MARK V. AKA MR. RED HAZE
Written by: André Hazel 6 June 2018
"I am a chill guy, I take my time to do my things,
as a person I like to make social connections." ~ Mark V. ~
Photo by: Mark V. (A view of Noordwijk aan Zee with Mark V on the left)
Early Years
Mark V. grew up in Noordwijk, a small town in The Netherlands.
He spent most of his time around the beach growing up.
At his high school they had a music room.
He often went there during the school breaks to make music with his friends.
He recalls one day going to the music room playing “Smell Like Teen Spirit,” a song by a grunge band called Nirvana.
He got so excited playing this particular song on the guitar.
When he went home after school, he told his dad about the song with the belief that his father wouldn’t know the song.
To his surprise his dad showed him a copy of the album “Nevermind," which features the song “Smell Like Teen Spirit.”
Until this day he considers that specific moment as his introduction to rock music.
Photo by: Leonova Management (Photo shoot of Mark V. in 2016)
His first bands
With his first band they performed without a bass player.
Back then he didn’t know the value that a bass guitar had
and can bring to the total sound of a band.
Playing in a band for the first time gave him the confidence
to interact with people on a different level.
It made him appreciate himself even more as a person,
which eventually inspired him to start setting life goals.
After a while he started performing with a band called
"Between Stars & Crosses."
“Flock Of Angels” is another band he performed with during
his early years into music.
The band “Pink Floyd” was at that time his biggest inspiration, spending hours listening to their songs.
Soon after he joined a band called “Chaining Daisy" (technically still a part of the band).
He experimented with his vocal range and felt that he exceeded his expectations at moments when he needed to reach the higher notes while singing.
Shift to his solo career
During his performances with the band he began to notice that
the band differed from the direction he wanted to go with his music.
This led him to make the decision to start his solo career.
He also noticed that it was getting harder to get everyone together for band practice, which made his decision to pursue
his solo career even more compelling.
His solo career gave him the chance to do his own thing the way he envisioned it.
Highlights during his journey
One of the highlight as a musician was when he played
his last gig with his band.
People approached him and congratulated him full of appreciation.
Other highlights was performing in Bangkok at a location
where bands like Cool and The Gang had performed.
The site is a very beautiful place where you see the city from
the 33th story.
He never thought he would ever perform there.
“Just seeing the view and the people there has an impact on you as a person, how they appreciate what you are doing while standing there on your own imagining how the hell did I get there.”
Photo by: André Hazel (Mark V. performing at Berghpop Festival in 2016)
Future plans
He will never stop making music, that is something he is certain about and implements parts of that philosophy in his future plans.
He will continue performing live music and is planning to make more original songs.
His past experiences will be the foundation to write new songs.
Mark V has released an EP in 2015 called "Red Haze part 1,"
which is available on iTunes & Spotify & other streaming
services sites.
1 Minute with Mark V.
Mark V. is also on Social media
Facebook: www.facebook.com/markvofficial
Instagram: www.instagram.com/markvofficial1
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6DyCyDmlqvDXhG1FhI3SV0
Written by: André Hazel 6 June 2018
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