Mark Remmington
Who is the human behind the artist Mark Remmington or how would you describe yourself?
I read an interview with the late great musician and songwriter JJ Cale; when asked about how he started writing songs, and he said he was basically a guitarist without a band, and he started making songs as a platform for his guitar playing and as a way of having ownership of what he was doing.
Whilst I couldn't credibly compare myself to such a well loved and influential career musician, I definitley identified with his esarly motives. I'm just a guy that loves playing guitar.
Space Person Blues
Eine Eröffnung, ein erstes Release, eine Vorstellung für ein Album wie man sie selten zu hören bekommt, würde ich meinen. Die Inspiration schier mannigfaltig, bedient sich diese doch förmlich in allen Genre des Musikuniversums.
Electro meets Prog-Rock collides with Jazz and Blues and shimmers like Prog-Pop. In seiner musikalischen Küche zaubert Mark Remmington ein Gericht des Himmels, eine Fusion aus Allem, seine Kreativität dient ihm als Gewürzregal. Begnadet greift er zu und verfeinert seine Inspiration. Ein experimenteller Streifzug durch den Dschungel seiner Vorbilder, der Weg durch die Wildnis die man Leben nennt. Alle Erfahrungen, Gedanken oder Gefühle werden aufgesaugt und musikalisch spektakulär interpretiert.
Das Ergebnis lässt einen staunen, "Space Person Blues" von Mark Remmington ein genialer Opus der Gegenwart welcher aus Inspiration geschaffen wurde um wieder zu inspirieren.
Q&A
Who inspired you to make music in general ...and especially to the song "Space Person Blues"?
I have so many influences, I listen to and love, many, many styles, and I've been privileged enough to be in some great bands ranging from Metal and Rock, to Jazz and Blues, to folk.
Space Person Blues musically is somewhere between the electronic music I love such as Fila Brazillia, Air, Who Made Who, Alex Gopher; and the prog rock bands I adore, Pink Floyd and Genesis in particular.
However, the lyrics are a play on classic Blues lines like, "I got a bird to whistle, and a bird to sing" or "I love my Babe so long and tall" and the hook like "Sho' enough got the Blues, got the Blues". So theres a real mix going on there; but thats who we are isn't it? a mix of our experiences, thoughts and feelings that got us to where we are today.
What is your creative process like?
Plug stuff in and play with it. Making sounds is pretty easy, whether you are sitting with a piano, a synth, a guitar or bass; somethings gonna happen, a riff will occur one way or another, and I think most musicians are the same.
But having the lyrical idea, or a meaningful message to pin on it, there's the challenge. I really try to keep note books and things around to write in, lyrical ideas and phrases. to draw upon. And for this album I'm staggering out in 2022, having the sci-fi theme to play with really helped as well.
I have read that you did a "twist" from the Singer-Songwriter mode to a more virtual electronic band, what was the reason, your motivation to do this?
I like being noisy. I really do love so much music. The last album being more of a singer songwriter style, was a conscious decision, it helped me to have that brief to keep things simple, there were also lots of personal songs in there about myself, my friends, my family, so that approach just seemed the most appropriate and how I was feeling at the time. I was also at home living through lockdown so I was more often than not in the house with an acoustic or sat at the piano in the kitchen while the family milled around me.
Since then, of gotten back to playing live, playing my electric guitar more and seeing people in more social/party/gig situations, so I just wanted more beat driven songs, and songs that I could just unashamedly lay a guitar solo down on.
Also, for me I'm expanding on everything I learnt doing the first album, the whole things is more expansive, plugged in and turned up to 11!
Also, that you are working on your new album, what can we expect?
Well I've got a few friends joining me on this album; whereas I had to perform or program everything on the last one. This time I got great friend to share in these tunes, and to add their expertise to them, so its going to be great to shout about them as each tune comes out. The album will be called "SofaNauts", although I originally wanted it to be a band, unfortunately they didn't come off, so instead the SofaNauts are the good pals joining me on certain tracks.
Otherwise musically I feel I got some treats and tricks up my sleeve, I got one or two quite rocking chugging guitar songs in addition to some really atmospheric stuff, but overall quite melodic. I feel I've got a lot of my David Bowie in the 90's influences coming through, with some very fun stand out songs that hopefully anyone would just want to turn the stereo up on, and I do have a bit of a progressive opus of a song to close.
Basically, if you like good beats, if you like fun, if you like guitar solos, if you like space, and if you are interested in general commentaries on the human condition; you've come to the right place.
What's your most useful talent besides music?
I can open a beer bottle with pretty much anything. There is basically no situation where I can't open a beer bottle. I'm like beer bottle McGuyver. I'm like the entire A-Team trapped in a warehouse but the day gets saved because they managed to make and open a bar using cardboard boxes even though they had no bottle openers, or beer.
How would you describe 2021 in a sentence?
Every year has its ups and downs, the trick I believe is to try look out the window everyday and tell yourself "YES, it is a beautiful day!" every day; and the year 2021 in that regard for me, was no different than any other.
What was the first ever Pop/Rock/etc. ... song you listened to or remember on?
Aerosmith - Love in an elevator; about the age of 11. I literally had zero interest in music before I heard Aerosmith for the first time. Its been a descent into debauchery and laughs ever since!
You are from Kings Lynn, how would you describe the music scene there?
There isn't one. Don't get me wrong there are some truly fantastic musicians and people, 1 great studio. But its an agricultural area with a population thats really spread out. It's incredibly difficult to find capable musicians in the area that can commit to a musical project.
I grew up in Essex and then moved to London, I didn't realise how spoilt I was in those densely populated parts of the country; so many people on your doorstep, so much talent to interact with. I do miss that.
Do you remember your first ever self-written song?
Not really, but for years my playing and writing compadre was my best friend at school a chap called Mark Hung, we both kind of taught ourselves and each other everything we knew as we discovered it musically in our teens.
We wrote a lot of tunes in his garage; noisy noisy days of rocking out with BC Rich metal guitars! The great thing is that my old mate is joining my on 1 or two of the songs on this album
.... and of course what’s next for you?
Well in addition to getting "Space Person Blues" out and then the "Sofanauts" alternative rock/Prog-Pop album out, I plan to be writing and releasing material with an actual Blues band I am in called "Stone Pepper Blues".
I also play lead guitar for my hard rocking amigo Nix Dadry on his EP coming out in 2022, please check out Nix his music is quality as are the other musicians involved in his upcoming release, we all had a great time making it with him.
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