Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mark Smythe. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Mark, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

This is tough to hone down as I’ve worked on so many meaningful music projects, but definitely the freshest and most relevant to me right now was recent – collaborating with LA Choral Lab for their ‘Apsis’ concert in April. They performed three of my Choir / Choir & Electric Guitar works, one of which I wrote for the concert, and each has personal significance:

1: “Umbra Animae” (Shadow of the Soul) was written over ANZAC Day weekend 2008 in honor of my Great-Grandfather Hugh Decimus Bridge, a casualty of World War 1 in 1917. Not only was it performed almost to the day 14 years after I composed it, but I’ll be in Ghent, Belgium next month for the World Soundtrack Awards (I’m nominated in the Public Choice Award), and afterwards will travel to Ypre to visit the grave of ‘Deci’ at Polygon Wood.

2: “Nox Noctis” (Reign of Night) is, as far I know, the first contemporary classical piece written for Choir & Electric Guitar. I revised the 2011 original for the LA Choral Lab concert, and rehearsed and performed it with them – my god, they are GOOD. We’re talking goosebump moments here. The combination seemed crazy a decade ago, but now I’m making it ‘my thing’.

3: “Alone” (A Demon in My View”) was the new one. The choir had planned to include an older Smythe work in the program (“Piagne e Sospira”), but I wanted to challenge myself to do better, again with the unique addition of Electric Guitar. LA Choral Lab’s premiere performance was sublime, and being part of it (on guitar) was one of those magic, elevated moments.

Mark, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a composer and work on feature films a lot, but also have a growing body of work in the choral / classical world. Beyond creative pursuits, I’m Part Time Faculty at California State University Northridge (CSUN), and one thing I do for fun is canyoneering (rappelling down waterfalls).

I grew up in New Zealand and got into music very young – piano, Nelson Cathedral Choir for 5 years (Head Chorister for 2), main part in school musicals, clarinet in the South Island Youth Orchestra…then spent my latter teenage years/early twenties pursuing rock band stardom and maximum hair length. I studied composition at university for one year and won a prize, but left – I couldn’t subscribe to the academic obsession with atonality as an ‘enjoyable’ art form (that hasn’t changed). Beautiful as it is, New Zealand felt too small and I moved to Melbourne, Australia – ostensibly to see how far I could get in the bigger rock scene, but then….film music. I was accepted into the Australian Film, Television & Radio School (AFTRS) and studied screen composition for 3 years with the late, great Martin Armiger. There was a pivotal Martin moment at the end of year 1: “You know Mark, I think you’ve got a shot as a film composer, but the band thing…” He was right. In 2013 I moved to LA and haven’t looked back…apart from to that moment.

Until yesterday I’d have been most proud of my nomination in the 2023 SCL Awards (Outstanding Original Score for an Independent Film), for The Reef: Stalked – but now for the same score, I’m a nominee in the 2023 World Soundtrack Awards – Public Choice Award. This is huge! The ceremony’s in Belgium on October 21 – I’m excited, and proud to have got this far.

What sets me apart? Well, writing (and performing) for Choir & Electric Guitar is different. But also, these award nominations – I got there without the help of an agent, studio or publicist. So you could say I’m a bit of a David in a sea of Goliaths : )

What do I want potential clients/fans et al to know about me? We’ll have fun, but I take music creation and the work required to reach a high level of artistry very, very seriously.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

There is absolutely a mission driving me creatively:

Keep it interesting, keep it ‘me’ and work on bigger projects – both in film and choral / classical.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I have permanent hearing loss in the high and low frequencies of my right ear. Not from the rock band years, but an unfortunate consequence of eardrum surgery in my early teens, designed to address multiple ear infections (this was before I evolved into my modern-day, highly fit canyon-conquering form). Imagine having a high quality earplug in one ear, all the time – that’s me.

It sounds annoying (pun intended) and it truly is in loud rooms with lots of people talking, but I learned to live with it long ago and in fact, enjoy above average hearing in my left ear. I used to worry that my mixes might have an undetected imbalance from this condition, but to date all my film score mixes have met with universal approval and high praise. Hurrah!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.marksmythe.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mythsmaker/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.smythe.33/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mythsmaker/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@marksmythe7532/videos
• Other: https://www.worldsoundtrackawards.com/news/discover-the-2023-world-soundtrack-awards-nominees