Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Fisher.
Hi Mark, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I had my first and only guitar lesson when I was six years old, and I was excited to learn The Beat Goes on by Sonny and Cher which was a hit song at that time. In the ’70s as a teenager, I became interested in rock ‘n’ roll music and spent my time trying to learn how to play. I bought records at Tower records across the street from the SD Sports Arena, where I saw so many of the best rock bands of that timeless period. I went to a lot of concerts at many great venues all over SD. I had a band that played parties and a few gigs. It has been called Fish and The Seaweeds since 1981. At some point after college, I began taking every gig I could get, and by persisting through many ups and downs, guitar playing has become the only job I’ve had for 35 years.
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?
The journey of earning a living playing music for me has been constantly challenging. On some levels, every gig feels like an audition. Welcoming change as natural growth is best for improving situations that are challenging. There always seems to be something better around the corner
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am guitarist Mark Fisher specializing in playing intimate live gigs (clubs, private events, etc..) with an approach that I once described as “a psychedelic spontaneously improvised conversational journey through time using melodies from a vast song reservoir as diving boards into an ocean of yet unimagined jams” My band, Fish and the Seaweeds, brings decades of experience using this approach to many great venues and events. Also, countless solo gigs have led me to the evolution of an unusual guitar sound achieved by running a 3/4 size baby Taylor guitar through multiple amps & effects, simultaneously combining acoustic & electric tones into an uncommon and widely variable palette. The continuing evolution of the solo “rig” (i.e., amps, effects, speakers) has arisen from the need to rock large venues as a solo performer. One idea leads to another, and the sound system grows. There is a palpable, visual dissonance experienced by a listener hearing a wailing electric guitar sound coming from a small acoustic guitar that often earns a second look. The addition of a looping pedal has transformed my solo gigs with more emphasis on lead guitar, which is my strength. Whether with a band or solo, it seems that my own enjoyment of the performance is what makes it fun and entertaining for the audience. Who can say what sets one person apart from others? For me, performance is shared consciousness among players & listeners. A performer’s guiding principles are reflected in the expression of their performance. Why you play is how you play. Every individual has a unique fingerprint and a unique face, and a naturally distinct, instantly recognizable speaking voice. Being unique in music is perhaps more elusive. Even when, for example, a blues guitarist (consciously or just naturally) aspires to climb up off the plateau of conventional clichés and borrowed vocabulary to instead consistently render unexplored sincerity that is not an act, that path may be hard to find I have an immense passion for playing. I play almost every night. It sustains me on many levels in a way nothing else can. Honest love of what you are playing transmits in live performances, and I feel lucky to play the gigs I do and project something different every time. I try to be appropriate in context using a spontaneous improvised approach which many people seem to appreciate and be entertained (or amused) by.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you, and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
One is it became clear how much people love live music when it was taken away.
Also, I experimented with a looping pedal for the very first time, and it has become a fundamental part of my solo performances. I don’t think I would have taken the time to try it and learn to use it if not for all gigs being cancelled for so long
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fishandtheseaweeds.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/fishandtheseaweeds_
- Facebook: Facebook.com/fishandtheseaweedsband
- Youtube: YouTube.com/fishandtheseaweeds
Image Credits
Brady Cooling
