Artist description Gloom rock,somber,melancoly music,soulful vocals & dark infleuences In the style of Nick Drake,Peter Gabriel & David Bowie

Music Style Acoustic singer/songwriter in the style of Nick Drake,Peter Gaberial & David Bowie,Somber,Emotional Lyrics with strong musical arrangements.

Musical Influences nick drake,peter gabriel,david bowie,the beatles,prince

Similar Artists nick drake,shawn mullins,duncan shiek,The cure,Peter Gaberial,Peter Yorn,Edwin Mccain,,Neil Young,

Artist History born - rocked -died :)

Group Members dead mark:vocals,guitar,writer

Instruments guitar,vocals,all ,

Albums An easy Grave , Incubator , Once upon a rebellion

Press Reviews Dead Mark leaves the Plaid and finds Euphorium by Mike Gibson A couple of years ago, this magazine ran a profile of local trio the Plaid, a snappy power-pop outfit that featured singer/guitarist "Dead Mark" and drummer Darrin Hatchett. An awful lot has happened in those ensuing two years; Mark suffered through various personal upheavals, including the death of his father; the Plaid broke up, and not without some ill will; Hatchett played with other bands while Mark performed locally as a solo acoustic artist. But now the two have reunited, along with three new bandmates, to form the five-piece Euphorium, a multi-faceted unit that seems in many ways the logical evolutionary result of the last two years' events. And it has been an evolution. An almost jarring departure from his former band's energetic pop stylings, Dead Mark's solo work consisted of plaintive and highly personal songs, rendered only by his own acoustic guitar and a voice clearly affected by an emotional presence that hadn't existed during his time with the Plaid. Euphorium takes the spare, minimalist-pop framework of those Dead Mark songs (as well as a handful of new ones) and fleshes them out with a number of often-surprising elements: blues, industrial and electronic music, straight-up rock, even a hint of Goth. Mark's songwriting wasn't meant for delicate ears or faint hearts. His lyrics are often bleak, his delivery wrenchingly personal. His songs deal with many of life's unhappy maladies, death and drug addiction and divorce. Says Hatchett in a recent interview, "It's stuff you hear about and see every day, but don't ever really want to deal with." "It stems from my dad's sickness," says Mark, in the same interview, at a local watering hole. "I really couldn't accept. I did lots of heavy drinking, and didn't want to be around other people. So I started writing darker lyrics and employing more fucked-up shit in the music. This is probably what the Plaid would have been like had they continued." "The thing that's still present in the music are that these are songs first," says lead guitarist Greg Thompson. "You can strip away the studio stuff and still have basic songs you could play and sing on one guitar." The earliest Euphorium material has already been released under Dead Mark's name, on a local CD entitled Incubator. It's an intriguing and some times powerfully affecting collection of 11 songs, a few of which consist almost entirely of crunchy industrial vamps and studio noodling. The electronic and production shenanigans are chiefly the work of Thompson and bassist Bob McMurray, says Mark, the two of them ranking as the most accomplished and studio-fluent members of the band. "Our idea is to avoid the normal interaction of the instruments, like lead versus rhythm guitar," Thompson explains. "Lots of the interaction is to create mood and ambiance." Mark says future Euphorium projects may include keyboards and even strings. "It'll be a real melting pot: structured songs, free-form stuff, and even some jams," Mark says. "We're really putting our balls out there." "The hardest thing for us is going to be finding the right mix between what we do live and what we can do in the studio," Thompson says. "We want people to hear live what they hear on our records. And that could be difficult sometimes, because we like to use a lot of sounds to create moods." The musical backgrounds of Euphorium's members go a long way toward explaining the interesting melange of sounds that comprise their work. McMurray and Thompson played jazz in high school; McMurray played reggae for a time, and is on a hiatus of sorts from Hole-ish Morristown punkers Red #9. Hatchett logged time in both blues and country bands. "Sometimes Bob adds dance-hall bass to the songs," says Mark. "It works surprisingly well with my music." The members' day-to-day lives are more mundane, however. Says Mark, "We're mostly deadbeats. Bob and Nick [Sizemore, percussionist] go to school. Darrin remodels houses and does odd jobs. I drive a forklift." And for those reasons, Mark