Mark Doyon
Encyclopedia
Mark W. Doyon is an American
singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, writer, editor and marketing professional. He has led the indie rock
bands Wampeters and Arms of Kismet, and produced tribute albums to Jonathan Richman
, Lou Reed
and Warren Zevon
. He is the founder and principal of the record label and media company Wampus Multimedia.
and grew up in northern Virginia
. He began recording himself using double tracking by the age of 14, and formed high school bands playing the music of British
bands such as the Beatles, the Who
and the Clash
.
He studied the management of non-profit organizations at The College of William & Mary, graduating in 1985, before forming the rock band
Wampeters, with Eamon Loftus and Scott Goodrick, in 1987. The band took its name from a fictional religious concept
in the Kurt Vonnegut
novel Cat's Cradle
, and released seven albums between 1987 and 1999. He then set up Arms of Kismet as a solo project. Described as "indie guitar rock with a slight psychedelic side", Arms of Kismet have released three albums - Eponymous (2004), Cutting Room Rug (2005), and Play for Affection (2010), all recorded with engineer Jon Astley
. Cutting Room Rug was described at Allmusic.com as "not recommended for bipolar people". Play for Affection won the title of Independent Album Of The Year at the Daily Vault review site, where it was described as "playful, literate, melodic, idiosyncratic, exotically memorable and memorably exotic." The album featured vocals, piano, organ, loops, guitar and bass by Doyon, with Evan Pollack on drums and percussion.
In 1989 he launched an occasional literary magazine, Friction Quasi-Quarterly, which published 18 issues until 1994. A collection of his own short stories, Bonneville Stories, was published by Pocol Press in 2001.
In 2002 he founded the independent media company Wampus Multimedia, which has published the rock
and folk
recordings of his own bands and other artists, including tvfordogs, Amateur God, Cafebar 401, and Kowtow Popof. Doyon has also produced three various artists tribute album
s: If I Were a Richman: a Tribute to the Music of Jonathan Richman
(2001), After Hours: a Tribute to the Music of Lou Reed
(2003), and Hurry Home Early: the Songs of Warren Zevon
(2005). In 2005, Wampus established the reissue imprint Foldback Records. Doyon has also produced records for folk songwriters Casey Abrams, Alice Despard and Johnny J. Blair
, and for other artists using the pseudonym
"Mitch Renault".
Between 1989 and 2002 he worked as a communications and marketing director for, successively, the Healthcare Distribution Management Association (HDMA), the National Association of Rehabilitation Facilities (NARF), and the National Rehabilitation Association (NRA). Since 2008 he has been a Vice President of BoardSource, an organization that supports non-profit organizations. He received a master's degree in arts administration from Shenandoah University
in 2009.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, writer, editor and marketing professional. He has led the indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
bands Wampeters and Arms of Kismet, and produced tribute albums to Jonathan Richman
Jonathan Richman
Jonathan Michael Richman is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 1970 he founded The Modern Lovers, an influential proto-punk band. Since the mid-1970s, Richman has worked either solo or with low-key, generally acoustic backing...
, Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
and Warren Zevon
Warren Zevon
Warren William Zevon was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for including his sometimes sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes.Zevon's work has often been praised by well-known...
. He is the founder and principal of the record label and media company Wampus Multimedia.
Life and career
He was born in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and grew up in northern Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. He began recording himself using double tracking by the age of 14, and formed high school bands playing the music of British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
bands such as the Beatles, the Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
and the Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
.
He studied the management of non-profit organizations at The College of William & Mary, graduating in 1985, before forming the rock band
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
Wampeters, with Eamon Loftus and Scott Goodrick, in 1987. The band took its name from a fictional religious concept
Bokononism
Bokononism is a religion invented by Kurt Vonnegut as a fictional religion, and practiced by many of the characters in his novel Cat's Cradle.It is based on the concept of foma, which are defined as harmless untruths...
in the Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle , Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor and science fiction. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.-Early...
novel Cat's Cradle
Cat's Cradle
Cat's Cradle is the fourth novel by American writer Kurt Vonnegut, first published in 1963. It explores issues of science, technology, and religion, satirizing the arms race and many other targets along the way...
