What is your name?
Mark Sullivan
What is your genre of music? Acoustic/funk/soul
Give us a little bio about you.
Ok, so i have been playing since i was 15, in bands, duo’s and now solo. I’ve always wanted to be a solo player but spent most of my playing time as a frontman. I won the solo category of ‘Rock The House’ in 2015 where i got to perform at the American Ambassadors house which was amazing, and have played some great stages including Big Feastival, Isle Of Wight and 02 Brooklyn Bowl. I recently recorded my new ep in America with a grammy nominated producer Steve Greenwell and was lucky enough to have some amazing session players feature including Jack Daley on Bass! This year hopefully you will start hearing me on the radio and seeing me play some big support shows..
Are you a signed?
no
You are released your new single ‘Warm Your Bones’ , whats the meaning behind it?
Warm Your Bones is written from a man’s prospective of when he is in love and in a long-term relationship. He is explaining that throughout everything; the arguments, the ups and downs, that none of it matters. All that matters is that he loves her and would do anything for her.
Tell us more about the writing process
I generally like to get the melody, riff or chord progression first. Once I have a clear picture of the structure or how i feel the song should be, I then fit the lyrics around the song dependent on what emotion the song evokes to me at the time.
What was the recording process like?
It was such a special time and I really enjoyed the creative process. I have worked for an opportunity like this for a long time now and to finally see it come to fruition is a great feeling. I learned so much in the time I was there and it has helped me grow as a person, a songwriter, a musician and singer.
You also released the video, how much fun was that and whats your best memory from the shoot?
It was great fun to shoot the video and we also had a great team around us who was a pleasure to work with. We had good direction on where we needed to get and I really enjoyed seeing the story and message of the video come to life. My favourite moment was standing in the royal naval college London with the city skyline behind me. I remember thinking this is a great moment for me!
You have an EP coming out March 10th called ‘Still Good For Nothing’ whats the meaning behind the title?
The single ‘Warm your bones’ is out 17t h March and the EP is available to stream now on Spotify, So get on spotify have a listen and give us a follow. The meaning of the title is a slight tongue in cheek thing for me. There’s a lyric in the song ‘Bird at night’ which says ‘ you can look to me when you feel good for nothing’ and with this EP being I feel my best work to date it could still be all for nothing?? So I could still be good for nothing.
What was the process like making it?
We had some amazing people working on the EP and I was lucky enough to have Grammy nominated producer Steve Greenwell (Joss Stone, The Jonas brothers) produce the Ep. This was surreal for a couple of days with me having been a massive fan. It was a massive learning curve for me and I loved and absorbed every second of it. I was also blessed with having Jack Daley (Lenny Kravitz, Beyonce ) lay down the bass for the EP.
Who did you show it to first once completed?
A couple of my friends first of all over a couple of beers!
Do you have any gigs in the works?
I have some great dates in London in Feb then im off on a Cafe nero uk & Scotland tour, 10t h Feb Supporting Paul Pedana at 93 Feet East in Brick lane. 23r d Feb The bedford in Balham
If so which cities will you be going?
London, Glasgow, Edinburgh.
Will we see an tour with the EP?
Yes April we will be on a support tour
What made you go in to music?
Music has been a massive part of my life for most of my life. It inspires me, gets me up in the morning and has got me through tough times. That’s what has ultimately started me off at music and kept me going.
Do you have any festivals you will be playing this year?
Hopefully! We have put in for a lot of festivals again this year but it always takes a long time to hear back at this stage as it’s a long process. Last year it wasn’t until April that we started getting our confirmations for festivals and had some really good ones including a stage at Isle Of Wight, The Big Feastival and Camper Calling. I love festivals so i’m hoping we get some more good ones this year!
Do you play any instruments?
I play guitar and a really poor piano.
Who are your influences?
Im influenced by people like jimi Hendrix, john mayer, donny Hathaway, ray Charles, bob marley. But I feel you can take an influence from any musical genre or style. It’s all part of the journey.
How do you get inspiration to write songs?
I take inspiration for my music from all things in life and love. Different people, moments and situations give me the inspiration and i try and take what i need from different experience throughout my life.
Where do you see yourself now in 5 Years?
I want to take this as big as it can possibly go, all I’m trying to focus on is working hard and being true to myself as an artist and not listening to myself all of the time!
When you’re not doing music, what do you do?
I like to cook, eat and drink. Im a very social person so I enjoy being around people. Getting out and experiencing as much life as i can when i’m not gigging
What was the song you listened to most that influenced you to go more in to the music scene?
Wow… that’s hard to say, theres so many, off the top of my head, Donny Hathaway ‘ a song for you’ or Jeff Buckley ‘ Lover you should have come over’ It’s so hard to choose
What’s the best advice you have ever been given?
Probably something along the lines of.. ‘No one is ever owed anything, you’ve got to work for everything you want and even if you get what you eventually want your still not owed it, Don’t ever take anything for granted’.
What advice would you give to aspiring musicians not about the industry and just as an artist?
Believe in yourself and never give up. There’s also so much you can do for yourself nowadays with social media at your fingertips and making you as an artist as best as you can be. Ask yourself ‘ Are you doing everything you can?
What quote or saying do you always stick by?
Not sure if this is a quote but it make sense to me, ‘Don’t do what you’ve always done if you don’t want to get what you’ve always got’.
When you are at a gig, what are 5 things you cannot forget?
Towel, Plectrums, Spare Guitar, Water, New strings oh and maybe a beer?!
Your coming back from tour;
1/ where is the first place you go?
The first place I went was to bed, We got back really late on the last night, Then if i remember rightly I and another gig the next day. I’m not complaining… Good times!
2/ who is the first person you see? My manager we had a few things to go over and a few other interviews to do.
3/ where is the first place you go to eat?
I love a Pizza, I have a great pizza restaurant near where i live, That was my first stop! Extra chilli please!
You work with Fifth Element PR, how did that come about and what’s your best memory ?
Fifth Element are part of our team that we formed to help with the release of the new EP and single. It ended up that we took on a project manager and she formed a team of radio/press and agent around us and we were very lucky to get Fifth Element doing our PR, they do a great job. The best thing so far was seeing my video premier on a national newspaper site. It made things feel like they were starting to happen.
Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
Yes you can find me on
https://www.facebook.com/marksullivanmusic https://open.spotify.com/artist/5l4BEZY1e17aAJjqfolCLW www.twitter.com/marksullivanmus www.instagram.com/marksulmusic https://www.youtube.com/user/MarkSullivanMusic/feed
