Talking about Mark Hamilton probably isn’t possible without saying that he is some kind of a special artist. Or at least different from many others. He is among those who decided to speak about Covid as global problem also in song. And he is no doubt also very interesting musician. Video of his new song contains capitol of Slovenia, Ljubljana. What is interesting is that in video there are photos of Ljubljana but Hamilton never visited it!
About his new project, plans, decision to include Ljubljana into video, his opinion he is or isn’t special artist and much more things he spoke in interview for Estrada.si
The music scene has existed for a while, how does this affect you? Did you have to be especially resourceful in order to succeed?
It certainly wasn’t easy creating music during lockdown, but modern technology meant that even though my friends and I couldn’t be together in the same room we could still make great music together. I wanted to create a different sound, which is where the electric violin came in. I wanted to make my music interesting and a bit different to catch people’s attention.
What are your interests aside from music?
A lot of my interests are based around my family. I have young sons and I love to share my music with them, but I am also interested in what they want to explore and helping them grow and develop their own interests. I love to spend time with them and my wife, walking in the countryside with our dog, exploring new places and learning new things. Obviously, we haven’t been able to do that this last year.
How does music affect your personal life and vice versa?
I started writing songs when I was a young teenager and I first learnt to play the guitar. Growing up can be tough, and song writing helped me through some difficult times in my teenage years. I grew up with music in my life, there was always music playing in our house. Music can change your mood, it can make you happy or sad; it can give you confirmation that you are not alone, that other people understand how you are feel. You can relate to it. When I write songs they reflect my mood, whether I am happy, sad or in love. At the moment I am writing a song about a friend of mine who died a few months ago. He was a big musical influence on me, and I want to pay tribute to him, his life and how much he is missed. It’s a song about happy memories.
Do you have any other hobbies that you love, that make you happy?
I love swimming, but sadly I haven’t been able to do much of that over the last year. It’s good for your body and mind, a good way to unwind.
Why did you choose Ljubljana? Where did the idea come from?
I was looking for certain types of images for the video. I had memories of places I had travelled as a child and although not Ljubljana, when I saw the footage, it triggered memories. The feel of the town was perfect, the stillness, the emptiness and the beauty. I was really struck by the beauty of Ljubljana and I thought, if I think this is beautiful, other people will as well and I need to share it with them. The music was part of the story, Ljubljana brought it to life.
Why did you decide to make a cover instead of an original song?
I wanted to get a message out about how we have all been affected my Coronavirus, how that made us feel and how we needed to care about and look after each other. One More Light has the perfect lyrics for that. Because it was a well-known song, there was a better chance of people listening and spreading the message. I found my own mental health affected by the lockdown, and I knew other people were struggling as well. I had this idea about raising awareness of mental health issues and had the idea to do a series of cover songs by artists who had suffered from mental health problems. With the help of my friends, I created my own versions of these songs and hopefully did justice to them.
Have you ever been to Slovenia or Ljubljana? Do you know Slovenia and Ljubljana? If so, how well?
Sadly no, I’ve never been to Slovenia, but since using it in my video, I’ve been reading about Ljubljana and looking at a lot of pictures. I really hope that I’ll be able to visit in the near future.
In making the music video, did you work with anyone from Slovenia?
I didn’t know anyone from Slovenia before I made the video, although I was working with people from a lot of different countries. Now of course I do know people in Slovenia, though we have not been able to meet in person yet I am hoping to work with them going forward.
Your musical pursuits are primarily dedicated to people facing mental distress. Is the fact that so few artists have a similar focus an obstacle or an advantage?
A number of well-known artists have struggled with their own mental health and some of them have spoken about their experience to try and raise awareness. My cover songs, that form my mental health awareness project, were all written or recorded my artists who suffered with mental illness that eventually played a part in their early deaths. I wanted to pay tribute to them but also bring my own personal experience to try to bring other people hope. I hope that personal experience is an advantage; it’s something I feel very strongly about, I want to encourage those who are suffering to seek help and those that are stronger to reach out and show understanding.
Is it possible to succeed in today’s industry, especially considering the current situation, with such thematically uncommon music?
If the music is good, people will listen to it. I’ve tried to create a distinctive sound, with some great musicians, but there is a lot of competition. You have to get your music heard. Modern technology helps with that when you can’t go out and play live. My style of music won’t be to everyone’s taste, but obviously I hope people will listen to it and when I start to release my own original songs I hope they will like them just as much. The music industry is hard, you have to have talent, but you also need luck.
What has the response been like?
The response has amazed me, particularly in countries like Slovenia and Italy. I didn’t think when I started this music for mental health project it would travel around the world, I thought it might be heard by a few hundred people and that it might help them to feel less alone, to seek help if they were struggling with their mental health.
Do you feel as though it is necessary for an artist to stand out in order to achieve success in this time?
In today’s world, as an artist you are not just competing with other musicians in your own country, you are competing with artists from all around the world but at the same time you can reach many more people. When you are starting out in the music business, it can help to do something a bit different, but I believe it has to be real, genuine and consistent, otherwise people see through you and lose interest.
Do you feel as though the audience you are targeting with this song is less common, perhaps even out of the ordinary, or is that merely a false perception and struggle of this sort is more common than we might imagine?
As I said before, you need some talent, you need some luck to be successful in the music business. But above all you need good music. Although my current project is about mental health, it’s also about good music and I hope that people will recognise that, even if they don’t particularly like it. When it comes to mental health I think we can all struggle at times depending on what is happening in our lives. I know in the UK 4 out of 5 people will struggle with their mental health at some point in their lives. We are all human, we all experience sadness and happiness and everything in between. But of course we are all unique, how our thoughts and feelings affect us, who we have around us who will understand and support us. I think perhaps we need each other more than we sometimes realise.
Are you the sort of person that, by character, wishes and feels the need to be unique, to stand out?
I’m quite a reserved person. I don’t feel I am unique. I’m just an ordinary man, trying to do something to help others and to bring people together, and the best way I know to do that is with music.
Photo: MH personal collection, BangTidy