Mario Parga

{{Short description|English guitarist}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{BLP primary sources|date=March 2011}}

Image:Mario Parga.jpg

Mario Parga (born 7 August 1969) is an English guitarist. He came into the spotlight during the late 1980s when he began appearing in numerous guitar and rock magazines such as Guitar Player, Metal Hammer, Kerrang, Metal Forces and played a live guitar solo on MTV's 'Metal Hammer' show.[http://www.rockunited.com/parga.htm Interview with Mario Parga] RockUnited.com, July 2007[http://www.last.fm/music/Mario+Parga Mario Parga] last.fm[http://www.proggnosis.com/PGArtist.asp?AID=8141 Mario Parga] Prognosis.com

Parga was born in Lytham, Lancashire.

During the early 1990s Parga toured, played and recorded with numerous artists, most notably Cozy Powell[http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/united+kingdom/mario+parga1 Mario Parga] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407090800/http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/united+kingdom/mario+parga1 |date=2014-04-07 }} RockDetector.com and Graham Bonnet.[https://web.archive.org/web/20110713235129/http://lsrfm.com/music/database/artist/Mario+Parga/ Mario Parga] lsrfm.com[http://www.spirit-of-metal.com/membre_groupe/membre_groupe-nom-Graham_Bonnet-id-12815-l-en.html/ The Day I Went Mad] Spirit-of-Metal.com In 1991, his debut guitar instrumental album The Magician was released by President Records.[http://www.president-records.co.uk/catalogue/product746?THE-MAGICIAN The Magician] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721034137/http://www.president-records.co.uk/catalogue/product746?THE-MAGICIAN |date=2011-07-21 }} President Records Following disillusionment with the music industry, Parga shied away from the scene until he re-emerged in Los Angeles in 1998, playing guitar on Graham Bonnet's The Day I Went Mad.

Considered by many to be one of the greatest sweep arpeggio players of the guitar 'shred' [http://www.shredaholic.com/sitemap.html Mario Parga] Shredaholic.com and neoclassical metal genres, Parga combines complex arpeggio patterns with rapid alternate picking, Sweep-picking and string bending.[http://www.metalcritico.com/modules.php?name=MReviews&op=show&rid=148 Entranced] Metal Critico[http://www.guitar-list.com/allplayers Mario Parga] Guitar-List.com, 'Greatest Guitar Players' Mario was listed in the July '08 edition of the international magazine Guitar World as being one of the World's 50 fastest guitarists (alternate picking technique) based on a scientific note clocking experiment. Despite his amazing speed, he is also renowned for his highly emotive slower playing.[http://www.rockunited.com/reviews2007_21_25.htm Mario Parga] RockUnited.com

In 2000, Parga was approached by the guitar label Liquid Note Records and recorded his instrumental 'Valse Diabolique' for their The Alchemists album.[http://dmme.net/interviews/parga.html Interview with Mario Parga] DMME.net, June 2008 Two years later, he recorded his haunting ballad 'Hourglass' [http://www.chrisruel.com/ChrisRuel.com/MusicReviews/JasonBeckerReviews.htm Hourglass] ChrisRuel.com (Warmth in the Wilderness II) for Lion Music's Warmth in the Wilderness II, a tribute to fellow guitarist Jason Becker.

Early in 2007, Parga announced the creation of his own record label 'MidnightCafe Music', (the name taken from his track 'The Midnight Café' from The Magician) and plans on releasing his future instrumental rock guitar music through it. His long-awaited album Entranced was released on the label on 14 April 2007.

Mario Parga lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States with his wife Shawna and their daughter Skye.