says the band members are wholly dedicated to making an impact with their music. "I think what we want most is respect, recognition for what we do," Mark says. "And we're all hungry; we all want to keep playing forever...There's nothing like the release of playing with a band." January 17, 2002 * Vol. 12, No. 3 © 2001 Metro Pulse BY CELESTIAL DUNG 4 EAST TN. GOTHIC DEC. 7TH AT PILOT LIGHT / KNOXVILLE TN. Dead Mark ain’t subtle. His voice overpowers any delicate underpinnings. As a solo artist it serves him well. Being the only member in a musical ensemble often leaves you with no other choice then overpowerment. As I saw two other guitarists I wondered how he would adapt to the new scene. His voice still overpowers. It’s got the gutsy truth ring to it. It’s loud and honest and everything rock should be. Backing him up was a guitar player with similar interests in Spanish melody lines. Bass player was the no nonsense type. Bass as the root of rhythm and no fancy tricks. Dead Mark held true to the rhythm guitar with occasional lead work. Together they sound like some electric acoustic connection. The first two songs in the set were dance rockers. “Down at the River” was despairing songs it cuts through hard on you. A down and gone woman tries to leave her shame washing away in the river. Through the horror you still feel for the girl. Through the horror the band still bids you to dance. One solo was retained though. Alone Dead Mark plucked through “Sleep” showing off his exquisite style and voice. It’s a gently lullaby with a dark hope. “Through broken wings I will fly away.” The guitar, the voice, the words all bid you a hopeful and morbid goodnight. This go~around we seduced the deadest of them all, dead mark, into exposing his true self in Thirteen Questions. 1. Who are you? dead mark (a.k.a. the jerk with emo problems n.a. mask) 2. What is your favorite place in East TN? Anywhere that my friends & people who love me are. 3. Have you ever been mistaken for a porn star? I was mistaken 4 Ron Jeremy once, but that was BEFORE I got my pants down ;} 4. Should pot be legal? Yes, I'm not a huge user (I tend to drift off into my own world) but you rarely, if ever hear of violence between stoned people, besides the makers of munchy food would be the richest dudes in the world... 5. Hobbies? Painting, writing poetry, watching people live, watching documentaries, drinking... I really dig reading, if it's something I'm into. I like books on psychology of human behavior, the occult, true crime, bios, history of religion / GOD etc. 6. I like East TN because ______. It's where all my stuff is (he,he) 7. I hate East TN because ______. Most of the hookers are elsewhere ;) 8. Is there anyone's ass you would like to kick? My own most of the time, I'm so forgetful. 9. Who is the sexiest local personality? Actually their are a few I find intriguing...I am attracted to people who are emotional about life (in a good way) people that are intelligent & open minded. People that aren't afraid to be who they are comfortable being explorers of the mind... 10. What was your first word? CIRCUMCISION ?!?!?!@#!@AAGGGHH - ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! :) 11. Share your best memory. Me & my father would go to the Mountains together & ride around, talk b.s. , drink beer & target shoot with pistols, I miss my father very, very much, we were so alike I could talk to him honestly, I haven't been able to do that since he passed..... 12. What is your opinion of the industry you represent? The music industry is in a state of supercrap.... I believe in making music 4 yourself & the people that might apprieciate it getting rich would be nice but Respect is worth more 4 me..... try to stay true to art & story telling, besides I can't RAP 4 sh#t.....lol 13. Links to your work, your email, and any information you would like others to know. deadmark doomsdaddyalpha@aol.com CDs' are always free to those who will give my music a chance, anyone atPRINT THIS STORY | E-MAIL THIS STORY Dead Mark fights his way through the dark By kevin Saylor The Dead Mark song "Down by the River" is reminiscent of the baptism scene in the film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" In the movie, a haunting a cappella chorus hypnotically draws the story's three main characters to the river's edge. Likewise, this artist's eerie acoustic guitar, gravelly vocals and melancholic subject matter are more than enough to keep you listening. "Some people refer to my music as 'goth,' and in a way I guess it is - in the purest way," he says, adding that his music "is morbid and deals with the darker side of human existence, but I'm not all about just death and spooks. I just gravitate towards the