BIO
A native of Bournemouth, England, Mark has been a professional musician all his life. Studying at 8 years old with Chas Evans and later with prolific session great and BBC Radio Big Band drummer, Paul Brodie, Mark was playing gigs before he was a teenager, in every style of music imaginable. A career on the South Coast ensued cutting his teeth with a slew of British TV stars, playing jazz and big band, and his first hard rock recording session with Rich Bitch.
From 1987 to 1995 he was based in London, with artists such as Helen Shapiro (incl. tours playing venues such as London Paladium), Irish legend Phil Coulter (incl US tours playing venues such as Carnegie Hall),The Trammps, Jimmy Ruffin, The Crystals and West End shows such as "Peter Pan". Studies continued with Ronnie Scott/Oscar Peterson drummer, Martin Drew. A highlight of these years was the pop band Playing for Time, playing Ronnie Scotts and recording with Midge Ure. Much of 1990 and 1991 was spent living on the Cote D'Azur in Monte Carlo, playing with the Johnnie Howard Big Band. He also toured extensively all over Europe.
Mark relocated to the US in 1995 to play with Columbia records' Lauren Hart. Ensconced in NYC's original music scene, Mark played with bands such as The Time Machine and artists such as Amy Speace, Lisa Panagos and Julie Foldesi, and numerous sessions at PDiddy's Daddy's House. During this time, Mark played on Broadway and toured with many of the top musicals of our time, such as "The Who's Tommy", "Legally Blonde", "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels", "The Full Monty", and "Smokey Joe's Cafe" with Gladys Knight. During this time, Mark also toured Japan, Taiwan and Brazil.
He was based in NYC until 2004 when he moved to Las Vegas, where he played many of the biggest shows on the Strip, such as "Lion King", "Hairspray", and "Spamalot". He played for big band luminary Tony Scodwell and was prominent in the Vegas Composers' showcase from its' inception. During this time, he continued to record with many artists, including legendary Progressive rock group, Flash and the David Mark and Keith Hardin band.
2013 and 2014, Mark was based in Long Beach, California where he played in his art-rock trio Populuxe and continued to tour with Broadway productions such as "Priscilla Queen of the Desert", " Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and the Australian Bee Gees show. Mark has played on over 30 albums, and on numerous recording sessions in London, New York, Atlanta, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. 2014 releases include the Capcom video game, "Lost Planet 3", and the Populuxe album, "3". Mark endorses Sabian cymbals, Promark sticks and Ayotte drums.
Back in Las Vegas since 2015, Mark is playing many shows on the strip including Legends in Concert at the Flamingo and played behind the Righteous Brothers, J Lo, Donny and Marie, Wayne Newton and Matt Goss for the 50th anniversary of Ceasar's Palace. He recently recorded with award-winning composer Jack Wall for the new Black Ops video game release, and recorded a new album with Victor Trevino. The new Populuxe album recorded at the Hovel in LA will be released in early 2017 and the band is featured in the soundtrack to Academy award winning best picture "Spotlight" and the new documentary "Long Playing" by director Kevin Poore.
