Story & Lesson Highlights with Alec Damiano of Glendale

Alec Damiano shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Alec, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
Playing music makes me lose track of time and helps me find myself again. It helps me escape the troubles and stress of the world and reminds me why I do what I do to begin with.

Being an independent musician is so much more than just playing music, writing, and singing songs. I’d argue that most of it does not involve playing music at all! Musicians have to wear so many hats nowadays. I handle everything from the band’s social media, to booking, to merchandise procurement, and so on.

But taking the time to actually sit down and play my guitar, or to sing, reminds me why I pursued this path in the first place.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Alec Damiano. I am the founder, singer, and one of the guitarists in power metal band, Varkan.

I formed the band in Phoenix, AZ in 2014. We released our first, self-titled album, “Varkan,” in 2019. Now, in August 2025, we’ve released our new EP, “Cradle to Grave”.

Keeping the band alive for 11 years has not been easy at all. There have been struggles like lineup changes, and the pandemic definitely took its toll on the music industry. But I am grateful that my current bandmates, Michael Rodriguez (drums) and Dominic Scarano (guitar), have stuck by me and supported me through thick and thin.

We are very excited about this new era of the band. The three of us are in sync, working hard on new music and shows, and we’re looking forward to the future!

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Ever since I was a child, I knew I wanted to be a musician. I was very involved with my family’s mariachi band, Mariachi Sombra de Nogales, when I was growing up. I started playing the violin when I was about 2 or 3 years old. We opened for some major Latin artists like Juan Gabriel and Yolanda del Rio. I still play the violin occasionally.

Thanks to my mom and my aunt, I also grew up on classic rock and metal music. My all-time favorite band is Queen. Their music, along with heavy hitters like Scorpions, KISS, Black Sabbath, Metallica, and Megadeth, inspired me to teach myself the guitar. I also taught myself how to play piano and bass guitar when I was in middle school and high school.

I formed Varkan when I was in college, originally doing vocals and playing bass. As we went through lineup changes, I eventually switched to guitar in 2016, and now I do vocals and guitar.

Do you remember a time someone truly listened to you?
When I was in middle school, I was part of our school orchestra and played first chair violin. Even though I was a violinist, I would teach myself rock and metal songs. I’d spend hours at home trying to transfer guitar tabs to violin sheet music for Guns N’ Roses, Ozzy Osbourne songs, and so on.

In my middle school and high school years, the orchestras in our county participated in the Electrify Your Strings program with Mark Wood of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and his wife, singer Laura Kaye (James Brown, Aretha Franklin). It was a multi-day program where we would play covers of rock songs arranged for orchestra and choir, with the final day culminating in a huge, county-wide concert.

Mark and Laura saw my passion for rock music, as well as my musical skills, and gave me the opportunity to shine in the spotlight. I remember that in high school, I played the solo from Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” alongside Mark on the violin, and that will forever be a memory I will cherish.

They saw me, listened to me, and recognized my talent before many other people did. They gave me a great deal of confidence to further my musical career. I will forever be grateful to them for that.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
When it comes to me, what people see is what they get. I might show different aspects of my personality depending on the environment and circumstances, like being calmer at work and wild onstage performing. That’s normal. One adapts to their surroundings.

But I’d say I’m very genuine. I’m honest to a fault and can be very direct. Sometimes it leads to problems. But I’d rather be honest than live a lie.

I used to toy with the idea of having a stage name and special persona. I used to go by “Alecto” when I hosted Heavy Metal Television as a VJ.

But I’ve decided I’m happier just being myself. No stage name, not anymore. This is who I am, take it or leave it.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope that when I’m gone, people remember me as someone who made a positive impact. I hope I will have inspired someone to pick up a guitar, or to sing, or to just live a more authentic, happier life.

My life has not been easy. And life is also very short and unpredictable in general. The lyrics on our latest EP, “Cradle to Grave,” have a lot to do with facing mortality. We need to make the best of the life we get, no matter what struggles and obstacles we face.

I want to live a happy life, and I want to live unashamedly, unapologetically, and authentically myself. I think it would be nice to inspire others to do the same.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://varkanofficial.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/varkanofficial/
• Twitter: https://x.com/varkanofficial
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/varkanofficial
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/varkanofficial
• Other: https://varkan.bandcamp.com/album/cradle-to-grave

Image Credits
Photos by Gavin Donnelly. Album artwork by Welder Wings.