Mark Wilkinson (singer)
Encyclopedia
Mark Wilkinson (born 12 August, Buckinghamshire
, England
) is an Australian singer–songwriter
.
and went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts/Commerce at the University of Sydney
. It was during his time at university that Wilkinson learnt to play the acoustic guitar
.
, Cellophane Life. This unpolished 6 track collection provided an introduction to Wilkinson’s lyrical hand and emotive sound. The title track along with Baptism By Fire elevated Mark as a finalist in Commercial Radio Australia’s coveted New Artist To Radio competition.
Following on in 2007, Wilkinson hit the road with then current Australian Idol
winner Damien Leith
, performing to thousands across the country. Shortly after, he came to the attention of Peer Music
, the world’s largest independent music publisher, and subsequently signed a global deal.
Kicking off 2008, Wilkinson set out on the road again, headlining shows along the east coast of Australia. He then set off to Europe for 2 months, performing across Ireland, England, France, and Germany; teaming up with acclaimed songwriter Adam Argyle (Mel C, Newton Faulkner
, Wes Carr
); and working with David Gray
’s team in his London studio. The success of the European tour saw Wilkinson invited to return as part of the Popkomm
conference in Berlin, where he showcased to industry members from around the globe.
Wilkinson returned to Australia to finish his follow-up EP, Counting Down The Hours, which delivered a more polished, fully produced side to his music. The title track along with Keep Fighting once again placed him as a finalist in the New Artist To Radio competition, with Wilkinson going on to receive airplay on various commercial and community stations across the country.
In early 2009 Wilkinson was invited to perform for deployed Australian troops in the Solomon Islands
. In an effort to make more of his music publicly available Wilkinson launched a campaign called A Year of YouTube beginning in April. The premise of the campaign being to release an original song each week over the course of a year. With Wilkinson's live reputation continuing to grow he signed on with the Harbour Agency, Australia’s largest booking agency, joining the ranks of many of the nation’s finest performers. This relationship was solidified with Sydney residencies, where Wilkinson performed week after week, and followed on with a national tour supporting multi-ARIA award winner Diesel
.
The following year, 2010, launched in similar fashion with Wilkinson touring Australia supporting multi-Grammy winner Michael Bolton
. This quickly followed up with more tours alongside Australian stalwarts Ian Moss
(Cold Chisel
), Jon Stevens
(Noiseworks
), and Shannon Noll
, before heading to China
to represent Australia and perform to tens of thousands each day at World Expo
. Wilkinson then finished the year performing at arenas around the country alongside musical royalty Brian Wilson
, Chicago
, America
, and Peter Frampton
.
Meanwhile with sales of his EPs, available only at shows, exceeding 20,000 copies, Wilkinson returned to the studio to record his debut album Truth Came Running with producer Sean Carey, acclaimed guitarist for multi-platinum band Thirsty Merc
. With its release in March 2011, Wilkinson returned to the road, while lead single All I Ever Wanted has been receiving radio and television play on stations across the country. The film clip for All I Ever Wanted was shot on the streets of Cape Town
, South Africa
by award winning photographer Adrian Steirn
and his 21 Icons Global Project team.
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) is an Australian singer–songwriter
Singer–songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
.
Early life
Wilkinson was born in England, but his family soon emigrated to Singapore and then Australia when he was 4 years old. Wilkinson was educated at Sydney Grammar SchoolSydney Grammar School
Sydney Grammar School is an independent, non-denominational, selective, day school for boys, located in Darlinghurst, Edgecliff and St Ives, all suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
and went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts/Commerce at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
. It was during his time at university that Wilkinson learnt to play the acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
.
Career
In 2006 Wilkinson independently released his debut EPExtended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Cellophane Life. This unpolished 6 track collection provided an introduction to Wilkinson’s lyrical hand and emotive sound. The title track along with Baptism By Fire elevated Mark as a finalist in Commercial Radio Australia’s coveted New Artist To Radio competition.
Following on in 2007, Wilkinson hit the road with then current Australian Idol
Australian Idol (season 4)
The fourth season of Australian Idol first episode aired on 6 August 2006 and concluded on 26 November.-Format Changes:Changes for the fourth season of Australian Idol included the cancellation of "Inside Idol"; a "streamlined" semi-finals ; and the contestants will be able to bring...
winner Damien Leith
Damien Leith
Damien Leo Leith is an Irish Australian singer–songwriter. He was the winner of the Network Ten music contest Australian Idol 2006Damien has also guest co-hosted 'The Morning Show' on Network Ten on 18 July 2011.He was born in Ireland and now lives in Australia with his Australian wife, Eileen...
, performing to thousands across the country. Shortly after, he came to the attention of Peer Music
Peermusic
Peer music is a United States based independent music publisher.-History:Ralph Peer, a field recording engineer and A&R representative for Victor Records, went on a scouting trip to Bristol, Tennessee. For two weeks, he recorded artists such as Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family on what would...
, the world’s largest independent music publisher, and subsequently signed a global deal.
Kicking off 2008, Wilkinson set out on the road again, headlining shows along the east coast of Australia. He then set off to Europe for 2 months, performing across Ireland, England, France, and Germany; teaming up with acclaimed songwriter Adam Argyle (Mel C, Newton Faulkner
Newton Faulkner
Sam Newton Battenberg Faulkner is an English singer-songwriter and musician from Reigate, Surrey. Known for his guitar playing, which involves rhythmically tapping and hitting his guitar's body, Faulkner came to prominence in 2007, with the release of his debut studio album, Hand Built by Robots...