shadows as far as every aspect of my life. The unknown is fascinating." The performer began writing poetry and songs at age 12, five years before he picked up a guitar. During the 1990s, he played in a handful of local bands, including Intimate Stranger, Dreaded Pugs and The Plaid. It was after the demise of The Plaid last year that he began recording solo material. "After my father passed away, my writing became very dark and more edged, more real," the artist says. "I became withdrawn and bitter, not popish (like The Plaid) at all. I pretty much wrote all The Plaid songs, and in a way that's what brought on the breakup of the band. The other guys thought I was pulling a 'prima donna' thing when actually I was going through what ended up being a near total emotional collapse. I was drinking in extreme excess, staying away from everyone, not being able to cope with my devastating loss. "After The Plaid split up, I wasn't intending to be a solo artist, but in my mental state at the time I was spending a lot of time alone, writing and recording." He certainly was. Since The Plaid members went their separate ways, Dead Mark has released three albums, with a fourth on the way. His first solo album, "An Easy Grave," was released in the fall of 2000, and "Incubator" was released this summer. In between those two albums he recorded a third, "Once Upon a Rebellion," which was recorded using an Acid program - a loop/sequencing based software. (The other two albums are acoustic.) "Once Upon a Rebellion" is a concept album loosely based on the Richard Adams novel "Watership Down." " 'Once Upon a Rebellion' is a soundtrack to a short story thing," Dead Mark says. "The animals of The Omegastate lash out and overthrow the people of the capital city Killzero. The piece is very, very bizarre and aurally violent. It begins with 'The March of the Dancing Bears,' then to Chapter 2, 'The Terrible Mr. Tortoise,' and then closes as the general of the animal armies addresses the defeated humans in 'Willis the Whale Wants a Word.' This work is very artsy, and to be honest, it's a little too much for some people to deal with. But people with an open mind love it." The artist plans to release his next CD, tentatively titled "Diabolus," sometime this winter. He describes it as "pretty trippy, along the lines of Resurrection Day, dark but with kind of (Pink) Floydish overtones." Rather than sell his CDs at local music outlets as many area musicians do, Dead Mark gives his music away for free through his Web site: /artists/166/dead_mark.html. "People are doing me a great favor by giving my music a chance and listening," he says. "I think many bands have lost sight that it's not carved in stone that if you pick up a guitar, people will worship you. Everybody whines about how the Knoxville scene is and how people don't care, when 99 percent of the bands out there haven't given anyone a reason to care. "It's just assumed that people dig you just because you're in a band and that's just not the case anymore. You have to earn respect from fans, and it doesn't come cheap. "I'm a writer and a storyteller first. That's what helps me cleanse my own demons. If I write a song and someone else going through a similar type of pain can listen to it and take some sort of comfort or emotion from it, then that's payment enough for me." During the next few weeks Dead Mark plans to begin touring again. He is scheduled to play at Campus Pub on Nov. 3 with Perfect Mercy. E-mail Kevin Saylor at emperorsaylor@ earthlink.net or write to him c/o Entertainment department, The Knoxville October 12, 2001 all please feel free to e-mail a request 4 a CD... ......... 10/01/2001 4:19 PM BY CELESTIAL DUNG 4 EAST TN. GOTHIC, Dead Mark opens the musical portion of the service. He's got a strong voice. Deadly strong and gutty. My first impression was that he bore a similarity to the lead singer of Creed. I didn't want to write that simply because he's so much above that. For one thing he's there. I mean he's real and there and every word and ever note somehow effect him and means something to him. Countering the throaty growl is some subtle guitar work. Almost folksy in nature his playing is sometimes rythematic, sometimes melodic, and something he makes his guitar sound like a string section. The closing number, sleep, really shows his string skill off. Soft, pretty, and dreamlike. The Dead one had a bass player with him through half the set. Then he left stage. Mark never faltered. He sounds just as good alone as he does with a backing musician. No drummer. Didn't miss hearing one. /artists/166/dead_mark.html

Additional Info Also EUPHORIUM

Location morristown, TN. - USA

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