A Burbank resident since 1982, Quirin is nominated for a Grammy as a member of industrial metal band Ministry for Best Metal Performance for their adaptation of the Rolling Stones’ classic “Under My Thumb.”
Quirin said he threw himself headfirst into his dreams of rock at an early age and credits locals with urging him on. “It’s been a long, hard road to the Grammys, and I don’t take any of it for granted,” Quirin said.
Ministry is being nominated for its fifth Grammy — and its first since Quirin joined the band — at the award show, which will begin at 8 p.m. Sunday. Quirin has been a permanent guitarist with the group since 2007 and said he felt secure as a rock star in 2004, when he started working with Ministry’s founder, Al Jourgensen.
“One of my old bands had the same booking agent as Ministry, so Jourgensen remembered me, and in 2005, he asked me to work and play guitar with the Revolting Cocks with his record label, 13th Planet,” Quirin said. “That was when I was like, ‘OK, this is how the big boys make their music money.’”
A lot of work went into Quirin going from playing with the Burbank High marching band to doing concerts at the Hollywood Bowl, which he played in 2007.
“Early on, when he started playing guitar, he would take as many music classes as possible,” Brenes said. “The music teachers loved him, and even when he had breaks between classes, he would go into the practice room and work on extra guitar material.”
As Quirin worked his way up through the Los Angeles music circuit, playing with bands like Tactics and Electric Head, Brenes admired his focus.
