interview by John Wisniewski for mk ultra magazine
Marina Muhlfriedel (also known as Marina del Rey) best know as keyboard player and vocalist, Marina was the co-founder of Vivabeat, a Los Angeles-based techno-pop band started in 1978 and active into the mid-1980s. The band was discovered by and signed to its first record deal at the request of Peter Gabriel. It became the first American band on Tony Stratton Smith’s British label, Charisma Records. The band released one album for Charisma Records, Party in the War Zone. The album included one of the band’s most successful songs, “Man from China.” The song became a Top 20 charted dance club hit in the United States, Europe, and Asia. “Man from China” also appears on the Charisma Label/Various Masterpieces album – The Sounds Album Volume 6, released in 1980.
Before Vivabeat, Marina was a founding member and keyboard player in Backstage Pass, one of the earliest Los Angeles punk bands, which played a pivotal role in establishing the Masque, the city’s most legendary punk club.
After a decade of playing in bands, Marina transitioned into the film industry, where she served as a producer on films such as “The War of the Roses” and “Throw Momma From the Train,” as well as several Showtime features.
Currently, she is a writer living in Los Angeles and hosts a rock and roll storytelling show called “Our Lips Unsealed.”
John Wisniewski: What were you doing before you joined Vivabeat, Marina?
Marina Del Rey: Pre-Vivabeat, I worked as the entertainment editor of ‘TEEN Magazine and played keyboards in a mainly female early LA punk pop band, Backstage Pass. I started Backstage Pass after seeing a very Lolita-porny stage incarnation of the Runaways play at the Whisky a Go Go and being appalled by how the girls had obviously been molded by men. Totally on a whim, I decided I wanted to start a girl band that would and could do whatever it wanted. No permission needed. Backstage Pass took off quickly, but didn’t last all that long. In our brief history, we played a lot of shows, hung out with dozens of bands, and were involved with LA’s most famous punk club, The Masque. Along with Chas Gray (then of the Skulls and later Wall of Voodoo), we physically built the first rehearsal space in The Masque’s filthy, cool basement, leased by an artsy Scotsman named Brendan Mullen. Because I had an actual job and looked like I could make the monthly lease payment, if need be, much to my parents’ dismay, I wound up co-signing the rental contract.
One night, these two guys, Alec Murphy and Robert Garman, came down to record Backstage Pass at a club, and I became friends with them. We started getting together at Alec’s apartment to play kind of experimental punk meanderings. It worked well and was a lot of fun. Alec and I would make homebrewed absinthe and play the same parts for hours. Alec and Robert asked me to leave Backstage Pass to form a band with them, and I did. That band was Audio Vidiot, which split into Vivabeat and another band, Vidiots, within a year.
JW: How did Peter Gabriel get involved with Vivabeat?
Marina Del Rey: I met Peter Gabriel at a fancy record company luncheon held at a posh place called Le Dome, which used to be on the Sunset Strip. Jane Ayer, a publicist at Atlantic Records, heard a demo of Audio Vidiot and thought Peter would like the song “Man from China.” Under the guise of working my day job at ‘TEEN she choreographed the afternoon, so I was seated next to Peter.
Peter and I bonded over being vegetarians, and when he learned I was a synth player, he said he’d like to hear our band. I invited him to my apartment that evening to listen. The demo was rough, but he got it, and encouraged us to keep going and to give him the next demo when we had one.
The band was still in its formative, pre?Vivabeat phase when three new players moved out from Boston. We parted ways with Robert, and a new lead singer, Terrance Robay, joined us. We recorded a much more polished demo and, later, when I was in London, I contacted Peter. He invited me to a party at his home in Bath, and I went with my sister Leslie and Rich Barbieri from the band Japan. As we were leaving, I surreptitiously tucked the new demo into a fruit bowl in Peter’s kitchen. About a month later, I got a call from him, introducing me to the owner of Charisma Records, Tony Stratton Smith. It was around four in the morning and I thought I was dreaming.
JW: Who wrote the classic “Man from China”? How did the song come about?
Marina Del Rey: Robert Garman (later Windfield) was the lead singer of Audio Vidiot and Vidiots. “Man from China” originated in our late-night trancey jam sessions. We were messing around with the piano intro to the song “96 Tears” when Robert came up with this really cool whistle part, and the lyrics grew out of it. A few members of Audio Vidiot worked at Turners Liquor on the Sunset Strip, which was next to Filthy McNasty’s— the bar that became the Viper Room. There was a Chinese drug dealer who used to hang out there and inspired the nursery rhyme-like lyrics. It had a very streamlined boogie feel at the time, but when Vivabeat came together, we fleshed it out, turning it into the far more sophisticated dance track that became the hit.
