Hoey, vocalist
Jeff Scott Soto, vocalist
Phil Naro and cellist
Tina Guo. The album charted #21 on the Metal Contraband charts. This was followed up by the 2020 release
Vegas Blue which once again teamed him up with vocalist Phil Naro, dedicated to the shooting victims at the
Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas October 1, 2017. Tarquin composed and produced each of these tracks featuring special guests
Tony Carey ex-Rainbow keyboardist,
Steve Morse, Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal,
Trey Gunn,
Hal Lindes. In 2023 Tarquin released
Brothers In Arms with guest guitarists
Joe Satriani,
Vinnie Moore, Alex De Rosso,
Travis Stever, Jeff Duncan, Johannes Weik,
Gerald Gradwohl,
Chris Haskett, Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal. The album is dedicated to those military soldiers who have fought for their country bringing awareness to the Fisher House Foundation, who supplies housing to veterans' families while they are hospitalized. It was well received by metal radio charting #7 on the NACC Loud Rock charts and #11 on the Metal Contraband charts in February 2023. His 2024 release, ''Beyond The Warrior's Eyes'' included a collaboration of the album's title cut with electric violinist
Jean Luc Ponty, which yielded an A.I. Music video that found acclaim and a nomination for a Josey Award. The
Budapest Symphony Orchestra contributed to an instrumental "A Soldier's Eyes"; that featured guest guitar work from
Steve Kindler. Guitarists on the album included
Robben Ford,
Carl Verheyen,
Eric Johnson,
Chris Poland, and
Steve Morse who contributed to two songs including a song "These Colors Don't Run" that featured vocals from the late
Phil Naro. The album helped raise funds and awareness for Washington DC's Hope For The Veterans. Brian told
Music Connection Magazine of his concern about the problems veterans encounter, from homelessness to mental health concerns. The album received favorable support, hitting the top spot for over six months on the Roots Music Radio charts and number 5 on Relix Jam Band radio chart.
BHP Music-Guitar Trax Records In 2006, Tarquin opened his own boutique record label called BHP Music/Guitar Trax Records, == Equipment ==