MARK ROSE
Music comes and goes. It arrives in waves, and evaporates in the heat of new trends and is forgotten over time. For Mark Rose, time has allowed him to not only be remembered ‘right now,’ but to also bring forth some of the most charismatic and tasteful songwriting of our generation – and many more to come. You may recall Mark as the charming tongue-in-cheek frontman of indie/emo tastemakers Spitalfield, who spent nearly ten years touring internationally with acts like Fall Out Boy, The Early November, and Minus the Bear. Since Spitalfield’s ’07 departure, a gaping hole began to emerge in the scene. Where has the sincerity gone? Where has the house-show, family oriented, all-inclusive mentality disappeared to? After completing his 2013 solo EP The Sound of a Turnaround with Sean O’Keefe (Plain White T’s, Motion City Soundtrack, Fall Out Boy) at the mixing boards, Mark Rose has surfaced as the answer to those questions.
The 29-year old Chicago native has quite the resume under his belt. Out of pure jealousy of his older sister starting piano lessons, Mark begged his parents to give him a shot at the keys at the ripe age of 5. Fast-forward to pre-teen-Rose at age 11, when he received his very first guitar – and hasn’t slowed down since. Not only has Mark performed over 1,000 shows in 9 countries spanning over 3 continents, but also took the time to truly fine-tune his craft by attending Columbia College in Chicago for music composition. Following his stint at Columbia, Mark signed his first record contract and publishing deal before the age of 19, at which point his career shifted into the Spitalfield era for almost ten fruitful years.
It took Rose some time to re-discover himself after Spitalfield – as it would anyone transitioning from a 9-month travel year to writing songs in their apartment full time. The process began slowly, starting with two solo EPs and a stretch of about 150 shows between 2008 and 2011. The time came to finally put together a debut LP, at which point the momentum immediately shifted into gear after Rose picked up the phone to call his original partner in crime for Spitalfield’s debut Remember Right Now – none other than Sean O’Keefe. “The process of getting back into a rhythm of making records felt so natural with Sean on board,” says Rose. “The initial phone call was meant to test the waters, and we ended up accomplishing more than we ever thought was possible.” Sean O’Keefe went on to produce Mark’s 2011 debut solo LP Wonderful Trouble, referred to by Alternative Press as having the “style and emotion of a John Hughes movie soundtrack.” After some extensive touring and countless re-introductions, Mark went to work on his follow-up 4-song EP The Sound of a Turnaround, released in January of 2013. Turnaround possesses a realness that is not easily compared to Rose’s contemporaries – a realness that looks to reignite not only a scene, but also a way of thinking. Fans of John Mayer, Dashboard Confessional, and Spitalfield (the obvious lightbulb) will find themselves unable to detach from Mark’s soothing melodies and truly heartwarming lyrics. Chicago Examiner wrote, “The impact of this new sound should be a wider audience base for the multi-talented singer/songwriter.” Rose is in it for the long haul, and the songs truly portray that sentiment.
After wrapping up a successful but exhausting 26-day Southern/Midwest tour with JT Woodruff of Hawthorne Heights – where the duo played 33 shows over that span – Mark Rose has quite a year ahead of him. Although the element of his past writings is ever-present, Property of Zack said it best, “…Rose is so much more than Remember Right Now.” Perhaps Mark’s fans have been called upon to do just that.