For years, Terrance, Vivabeat’s lead singer, didn’t realize that it was about drugs, and when he finally did, he insisted on singing “The man from China brings the soul, instead of “brings the snow.”
JW: What was the experience like recording “Party in the War Zone”?
Marina Del Rey: Wonderful, horrible, scary, chaotic, and like a dream. We were at the Record Plant in Los Angeles, a big fancy studio with Rod Stewart in the next room. It was very cushy, with hot tubs and lots of cheese plates. We were super excited, and I loved the process, but there was a steep learning curve. I had taken a recording engineering class, and the band had done enough 4 and 8-track work to essentially know what we were doing, but this was another level, and I think we were too intimidated to push for the changes we wanted. We were pretty naïve.
Jeffrey Lesser, the producer, was a really nice guy and a friend, but I wish I had been more outspoken about ideas I would have liked to try. I didn’t have the words or the nerve at the time. Also, back then, you could still smoke in studios, and it was awful in that confined space.
Nonetheless, recording the album was a remarkable gift. As I look back now, it was a big step forward in understanding what kinds of creative tools were available to us. There were truly magical moments— like with the song “I Know Your Room,” in which Jeff and Mike Beiriger, the engineer, jimmied this wild mic effect in a trash can, and Alec played, in one take, my favorite of all his solos.
JW: Were you surprised to see that Man from China became a top 20 dance hit?
Marina Del Rey: We never looked too far into the future back then; it all just seemed like part of the magical, ever-unfolding series of events that started with our getting a record deal in the first place. Terrance got to go lip-sync the song at all the big discos, which was a blast, and at a few clubs I visited in Hong Kong, they’d play it, put a spotlight on me, and I’d attempt the Queen’s wave. It was surreal!
JW: The second Vivabeat album contained another classic hit, “The House is Burning”.
What was it like working with Earle Mankey and guitarist Rob Dean of the band Japan?
Very early on, our lawyer suggested we work with Earle Mankey, and we should have taken that advice. More than any producer or engineer Vivabeat worked with, Earle brought out the best the band had to offer. He was brilliant to work with and the chilliest, nicest guy with the best ideas!
After ‘TEEN Magazine,’ I worked at Ariola Records. Japan was on our label, and we got to know the band quite well. Rob was a stunning guitarist, underused on many of Japan’s recordings. When Vivabeat parted ways with our first guitarist, Alec Murphy, we invited Rob to move to LA and join the band. We were surprised when he actually did, and it marked a turning point in the maturation of our sound. Rob brought this gorgeous funkiness and his searing, sustained Ebow to our music. He was kind, open, and wonderful to work with. We all became better musicians working with him. He is still a close friend.
JW: Why did Vivabeat break up?
Marina Del Rey: After Rob joined Gary Numan’s band, Jeff Gilbert became our guitarist, and we gigged for another couple of years until Terrance was cast in a movie called White Star with Dennis Hopper and took off for Germany. We did a couple of spinoff projects – See Jane Run and Neko Meka – with two other women and me singing. Some great recordings came out of it, but we weren’t doing any shows, and the band eventually faded. Mick was veering into film music, and I, film production.
JW: What was it like working as a film producer?
Marina Del Rey: I was fortunate to find an inroad into filmmaking. I loved making videos with Vivabeat, and as things wound down, I became interested in moving in that direction. We knew Danny DeVito, and I asked him to hire me on his first feature directing project, The Ratings Game. That was essentially my film school. Afterwards, I moved into producing and working on music videos, and then when Danny started Throw Momma from the Train, he invited me to join the producing team.
I went on to work on dozens of projects. Filmmaking is a lot of work and can entail very long hours, but the camaraderie when it works is very gratifying. I loved how production brings together so many different kinds of artists– from actors and directors to hair and makeup artists, painters, cinematographers, and so on. Some productions are real slogs, but when you get on a good one, you can feel all that creativity come to life.
JW: What are you working on now?
Marina Del Rey: I recently finished writing a memoir called Born on Sunset, which will be published in 2027. Every few months, I host a rock-and-roll storytelling show in Los Angeles called Our Lips Unsealed—you can check out the videos on YouTube.
I’m also deeply involved in practicing Yang-style tai chi and working with the Tai Chi Foundation, a global network of schools and teachers. Lately, tai chi has grown to influence everything I do—physically, creatively, psychologically, and spiritually. It has become a grounding force amid the wild world we’re all facing. You should give it a try.