Hiya Mark, thanks for joining us in the virtual RGM lounge today. Grab a brew and take a seat.
Hiya, thanks for having me. Tea for me, please, and a chair close to the guitar.
Tell us a bit about where you are from and how you got into music?
I’m based on Long Island, New York, and I make music under the name Mark Cee.
I’ve been writing songs on and off for about thirty years, mostly for myself and usually on a guitar. It started with pop rock on an electric guitar, and over time the songs got quieter and more acoustic. Traffic, the Beatles, Bon Iver and Tim Buckley are the records that shaped how I think about a song.
For most of that time music was a side thing next to a long career in IT. Last year I finally started recording the songs properly and releasing them, and I’ve loved it.
What’s the live music scene like on Long Island right now?
Honest answer: I’m a poor guide. I don’t play live and I record everything in a den at home, so I mostly hear about the scene second hand.
Long Island has never been short of bars, songwriter nights and cover bands, and I suspect there’s more going on than I know about. If anyone wants to point me to a good open mic, I’m listening.
Anyone we should be looking out for (bar you, of course)?
Not from my own backyard, I’m afraid. What I can say is that this year showed me how many small independent blogs and reviewers are writing thoughtful, honest pieces about music hardly anyone has heard yet.
Keep an eye on those writers and see who they recommend. That’s where I found most of my own new listening.
What’s your thoughts on all this talk about Indie poo going round the socials at the min?
I’ll confess I’ve missed that particular argument, because I’m usually in the den with a guitar rather than on the socials.
If it’s about everything getting called indie, I get it. People have described my songs a few different ways. I just try to write the song honestly and let everyone else argue about the label.
What’s the biggest thing you hate having to do to showcase your music?
The tech around the music. Writing and recording is the fun part. Then come the links, uploads, platforms and smartlinks, and one broken link can undo a week of work.
I came from an IT career, so I’m not scared of technology, but it still wears me down. Give me a guitar over a dashboard any day.
What are your ambitions for your music?
Pretty modest. I’d like the album to reach people who connect with it, and I’d be happy if a few of them tell me a song meant something to them.
I’m not planning to tour. I see this as an experiment I’ve been enjoying, and I’ll keep playing guitar for the fun of it.
What’s your view on the music industry today?
Mixed, like most people. The upside is that you can record an album in a spare room and have it on every streaming service within days. The downside is the same thing: there are millions of songs, and getting heard often comes down to playlists and algorithms.
What surprised me most is how much real attention comes from small blogs and curators who actually sit down and listen. That’s the part of the industry I like.
What’s the biggest thing you have learned recently as you progress with your music?
How much mixing and mastering matter. I spent a lot of time learning Logic Pro and measuring loudness and balance, and I learned that louder isn’t better.
I also learned that a song that sounds great in the den can feel very different on headphones out on a walk. And I’m learning patience, including knowing when a mix is finished.
What’s currently in your ears and on rotation at the moment?
The records I always come back to are Traffic’s self-titled album, Rubber Soul and Sgt. Pepper, with some Bon Iver and Tim Buckley alongside them.
I also play my own tracks on my walks, because that’s where I find out how they really feel.
I hear you have new music. What can you tell us about it?
Yes. My album, It’s Me Mark Cee, came out on October 9. It’s nine tracks of mostly acoustic folk, with a lot of loss and memory in it. It opens with Wistful and includes How You Left Me Still, To Where Will You Go, Waiting on Winter Still, Missed Connection (plus a reprise), Stranger Home, Heading Back to Canada and I Will Touch the Sky, which is the upbeat one.
Missed Connection is about my father’s sudden death and how I’ve been dealing with it. It’s a song I wrote to work through that.
The cover is a sepia photograph of parents holding a young child, which felt right for the record.
What was the recording process like?
All of it was recorded at home in my den. I use a Tascam TM-80 microphone into a Scarlett Solo interface, record and mix in Logic Pro, and master with LANDR.
I like recordings that sound like a person in a room, so there’s no AI in any of it, just me, a guitar, my voice and a few extra instruments. The flute that closes How You Left Me Still leads straight into the next track, which I’m fond of.
Recording was the easy part. Getting the mixes right took far longer.
Would you change anything now it’s finished?
Probably, and I’m learning to leave it alone. I went through many versions of the mixes, and there is always a vocal take or a bit of bass you could tweak.
At some point you have to let the record go, and I’m happy to have done that.
Is there anything else you would like to share with the world?
Thank you to everyone who listened, wrote about the album, or put a song on a playlist. You gave a hobbyist a year to remember.
If you like the album, a save or follow on Spotify helps more than you’d think. The links are below.
FOLLOW MARK HERE
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