Marco William Duranti, one of the original founding members of Exogen, was born in London, England, in 1963. He has resided in England, Italy, and Canada. While in Canada, Marco William Duranti studied music at the Conservatory in Toronto. He began his musical career as a Classical guitarist and composer. He had also taught music for many years. He considers himself the politician of the group, always up for a challenge. When he was 18 he decided to give up singing because he was tired of being referred to as another Roger Waters of Pink Floyd. As he grew older and wiser, he found that it did not matter whom people thought he sounded like as long as they took the time to listen to his music. Francesco Zarrillo, the other member of the original duo, was born in Benevento a little town outside of Naples, Italy. His residence for most of his life has been Cotona, near Florence, Italy, spending most his free time studying guitar. His devotion and professional focus on the instrument are what lends Exogen the soulful presentation that they pride themselves on. His moody behavior, happy and sad, many times come through in his expressive guitar work. Francesco Zarrillo dreams of bringing Exogen's music to the U.S., as do all of the members of the band. Alessio Giustini, the most recent member to join the lineup, is also a native of Italy born in Arezzo just outside of Florence. He has studied jazz and classical guitar, having become very fluent in both genres. He also has a strong interest in the computer world, being somewhat of a wizard for the band. Exogen officially began in 1998, and it has grown tighter and more focused with each passing day. They decided to focus all of their energy on acoustic guitar music with vocals in the rock & roll genre. Often they feel that they have chosen the hard road, leaving many limitations on what they are able to explore and deliver. They feel that well-written music with a solid acoustic performance will be enough to get Exogen noticed. They did not want the "pub" scene to be their directive and felt that a recording of their original material was a better way to present Exogen. With six months of hard work and financial sacrifice, Exogen recorded their 2000 debut release, Mind Directions. They recorded all of the material found on the album with the aid of a home recording studio system. The sound of three acoustic guitars and a proper balance of vocals give Exogen it's own unique rich sound. The group has been compared to Pink Floyd and the Beatles, all the way to Paco De Lucia, Al Di Meola, and John McLaughlin. With such diverse comparisons and their own unique appeal, the time is right for international attention to come Exogen's way. ~ Larry Belanger