GOT A CHANCE TO CHAT WITH YORKSHIRE SINGER-SONGWRITER ‘RICHARD MARC’AND WE GOT CHATTING ABOUT HIS NEW SINGLE ‘CLOSE TO YOU’, READ IT HERE!

What is your name?
Richard Marc (Richard Sanderson)

What is your genre of music?
Indie Pop

Give us a little bio about you.
I come from Yorkshire, and I started playing piano at about 6 years old, and then guitar at 12. As a kid I went busking in Halifax at the weekends, and then when I left school I moved to London to do a music degree. I spent a few years writing and producing with other artists for their projects, and then last year I decided to release my own EP and here we are!

What made you go into music?
I grew up around music all my life, my whole family is musical, so it sort of seemed inevitable that I’d get into music. I’ve wanted to be a musician my whole life, except for a small period as a little boy when I wanted to be a train driver.

Who are your influences?
My influences vary from Guns N Roses, to Queen, to Nirvana, to Paramore, to Jack Johnson, Katy Perry, and Taylor Swift! It really is that varied. When it comes to writing pop, though, Taylor Swift is really one of the first people I look to.

Are you signed?
No, I run my releases through my own self-started ‘label’, Sunburst Records.

Your new single ‘Close To You’ is out, tell us more about the single.
Close To You is the second single from my EP, which is called Mixtape Vol 1. It’s got this kind of chill, vulnerable feel and really focusses around this relationship between the lead vocal and the vocoder making the harmonies.

What is the meaning behind the single?
It’s a love song about meeting someone in a bar, but not your traditional ‘love at first sight’ song, it’s more about that ‘creep-y up-y’ kind of love. Really it’s not a song about being in love yet, it’s about feeling like you could fall in love with this person in the future

Who did you work with on the single?
I started off writing the song on my own and did the first draft of it that way, and then brought in my trusted writing partner Lauren Alex Hooper to help me refine it and bring it into the form it is now. I produced it myself, but I always have a close group of friends around me who I can trust to get feedback and ideas for development on my music.

Describe the track in two words.
“chill bop”

What was the writing and recording process like?
I started writing the song early in the 2020 lockdown, it was quite a relaxed time for, to be honest, and I was really productive and wrote so many songs. Because of the lockdown my sessions with Lauren were done via Zoom with a Google Doc for us both to edit lyrics – that was a fairly new experience for us both, but we made it work. I’ve got a little home studio set up, and that’s where I did all the recording. That was really nice too, with the good weather over the summer and no time pressure to do anything else. My studio is my happy place.

Will we also see a music video for ‘Close To You’, if so what can we expect?
Yes, I have a music video all ready to go, it should be coming out a few days after the single.

Will we see an EP or Album and if so, what can we expect from it?
Yes, this is the second track from my EP, Mixtape Vol. 1, which will have 5 tracks in total. I’m excited for all the rest of this to come out into the world.

What else can we expect in 2021?
Well, the next thing that will come out after this single is a remix of the song, which will be coming in June, and then I’ve got another 6 releases planned for the rest of the year!

Where do you see yourself now in 5 Years?
Hopefully making music full time. I still want to be working with other artists, writing and producing material for them as my main thing. But also, hopefully still doing a few bits on this project too. As long as I’m still making music in some form or another, I’ll take that.

What quote or saying do you always stick by?
It’s not really a saying, but when we were stuck for production ideas one of my friends and I always used to say to each other ‘what would Max Martin do?’. He’s had a phenomenal career as a writer and producer, so I think that’s a pretty good rule to go by.

When you are at a gig, what are 5 things you cannot forget?
As a performer or audience member? As a performer it’s “Don’t forget your guitar strap. Don’t forget the capo. Have you got a spare set of strings? Did you put fresh batteries in the pedals? Which songs are we playing tonight?” As an audience member, I just try to enjoy the moment and get lost in the music, but it’s always hard to switch of the songwriter brain and be constantly analysign the music.

Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
Instagram is my main platform, and if you want to hear me rambling about football and cricket you can follow me on Twitter.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.