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Interviews

Mark Crotti chats his amazing debut self-titled EP

Firstly, if you haven’t already listened to the new self-titled EP from Mark Crotti, stop what you’re doing and go listen to it now. The EP is a five-track collection of warm and intimate indie-folk gems, and we’ve had it spinning ever since we first laid ears on it.

So fresh off the EP’s release, we caught up with Mark to chat all about it, musical influences, isolation, and what the future holds.

Mark Crotti

With a new debut self-titled EP hot off the press, we caught up with Sydney-based singer-songwriter Mark Crotti to chat all about it.

HAPPY: Hey Mark, how’s it going? Where are you in the world right now?

MARK: Hi! I’m down the south coast in the beautiful town of Kiama. Due to the lack of gigs with everything going on right now, I had to leave Sydney for a while! Back with the mother, yep at 27 yrs. She makes great cookies though so it could be worse.

HAPPY: We’re loving the new EP! how does it feel to have it out there?

MARK: I don’t know anymore, I’m just happy I have something other than a live album out in the wild. I hit a wall with these songs and am now void of any opinion/thoughts of them.

HAPPY: How would you describe this collection of tracks to someone who’s never listened to your music before?

MARK: Just a straight-up singer-songwriter collection of songs I guess. Pretty stripped back and ‘intimate’ perhaps, it’s always hard describing your own songs! #idontknow

HAPPY: Prior to this EP, you had released two live records. Was there a method to that approach?

MARK: I was at a stage where I’d been gigging for a few years and had very little experience with writing and recording in a studio so I thought I’d combine releasing some originals via a live show.

HAPPY: What track on this EP do you enjoy playing live the most? And which one are you most proud of?

MARK: Probably Pockets! It’s the newest one on the EP and as I’m relatively new to piano, it’s still really fun to play for me.

HAPPY: Has isolation been a time of creativity for you?

MARK: Definitely have written lots more songs than I normally would have! I’m using the time to up-skill as much as I can – piano and guitar lessons.

HAPPY: When writing, do your songs typically originate on the keys? What does that process look like for you?

MARK: Hard to say as piano is only a year-old venture for me! I reckon half the new songs I write start with getting some progressions out on the keys! Lyrics often come long after. Every once in awhile I’ll somehow do both at the same time – If I have a clear idea for a song and the direction I want to take with it.

HAPPY: Is the EP a taste of something bigger to come? An album perhaps?

MARK: No album planned, I think it makes more sense to be releasing singles so I’m going to try to do that for the next year or so, with maybe a second EP release next year.

HAPPY: Which artists are you really digging at the moment?

MARK: SO MANY! Here’s a cheeky 10 or 12:

Amos Lee (forever and always – he is my favourite)
Tesky Brothers
Foy Vance
Benny Sings
Nick Mulvey
PJ Morton
Eloise
Samm Henshaw
Jones Jnr.
Tedeschi Trucks Band
Emma Lousie
Ethan Gruska

HAPPY: Cheers for the chat!