We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brett Schieber. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brett below.

Brett, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Who is your hero and why? What lessons have you learned from them and how have they influenced your journey?

Duran Duran. Hands down, Duran Duran. Their music is among the first I ever heard and when I was in elementary school, when asked who my favorite band was, I always said that it was them. My guitar teacher back then always wanted to teach me classic rock and grunge music, which I never was into, so he would ask me what I wanted to learn. Of course, I told him Duran Duran. I remember him telling me that there was no guitar in “New Moon on Monday” and I told him that he was wrong. In fact, the guitar is the backbone of the song that holds all the synth parts together. Anyway, of course, Andy Taylor and Warren Cuccurullo are huge influences on the way I play guitar. Andy was more rock and Warren was more experimental, both of which I love. In addition, Duran Duran’s rhythm section (Roger Taylor on drums and John Taylor on the bass) are big influences on my early drumming and bass playing, as well. The tight syncopation they have together has always drawn me in. Those 16th notes on the high hats, those perfectly placed fills, the funky, but punk, baselines….When I was very little, I didn’t really know what the bass was, to be honest, but when I discovered, or figured out, what that sound was, I immediately realized that the the bass was the first thing my ear picked up on. To this day, on all of their songs, I think I always hone in on the bass first. Furthermore, the atmospheric synths from Nick Rhodes add colors and layers of deeper meaning, They lead one to realize what synesthesia is and enables ones dreams to go from monochrome to fluorescent. And finally, Simon Le Bon’s lyrics are so poetic and abstract, like a William Blake or some other classic poet. I despise when people say that their lyrics are throwaway nonsense. That’s not accurate at all. They are real artistic poetry that takes an imagination far beyond those of most lyricists. Also, his vocals have only gotten better with age, I believe, and I can’t think of anyone that has his sense of harmony. So, when you put all of these ingredients together, it’s obvious why I think they’re the greatest of all time. I’m so lucky that I chose a band as my favorite that has consistently put out great music for my entire lifetime. Of course, I have many other favorite bands of various genres, as well, and they all go into the mix of what made me the musician and songwriter that I am, but I’ll always say that Duran Duran is my number one.

Brett, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve been obsessed with music for my entire life. All of my first memories are related to music…listening to all of my parents’ records, watching the yellow and orange labels of the Beatles singles swirling around on my toy record player, begging to go to my Aunt’s house so I could listen to her Bee Gees collection, sitting in the backseat of my parents’ car listening to “Ordinary World” (Duran Duran) for the first time, etc, etc. I tried to start bands in elementary school, but nobody else that I knew could play an instrument, so I just banged away at it on my own on toy drums and toy guitars. I won one hundred dollars from the back of a Captin’ Crunch cereal box thing, which was so exciting. I took that money and bought myself my first real acoustic guitar, which began a lifetime of spending any cash I could accumulate on either musical instruments or cds. My first bands were more R&B sounding because, like I already mentioned, I was never a rock musician. I also played on many hiphop songs for others that were being recorded around Atlanta. Later, I got more into experimental or progressive music. It was then that Tree and I formed Arcanum. We’re still writing and putting out albums today that I am very proud of. I also do my own music, which I call my “personal music”, with me singing. I’ve played countless solo acoustic gigs, though I’ve slowed down on them since my wife and I began having kids. I used to play a couple gigs a week, but now I haven’t played one in a few years. Instead of gigs though, I’ve been doing a lot of recording. My latest album is called “New Life” is a pop/rock and soul album and it’s got featured singers on every song. It’s a bit different for me and it’s been so much fun. I’m definitely going to be making more. Oh, and I completely skipped over the educational music that I do under the name of Mark D. Pencil and Friends….I guess you could say that my music and writing has taken many different forms over the years and that’s why I find endlessly fun. And, quite honestly, I need to make my noise in order to make sense of the world. It calms me and focuses my restlessness into something positive. There’s no greater feeling than creating something out of nothing. I don’t really know how I do it, I really don’t, and each time I write something, I fear that it’s the last thing I’ll ever be able to do. Each time I’m able to make something new that I like, I feel like it’s a gift that I’m so grateful for.

Have you ever had to pivot?

After Arcanum’s initial music career crashed and burned, I did not know what to do with my life. I was incredibly sad, frustrated, and just had no idea where my life was going. Listening to music and making music was always something that made me happy, but instead, each note only reminded me of my failure. It was an awful time. A real low. Somehow though, I found that not making music made my life substantially worse. It was then that I discovered that I need to listen to and write and make music in order to be happy. I just can’t live my life without it. Even if nobody hears it, which is a separate lifelong frustration, I just have to get this noise and these thoughts out of my head. So….I persist because I just have to. So, anyway, it was then that I began to try to learn to sing and just do music on my own, without having to rely on anyone else, because it was the only way to write what I wanted to write and to be in control of my own destiny. Even though my vocals can be a bit dodgy and limited, which is an endless frustration, I continued to do it, gradually getting brave enough to play open mics and then book those solo acoustic gigs. That was the real pivot in my life that has brought me to where I am now.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Making something new, that I am proud of, and wanting others to hear it. I’ve never made music for approbation, attention, or ha-ha fame or money, it’s only been about a true love of music. It’s also brought me to many of my cherished life experiences that I would have never had, especially since I can be fairly misanthropic, so it’s also helped me to make friends. I’ve played gigs in the inner city projects, in the mountains, on street corners, small clubs, bookstores, coffee shops, in theaters, rock clubs, country clubs, r&b clubs, hiphop clubs….I’ve really been all over the place. Without music, I don’t know what I would have done or where I would be, so these are all really the most rewarding things about being a musician.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://MarkDPencil.com
• Instagram: @brettschiebermusic
• Facebook: @brettschiebermusic
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-schieber-967b4916a/
• Twitter: @brettschieber
• Youtube: @markdpencil