, and released seven albums between 1987 and 1999. He then set up Arms of Kismet as a solo project. Described as "indie guitar rock with a slight psychedelic side", Arms of Kismet have released three albums - Eponymous (2004), Cutting Room Rug (2005), and Play for Affection (2010), all recorded with engineer Jon Astley
Jon Astley
Jon Astley is a British record producer who also recorded and released two albums as a singer-songwriter in the late 1980s. His most commercially successful song was "Jane's Getting Serious", later popularized by a Heinz ketchup television commercial starring a pre-Friends cast member Matt...
. Cutting Room Rug was described at Allmusic.com as "not recommended for bipolar people". Play for Affection won the title of Independent Album Of The Year at the Daily Vault review site, where it was described as "playful, literate, melodic, idiosyncratic, exotically memorable and memorably exotic." The album featured vocals, piano, organ, loops, guitar and bass by Doyon, with Evan Pollack on drums and percussion.
In 2002 he founded the independent media company Wampus Multimedia, which has published the rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
recordings of his own bands and other artists, including tvfordogs, Amateur God, Cafebar 401, and Kowtow Popof. Doyon has also produced three various artists tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
s: If I Were a Richman: a Tribute to the Music of Jonathan Richman
Jonathan Richman
Jonathan Michael Richman is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 1970 he founded The Modern Lovers, an influential proto-punk band. Since the mid-1970s, Richman has worked either solo or with low-key, generally acoustic backing...
(2001), After Hours: a Tribute to the Music of Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
(2003), and Hurry Home Early: the Songs of Warren Zevon
Warren Zevon
Warren William Zevon was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for including his sometimes sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes.Zevon's work has often been praised by well-known...
(2005). In 2005, Wampus established the reissue imprint Foldback Records. Doyon has also produced records for folk songwriters Casey Abrams, Alice Despard and Johnny J. Blair
Johnny J. Blair
Johnny J. Blair is an American singer-songwriter. His influences range from Ray Davies, Brian Wilson, Smokey Robinson, David Bowie and Elvis Costello to Stravinsky, Gershwin, and Boyce and Hart. He is known for his innovative brand of pop, a fast-paced mix of old-school soul, psychedelia, punk/new...
, and for other artists using the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
"Mitch Renault".
Between 1989 and 2002 he worked as a communications and marketing director for, successively, the Healthcare Distribution Management Association (HDMA), the National Association of Rehabilitation Facilities (NARF), and the National Rehabilitation Association (NRA). Since 2008 he has been a Vice President of BoardSource, an organization that supports non-profit organizations. He received a master's degree in arts administration from Shenandoah University
Shenandoah University
Shenandoah University is a comprehensive private university located in Winchester, Virginia in the United States. It has an enrollment of approximately 3,800 students across more than ninety programs in six schools: College of Arts & Sciences, Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business, Shenandoah...
in 2009.
Wampeters
- Screen Test (1987)
- Folk Medicine (1989)
- Pagan's Nest (1990)
- Bloodline (1993)
- Look What's Left (1994)
- Hey Judas (1997)
- Murder Your Darlings (1999)
Arms of Kismet
- Eponymous (2004)
- Cutting Room Rug (2005)
- Play for Affection (2010)
As executive producer
- If I Were a Richman: a Tribute to the Music of Jonathan Richman (2001)
- After Hours: a Tribute to the Music of Lou Reed (2003)
- Hurry Home Early: the Songs of Warren Zevon (2005)
- Modern Rock & Modern Folk (2007)
- Poetic Licensing (2010)
As producer
- Casey Abrams, Like a Mirror (2005)
- Simone Stevens & Jordan ZevonJordan ZevonJordan Zevon is an American singer, musician and songwriter. He is the son of rock musician Warren Zevon. Following his father's death in 2003, Jordan, his half-sister, Ariel, and longtime Zevon collaborator Jorge Calderón accepted Warren's two posthumous Grammy Awards for Best Rock Vocal...
, Warm Rain (2005) - Johnny J Blair, Treadmarks (2005)
- Alice Despard, Vessel (2005)
- Rance Wolfrey, EP (2008)