Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark McKee.
Hi Mark, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up in a small town called Apex, NC – nestled adjacent to the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area. I come from a musical family. My parents were and still are music teachers, two of my three brothers are currently professional musicians. My journey into music began at age five when I began both piano lessons and violin lessons. From there into my teen years, I got serious about guitar and played in several local bands as early as age 14. While most kids my age were being taken to their teams sports games, my parents were driving me to clubs, festivals, battle of the bands, and all sorts of venues to play shows. My brother Mike and I both started getting serious about music and doing it for a living by the time we were in our late teens/early twenties.
Living in Raleigh, NC from 2006-2013, I played for artists, bands, churches and also ran a recording studio (the now-defunct K House Recording) as an engineer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. I produced and did session work at other studios in the greater NC area. In fall of 2013, I made the decision to move to Los Angeles to further pursue music – as a live and studio musician, producer, and songwriter. In the beginning, it was a difficult switch, both professionally and culturally, as well as being in an entirely new place with no friends and no job. I worked pretty tirelessly for the first two years to establish myself and play with anyone I could, developing amazing friendships and creative relationships that are still strong today. I worked in recording studios, played a lot of places, but still had a blast through the ups and downs. I kept pushing forward with my particular role of being a multi-instrumentalist and eventually a music director. My vision of helping singer/songwriters build and execute their live show became a reality soon after.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t been a smooth road, but the only road I know how to take. Some of the struggles along the way we’re coming to LA without knowing anyone except a couple of friends and starting from point zero. I was building a whole new life from scratch, but I’m so grateful for the lessons it taught me. I also learned so much both musically and professionally from my peers and friends with whom I played gigs and did recording sessions. Fortunately LA has so many talented people all around, but it still takes a while to find your chosen family. Choosing to pursue what you love will often cost you in ways you can’t plan for ahead of time, but you also gain lessons and experiences you would never have any other way. I encourage anyone to not be too afraid to pursue what makes you happy.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a musician, multi-instrumentalist, musical director, producer, and songwriter. I play keyboards/guitar/auxiliary instruments for artists and bands, as I mentioned in the first part. My specialty comes in the form of being able to help execute an artist’s vision live and in the studio. I love to work with singer-songwriters backing them up live. I love to help tell stories musically, it’s the most fun and satisfying kind of work. I also put full bands together for bigger shows and tours, build playback programming, and music direct those shows. Perhaps the thing I’m most proud of is not being limited to the instrument I play but aiming to have the full vision of what is needed and how I can best achieve that with the tools I have. Don’t get me wrong, there are times where I wish I spent 8 hours a day practicing only one instrument so I could be the absolute best at it – but I also know how being a proficient multi instrumentalist is a very unique yet crucial role in live setups. I believe it’s also the thing that sets me apart.
Since coming to LA I have worked alongside artists including Rooney (Geffen), morgxn (Hollywood), Walk The Moon (RCA), Sara Bareilles (Epic), Bay Ledges (S-Curve), Katelyn Tarver (Universal), Poutyface (Island), Forest Blakk (Atlantic), and many others.
I’ve performed on Network TV shows such as Good Morning America, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Last Call with Carson Daly, as well as performances for Telemundo, Univision, and others.
In addition to touring, I built a recording studio in Highland Park, Los Angeles where I work with artists of all kinds. When I am not on the road, I am always in the studio, building and creating songs collaboratively. The music I have worked on can be heard on streaming platforms everywhere and also on networks such as MTV, CBS, Netflix, The NFL Network, Lifetime Movie Network, and the Hallmark Channel.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
It’s harder for me to define luck these days. I’d rather choose to believe in persistence and creating and seizing opportunities. I’ve had surprises along the way for sure, unexpected turns, etc. COVID-19 completely turned my world upside down and it came out of nowhere. I have friends and colleagues who left LA or left the industry as a result, and I get it. When everything shut down, I made a conscious decision to stay moving forward with as much as I could even with touring and shows being on indefinite hiatus. I spent more time creating music, built a whole new studio, read more, exercised more, etc. It ended up working out and once the world began to reopen, I was ready to jump on new and exciting things. The pause certainly helped in the long run, even though it’s easy to call it “bad luck” in the beginning. What we can’t control externally we can certainly adapt to internally, and when you follow your internal compass the world you build around that can be amazing.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: http://www.markmckeemusic.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markrmckee
- Twitter: htttp://www.twitter.com/markrmckee
- SoundCloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/markmckeeproducer
Image Credits
Ben Zucker Austin Roa Nolan Knight Bree Adams Cameron Jordan Joe Moralez
