01Profile
A Model Man Photo
Model Man
Musicians — Essex
03Interview
Name, where are you from?
Brandon, Mark.
Chelmsford Essex.
What do you do?
Play piano and produce.
Describe your style in three words?
Pianistic, introspective, shuffling.
What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
Radiohead - South Park, Oxford. 'Paranoid Android' blew my tiny mind. It was my first ever gig.
If you could be on the line up with any two bands in history?
Sly and The Family Stone, Prince. The energy would be insane!
Which subcultures have influenced you?
Garage, baroque, minimalism, '90s Rave, Chicago house.
There was a big garage scene in Essex when I was growing up. I was really young and it was kind of intimidating. Everyone was taking speed and ecstasy at my school. My Mum raised me in a way that made me quite scared and paranoid of all that. So I didn’t go near the drugs. Just quietly absorbed the music. But those feelings of anxiety and excitement really stay with you. It’s amazing how long those rhythms have stayed relevant.
If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?
My Nan. I liked hearing her stories and miss her loads. A musician - Chopin. He died so prematurely. I’d like to go back in time, spend that hour accompanied by a good doctor give him the medication he needed, that didn’t exist in the 1800s, so he would live longer and we would have even more of his music now.
Of all the independent venues you’ve played, which is your favourite?
Studio 9294 in Hackney holds a warm place in my heart because we played our first gig there and it was a great night. Jay Carder DJ’d after and we were all buzzing.
Your greatest unsung hero or heroine in music?
Robert Owens - one of the great singers in my opinion. His musical sensibilities, delivery, emotion and tone are up there with the best. His performance on 'Tears' by Frankie Knuckles is heart-breaking.
02Playlist
04Playlist Notes
The first track you played on repeat?
'Couldn’t Love You More' by John Martyn.
A song that defines the teenage you?
'On Your Own Again' by Scott Walker.
I worked in a music shop and used to have 'Scott 4' on repeat.
One record you would keep forever?
'Drukqs' by Aphex Twin. It’s so rich and deep. It’s a world within a world. There are so many roads to get lost down. It’s near impossible to get bored of. 'Jynweythek' is the perfect prepared piano piece.
A song lyric that has inspired you?
“In the end you’ll still be you, one that’s done all the things you set out to do”
From 'Stand!' by Sly & The Family Stone.
A song you wished you had written?
Hmm, too many! 'Les Fleurs' by Minnie Riperton, 'Beggin’' by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, 'As' by Stevie Wonder… can’t decide!
Best song to turn up loud?
'Poison' by Prodigy.
The drum break that comes in halfway through is a big hypnotic moment.
A song people wouldn’t expect you to like?
'A Little Fall of Rain' by Frances Ruffelle, Michael Ball from 'Les Misérables'.
I’m not a big musicals guy or anything, but 'Les Misérables' feels like more than a musical, it’s really astonishing. The story and songs will last forever I think.
The song that would get you straight on the dance floor?
At a wedding - 'Get Down Saturday Night' by Oliver Cheatham. At a club - 'Camargue' by CJ Bolland.
Best song to end an all-nighter?
Anything Burial.
Any new bands you are into at the moment?
Laurance Guy, Romare.
03Interview
Name, where are you from?
Brandon, Mark.
Chelmsford Essex.
What do you do?
Play piano and produce.
Describe your style in three words?
Pianistic, introspective, shuffling.
What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
Radiohead - South Park, Oxford. 'Paranoid Android' blew my tiny mind. It was my first ever gig.
If you could be on the line up with any two bands in history?
Sly and The Family Stone, Prince. The energy would be insane!
Which subcultures have influenced you?
Garage, baroque, minimalism, '90s Rave, Chicago house.
There was a big garage scene in Essex when I was growing up. I was really young and it was kind of intimidating. Everyone was taking speed and ecstasy at my school. My Mum raised me in a way that made me quite scared and paranoid of all that. So I didn’t go near the drugs. Just quietly absorbed the music. But those feelings of anxiety and excitement really stay with you. It’s amazing how long those rhythms have stayed relevant.
If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?
My Nan. I liked hearing her stories and miss her loads. A musician - Chopin. He died so prematurely. I’d like to go back in time, spend that hour accompanied by a good doctor give him the medication he needed, that didn’t exist in the 1800s, so he would live longer and we would have even more of his music now.
Of all the independent venues you’ve played, which is your favourite?
Studio 9294 in Hackney holds a warm place in my heart because we played our first gig there and it was a great night. Jay Carder DJ’d after and we were all buzzing.
Your greatest unsung hero or heroine in music?
Robert Owens - one of the great singers in my opinion. His musical sensibilities, delivery, emotion and tone are up there with the best. His performance on 'Tears' by Frankie Knuckles is heart-breaking.
04Playlist Notes
The first track you played on repeat?
'Couldn’t Love You More' by John Martyn.
A song that defines the teenage you?
'On Your Own Again' by Scott Walker.
I worked in a music shop and used to have 'Scott 4' on repeat.
One record you would keep forever?
'Drukqs' by Aphex Twin. It’s so rich and deep. It’s a world within a world. There are so many roads to get lost down. It’s near impossible to get bored of. 'Jynweythek' is the perfect prepared piano piece.
A song lyric that has inspired you?
“In the end you’ll still be you, one that’s done all the things you set out to do”
From 'Stand!' by Sly & The Family Stone.
A song you wished you had written?
Hmm, too many! 'Les Fleurs' by Minnie Riperton, 'Beggin’' by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, 'As' by Stevie Wonder… can’t decide!
Best song to turn up loud?
'Poison' by Prodigy.
The drum break that comes in halfway through is a big hypnotic moment.
A song people wouldn’t expect you to like?
'A Little Fall of Rain' by Frances Ruffelle, Michael Ball from 'Les Misérables'.
I’m not a big musicals guy or anything, but 'Les Misérables' feels like more than a musical, it’s really astonishing. The story and songs will last forever I think.
The song that would get you straight on the dance floor?
At a wedding - 'Get Down Saturday Night' by Oliver Cheatham. At a club - 'Camargue' by CJ Bolland.
Best song to end an all-nighter?
Anything Burial.
Any new bands you are into at the moment?
Laurance Guy, Romare.