Spotlight On ...Mark!

If one was to pick two words to describe Mark as a musician they would be "Eclectic Pisces". Born in Hazleton far too many years ago to mention, Mark's first memory of music came at the age of 5 when it was discovered he had the ability to harmonize with his mom, who sang ContraAlto with various choirs in the area.

His first musical instruction came at the age of nine on of all things, accordion. Both he and his brother Mike took lessons from the same teacher. Mike, being the oldest would go first. Struggling to play the lesson, Mark would listen to the teacher play it first, then play it note for note by ear. Of course, this got Mark in trouble at times, but set the ground work for years to come.

While in high school, he sang in advanced chorus, where he met his wife Dawn. His musical accomplishments in high school were Advanced chorus for four years, District chorus for three years, Regional chorus for two years, then completing music appreciation, theory, advanced theory, and master theory courses. They ran out of courses, of course, or Mark could have kept going indefinately!

After completing high school, he was accepted at several prestigous schools for music, but alas he opted to play rock and roll and sadly passed on college for trade school. The local bands he played in were Atlantis, Sleeper, The Other Side and The Herman James Band, to name a few. While playing for these bands, he had the pleasure of opening for Dakota, Dan Hartman, and Steppenwolf.

After several years of playing and going on the road, Mark started his own busness and devoted the next several years to working and establishing it, but as with most hard core musicians, he never was too far from his music.

To Marks credit and further emphasizing his diverse background, he has also played local theater off Broadway shows, 17 in all! He also wrote better than 16 scores for two shows, wrote an anthem for a local church, penned two songs that were sold to raise money for a little boy with leukemia, sang in 2 choruses and the church choir, played comtempory church services, all while raising two children and running a business!

In 2000 he opened a small studio in his home called 4 Stars Studio, where he does some commerical work and demos. He got back into playing in a band situation in 2002-2003, where he first met Vick Lutsky, who had just started testing the waters for his new project, with some local players. While none of those early players were prepared for a project like this, the meeting left an impression on Mark; enough so, that when Cindie contacted him about joining the final line up for Monsters of Rock, he jumped at the idea!

With his indoctrination into the Monsters, Mark is once again enjoying playing the energetic and dynamic music of the 80's, as well as helping to round out the vocals of this 7 piece tribute band, ensuring it will leave a considerable mark on the regional music scene!


Favorite Bands: Little Feet, Styx, ELP, Loverboy, Foreigner, Yes, and way too many more to mention!
Favorite Foods: I'm admittedly a health nut, but if I have a weakness, it would be ice cream ...any kind, any flavor, any brand!
Favorite Drinks: As the saying goes "Don't drink, don't smoke ...what do you do?" ....MUSIC....
Favorite Songs: anything 80's, especially if its by any of the above bands
Other interests: Mark's greatest accomplishments to date are his 2 teenage children and his 21 year marriage to Dawn.

Favorite Monster: My fav is the Wolfman, mostly because I'm as hairy as he is ...and just as misunderstood!! I'm also a big X-Man fan and I love comic books (I'm soooo childish) ...Wolverine ...Elvira (what knockers!!!)

What I love/miss about the 80's: Always thinking, creating ...with hopes of leaving the world just a little better than it was."Dream on,Dream on, Dream until your Dream comes true!!!