26 February 2024
Every Monday I will be bringing you an interview with an independent band, duo or music artist. This week, I caught up with County Cork based artist Mark Lyndon to find out more…
Where are you from and how did you first get into music?
I’m originally from Birr, but now living in Co. Cork, Ireland. I began taking piano lessons at 6 years of age, applied the theory I was learning to guitar at 11, played my first gig at 13 and never really looked back! I went on to study music in university and have been playing, teaching and composing music full-time ever since.
Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
My first memories of music are of myself crying along to Johnny Logan on Eurovision! I was always intrigued by nice melodies. As a young kid I liked Queen and Guns N Roses. I remember getting a cassette tape of Metallica’s black album for my 8th birthday. I wore that bad boy down to a nub. In my teenage years I started to listen to a lot of rock music. TOOL, Radiohead, Nirvana and Soundgarden… that kind of stuff. It was only when I went to college that I was exposed to folk and trad. The Planxty Live 2004 album really stuck with me. I would also cite Paul Brady’s Liberty Tapes as an important album for me. My tastes are broad now and there’s nothing really that I would dismiss without first hearing.
How would you describe your sound?
I suppose it can only be counted as folk music really. I use both piano and guitar to compose but once I apply open tunings on guitar to the songs they slide in to that folk category. My upcoming album also features fiddle and bouzouki which puts it in that folk/trad space.
What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
“First Light” is a personal piece that reflects on the positive impact of the growing and changing light on our collective outlook during the dark weeks post-winter solstice. I always experience a period of reflection at this time of year, It can be a blue time for many, with the death of the Christmas period and the warmth that it entailed, surrounded by family and friends. We are then forced to emerge from this softness, and it can feel hard, cold, and lonely. It’s important to remember that this too is a natural state and to embrace it as part of a cycle of rebirth. As natural light increases, and nature slowly responds we must embrace the importance of the fallow period.
What’s your local music scene like?
There is a lot happening in Irish Folk music at the minute. It’s not too dissimilar to the 70’s and 80’s when bands like Planxty and Clannad were rewriting the tradition. Now you have LANKUM and NOTIFY along with the Mary Wallopers and others giving new interpretations of folk songs and music, but always edgy and inventive with tendrils reaching into all sorts of places.
What do you have planned for the next 12 months?
I have some nice gigs lined up. I recently played support to Andy Irvine and Donal Lunny and will be opening for Mundy in St. Luke’s, Cork City on March 16th. It is my hope that I can put together a string of dates touring my solo live show “The River Witnessed” to small audiences over the summer months before releasing my debut album in the Autumn. I have another “secret” project in the pipeline which could drastically change the course of things to come but it isn’t “over the line” yet. I hope to build a profile which will allow me to play to decent sized crowds in folk clubs across Ireland and maybe the UK too by February 2025.
Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
Not right now. I’m barely getting my hands around my own stuff at the minute so I don’t think I’d be of much use to anyone!
Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
Loads. I played a gig a week after having Covid but it was the strain that gave you diarrhoea….
What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
We got three chickens and now my sheepdog wakes me up every morning (including weekends) at 06:30am to let them out. This has been going on for a year now and I am powerless to make a change.
You can find out more about Mark on his website or via Apple Music, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, X (Twitter) or YouTube.
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