About me:
My name is Mark Campbell. I'm a vocalist based in Glasgow, Scotland.
From an early age I have been singing and performing at various levels.
I've played for original bands with varying degrees of success, performing on every size of stage from the smallest amateur pub gig to the highest professional gigs at Glasgow's SECC.
Most recently, I've been performing my original material as a solo artist and have also been working with some of the most reputable wedding/function bands in Scotland.
I pride myself in giving my all in any performance I participate in and singing to peak of my abilities, with a high range and a unique distinguishable tone, which, I believe sets me apart from other singers.
Most of my original songs are written from a social perspective, formed opinion and occasional personal perspective.
I am a passionate person who believes in tolerance over traditions. I believe with any performance you should always "play from your heart", as Bill Hicks put it.
I have a wide range of influences which vary between bands, musicians, comedians, films and maybe most importantly my closest friends and family.
Some of these include:
Manic Street Preachers, Queen, Jeff Buckley, Pink Floyd, Bill Hicks, The Big Lebowski, to name just a few.
In my personal time, I am a big football fan, a keen supporter of Clyde FC.
I also keep an eye out for Boca Juniors, Borrusia Dortmund, FC Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven and Sunderland AFC. I also enjoy combat sports, mainly, MMA and boxing, and professional wrestling.
My Story:
In school I started singing from about the age of 14 in various styles. I started writing songs from the age of 15 after receiving my first guitar as a christmas gift from my parents in 2001.
My first band ' The Middel Idiots' (deliberate spelling), a pop punk band inspired by Green Day / The Hives, performed our first full gig in Edinburgh's 'The Venue', November 2002, supporting a band called 'Dirtbox'.
I performed as the lead singer of 'The Middel idiots' and went on to play various gigs at venues and different high schools all over Scotland with various line-up changes until the end of 2003.
In 2004, upon more line-up changes the Middel Idiots evolved into my longest running originals project as lead singer;
'What the Dead Know'.
Our debut gig took place at the Soundhaus in Glasgow in February 2004.
What the Dead Know became renowned for energetic, passionate performances, with politically charged lyrics, and aggressive yet melodic melodies.
Between 2004 and 2006, What the Dead Know had success including supporting touring bands such as 'Five Knuckle', 'Drive by argument' and 'No Way Jose'. In the summer of 2005 we toured some dates all over the UK with Glasgow band 'Tempercalm', as well as selling out headline shows at the Cathouse and G2 at The Garage. Late 2005 we launched our first self-produced single 'Dutch elm disease'.
In early 2006, departures in the line-up lead to a hiatus for What the dead know, while we worked on securing a new members and individually partook in other musical endeavours.
In Summer 2006 I was asked to perform as a lead singer with the charity 'Loud 'n' Proud's', 'Rock Orchestra'.
The 'Rock Orchestra' was a 30 piece band, including some of Scotland's best young talent, along with their vastly experienced tutors. My first show with them took place at the Lagoon centre in Paisley. This was my first venture into covers work I had done, and the beginning of a journey that would take me all the way to two runs at Glasgow’s Clyde Auditorium, performing and acting in ' I Was There, the story of the Glasgow Apollo'.
In this show I played the role of Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Freddie Mercury and Alex Harvey.
Other successful a shows with the 'Rock Orchestra' between 2006 and 2010 included; The Wickerman Festival, The Garage, ABC 1, George Square and Paisley town hall.
In early 2007, I joined up with Originals Glasgow grunge band 'Daedalian', as a second guitarist/ singer. Having previously worked with lead singer and main song writer Brian Cunningham for most of my adult life, I wasn't a newcomer to the band and had worked in the studio with them for many years whilst being just a fan of the band.
Daedalian and I performed some reputable gigs in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, including supporting Japanese rock band 'Electric Eel Shock' at the Barfly.
We recorded at our own rehearsal facility in Dalmarnock, which financially took its toll on the band, leading to a hiatus by the autumn of 2008.
Daedalian was valuable experience that taught me a lot, about song writing, performing and musicianship, as well as an opportunity to be part of one of my favourite bands.
Towards the end of 2008 'What the Dead Know' returned to the rehearsal studio after 2 years, with a new line up and new songs such as 'Elements' and 'White man made intolerance'. After selling out the 13th Note for a one off 'come back' show in December of 2008,we started playing regular gigs again in the summer of 2009 visiting new venues all over Scotland.
The work of What the dead know culminated and peaked in selling out the ABC 2 in October 2009, where for the first time, we attempted to take our visual performance to a new level.
With the stage draped in white, the band performed while a video was projected on to us, conveying the horror of war and fragility of humanity, including quotes that had inspired our song writing. We combined this with audio clips from the film which the name of the band 'What the dead know' derived, 'Full metal jacket' -"the dead know only one thing, it is better to be alive".
This was a first for a completely independent, unsigned band in Glasgow.
Putting on our own gig, coming up with and combining that something more than just performing, but creating a production that could rival, or make us stand out from some of the signed, or bigger acts that performed in similar sized venues.
As momentum grew, we experienced further setbacks with line-up changes bringing in an extra member and performing as a five piece for the first time between 2010 and 2012. What the dead know gigs were rare, as we had concentrated in recording some of our historical work we had become known for namely the song 'Rust' and some of our new material, such as 'Blank canvas' and 'Atoms'.
Commitment, personnel issues and most importantly financial issues made it impossible for the band to continue or see out the release of the material we all worked hard to record and invested in. Snippets of these recordings were made available in various formats, most recently in 2016 on the release of a compilation album called 'Kereru' with more than 40 other bands for charity. We donated the song 'Blank Canvas'. What the dead know have been on hiatus since early 2012.
Between 2011 and 2012, I began writing songs and performing alone, with original material and stripping back some of the What the dead know songs I had written and performed in small venues all over Glasgow.
I began building a reputation for performing melancholic songs with some banter to lighten the mood in between tracks. I found this was a good way to keep myself busy on the live scene.
Early 2012, myself and some fellow musicians at a loose end decided to get together and form our first wedding and function band 'Diego'.
The band spent most of 2012 locked in our own rehearsal facility in Dalmarnock, honing our craft, finding a sound, and trying put together unique medleys.
After a few pub gigs and smaller functions we played our first wedding in November 2012. Diego have been playing weddings regularly since 2013.
In 2014, I was offered work with a reputable wedding/ceilidh band called, 'The Tatties'. After a few months I became a full time member. I've since departed the band to concentrate on my own projects, however I learned how to be a unique master of ceremonies with the Tatties, and also networked and performed with some of Scotland's finest musicians, supporting bands such as 'The Red Hot Chilli Pipers'.
2015 seen Diego become one of Scotland's most popular wedding bands, playing weddings from Highlands to the borders and beyond, and receiving increibly positive feedback from agencies and clients alike.
Earlier this year, I helped form a new Ceilidh/covers band, 'Northern Lights' offering a unique product suitable for any wedding, function or corporate event.
The summer of 2016 also I launched this website to promote myself as a vocalist and a singer/songwriter, with plans to return to gigging/ recording my original material to coincide with a release in 2017.