, Wes Carr
Wes Carr
Wes Carr is an Australian singer-songwriter. He released his first studio album Simple Sum independently in 2008 shortly before entering Australian Idol. In November 2008 he was announced as the winner of the sixth season of Australian Idol...
); and working with David Gray
David Gray (musician)
David Gray is an English singer-songwriter. He released his first studio album in 1993 and received worldwide attention after the release of White Ladder six years later...
’s team in his London studio. The success of the European tour saw Wilkinson invited to return as part of the Popkomm
Popkomm
Popkomm is an international trade show for the music and entertainment business, and also integrates a congress and festival. It is held in Berlin but has had entries from at least 55 other countries. Popkomm is organised by Popkomm GmbH, Berlin.- History :...
conference in Berlin, where he showcased to industry members from around the globe.
Wilkinson returned to Australia to finish his follow-up EP, Counting Down The Hours, which delivered a more polished, fully produced side to his music. The title track along with Keep Fighting once again placed him as a finalist in the New Artist To Radio competition, with Wilkinson going on to receive airplay on various commercial and community stations across the country.
In early 2009 Wilkinson was invited to perform for deployed Australian troops in the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
. In an effort to make more of his music publicly available Wilkinson launched a campaign called A Year of YouTube beginning in April. The premise of the campaign being to release an original song each week over the course of a year. With Wilkinson's live reputation continuing to grow he signed on with the Harbour Agency, Australia’s largest booking agency, joining the ranks of many of the nation’s finest performers. This relationship was solidified with Sydney residencies, where Wilkinson performed week after week, and followed on with a national tour supporting multi-ARIA award winner Diesel
Johnny Diesel
Johnny Diesel is an Australian musician, who has released material as leader of Johnny Diesel & the Injectors, under his birth name, or by the epithet Diesel...
.
The following year, 2010, launched in similar fashion with Wilkinson touring Australia supporting multi-Grammy winner Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
. This quickly followed up with more tours alongside Australian stalwarts Ian Moss
Ian Moss
Ian Moss is an Australian rock musician, best known as the guitarist and occasional singer of Cold Chisel. In that group's initial ten year career, Moss recorded eight albums, three of which were No. 1 national hits. His solo career began with a No. 1 album and single and five ARIA Awards...
(Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel is a rock band that originated in Adelaide, Australia. It is one of the most acclaimed Australian rock bands of all time, with a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s and huge sales that continue to this day, although its success and acclaim was almost completely restricted to...
), Jon Stevens
Jon Stevens
Jon Stevens is a New Zealand-born singer of Maori descent, now an Australian citizen. Stevens is the brother of New Zealand Idol judge Frankie Stevens....
(Noiseworks
Noiseworks
Noiseworks is an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1986 with bass guitarist Steve Balbi, guitarist Stuart Fraser, drummer Kevin Nicol, keyboardist Justin Stanley and lead vocalist Jon Stevens...
), and Shannon Noll
Shannon Noll
Shannon Noll first came to prominence as runner-up of the first series of Australian Idol which led to him being signed to Sony BMG. Since then he has released five Top 10 albums and ten Top 10 singles. His first two albums That's What I'm Talking About in 2004 and Lift in 2005 debuted at No...
, before heading to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
to represent Australia and perform to tens of thousands each day at World Expo
Expo 2010
Expo 2010, officially Expo 2010 Shanghai China was held on both banks of the Huangpu River in the city of Shanghai, China, from May 1 to October 31, 2010. It was a major World Expo in the tradition of international fairs and expositions, the first since 1992...
. Wilkinson then finished the year performing at arenas around the country alongside musical royalty Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
, Chicago
Chicago (band)
Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...
, America
America (band)
America is an English-American folk rock band that originally included members Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek. The three members were barely out of their teens when they became a musical sensation during 1972, scoring #1 hits and winning a Grammy for best new musical artist...
, and Peter Frampton
Peter Frampton
Peter Kenneth Frampton is an English musician, singer, producer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. He was previously associated with the bands Humble Pie and The Herd. Frampton's international breakthrough album was his live release, Frampton Comes Alive!. The album sold over 6 million copies...
.
Meanwhile with sales of his EPs, available only at shows, exceeding 20,000 copies, Wilkinson returned to the studio to record his debut album Truth Came Running with producer Sean Carey, acclaimed guitarist for multi-platinum band Thirsty Merc
Thirsty Merc
Thirsty Merc are an Australian pop rock band formed in 2002 in Sydney, Australia. The band consists of Rai Thistlethwayte , Phil Stack , Karl Robertson , and Matt Smith ....
. With its release in March 2011, Wilkinson returned to the road, while lead single All I Ever Wanted has been receiving radio and television play on stations across the country. The film clip for All I Ever Wanted was shot on the streets of Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
by award winning photographer Adrian Steirn
Adrian Steirn
Adrian Steirn is a fine art wildlife and portrait photographer based in Cape Town, South Africa. He is a WWF South Africa Photographer-in-Residence...
and his 21 Icons Global Project team.
Albums
| Year | Details |
|---|---|
| 2006 | Cellophane Life
|
| 2008 | Counting Down The Hours
Extended play An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact... |
| 2011 | Truth Came Running
MGM Distribution MGM Distribution is the largest independent distributor of Australian music and music related merchandise and was established in April 1998 by Sebastian Chase.... (MW005) Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... |
Singles
| Year | Song | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | "All I Ever Wanted" | Truth Came Running |