BBC Radio On Board!

MARKX has been put forward for playlisting and spot plays on BBC Radio 2. The news follows 'Other Side Of The River' being selected as BBC Sussex & Surrey's Track Of The Day in April. About the news MARKX adds:

"Two big major developments came in such quick succession! Sometimes you can be hustling away for months and then all of a sudden - a breakthrough! It's exciting and truly terrifying at the same time! It makes a huge difference having people championing you at the other end!"

BBC Sussex/ Surrey presenter, Sarah Gorrell, has since been in contact to say she loved the track and will play the songs again. About the high profile support MARKX adds:

"It's both wonderfully exciting and truly terrifying! Obviously you never get over the fear of rejection, you just learn to have a different relationship with it! It's a sensitive subject having had my confidence knocked by people I had looked up to in the business. It really does mean something though when you have the head of BBC Radio 2/ 6 Music in your corner and presenters taking the time to drop you an email"

Following the release of the final element EP "Fire" in May, the project will be concluded with an album featuring all the tracks. MARKX adds:

"It's another opportunity to promote the key songs in the collection whilst the next project is recorded. The next thing is to take my songs out on the road. I'm painfully aware with promoting the tracks I've ended up a keyboard warrior! When I set myself the outrageous goal to release 4 EPs over 8 months it was always going to be tight in terms of time. For me it has all been about gaining momentum after a long break as an artist"

In terms of plans for the future. MARKX adds:

"The 'elements' album will be followed by a collection of brand new material. I'm mixing it up and using a crowdfunding style campaign for this next one. It will be organic instruments and a folk pop sound. I had the luxury of assembling a brand new team of writers for this one. I'd planned to spend the the summer writing for the next project. As it happened the songs ended up being written by spring so I'm raring to go in and record!"

MARKX has also been working with fellow singer songwriter, Sam Dickinson, on new material he adds:

"Sam has been a joy to work with. The track is we've written for him is really special, it really does have legs. It's nice to mix it up and work with other artists. The whole industry model has changed significantly and you have to evolve and change to survive the most competitive industry on the planet. That means diversifying your writing to stay relevant"

The first 3 EP's 'Water', 'Air' and 'Earth' are all available in all major digital stores with 'Fire' scheduled for release in late May.

#MARKX #MARKXMUSIC #britishartist #independentartist #singersongwriter #ituneschart # #ianmarkx #diaryofacreativesoul #BBCradio2 #hatimusic #sarahmac #samdickinson #SarahGorrell #water #earth #air

'Earth' EP Out Monday/ BBC Radio 2

The third MARKX EP 'Earth' will be available to download and stream on Monday 18th March 2019 from all major digital distributers... along with the very news that the songs have been selected for playlisting on BBC Radio 2! The 'Earth' EP is available to pre order from all major digital distributers here.

About the news MARKX adds:

"It's a dream come true for me to be even in dialogue with Radio 2 let alone being considered for playlisting! Having had such encouraging feedback from head of BBC Radio 2 Jeff Smith"

In keeping with the EP title the songs have reverted to a more organic sound with the theme of moving on and reflecting back. About the EP MARKX adds:

"I've spent four years developing my sound as an artist. I've dabbled with an electronic sound which served some of the 'Air' and 'Water' tracks well. It feels right to embrace the singer/songwriter label now and go back to a more organic sound for 'Earth'.

The EP is again produced by Michael Clarke (Martine Mccutcheon/ Sad Professors) with a co-production/ arrangement/ writing contribution from Hati and features writing contributions from Sarah Mcclellan, Bryony Dunn and Abi Murray. About the co-writers of The Earth EP:

"I've been thoroughly spoilt in terms of working with new talent on this EP. All co-writers for this project are singer/songwriters in their own right and some of my favourite people in the world. It's testament to the friendships with the writers that we were able to go to that place emotionally and stay there"

The 'Earth' EP is the third instalment from a series of four EPs themed around elements, with the 'Fire' EP scheduled to land in May 2019. About the project MARKX adds:

"In December 2017 I set a truly audacious goal to release four EPs over eight months, creating a video for each of the tracks and to put myself out there as an artist finally! So far it's exceeded any expectations I've had with the iTunes chart placement, Scottish Global Music Cart #3 and Radio 2 opportunity"

Despite the relative success of the project so far, MARKX has taken a lot of learnings from the experience:

"Ideally I would have taken more time to promote the tracks before moving onto the next EP, that said, my goal was to get some momentum going and grow my confidence after being out of the game for such a long time. I would have liked to have done some more live shows along the way - it's a balancing act of ensuring the momentum on the releases is sustained. I've needed to be mindful of being able to ensure funding the project too around freelance work. Everything I've done so far has been 'on my feet' and I've had to learn as I go. I think for someone like me (who over analyses EVERYTHING) that's the best way to approach things. I have no plans to rest on my laurels, writing has commenced on the next project which I hope to launch later in 2019!"

'Earth' EP Tracklisting:

1. Paint Over The Walls (MARKX & Mclellan)

2. Dancing On My Grave (MARKX, Murdoch & Dunn)

3. Roads (MARKX & Murray)

The 'Earth' EP is available to pre order from all major digital distributers here.

#MARKX #MARKXMUSIC #britishartist #independentartist #singersongwriter #ituneschart #ianmarkx #diaryofacreativesoul #BBCradio2 #hatimusic #bryonydunn #sarahmac #kayamac

'Air' EP Recieves Rave Reviews!

A write up about the recently released 'Air' EP has been published by top online blog: Talk About Pop Music. Talk About Pop Music features news, views and reviews on all types of music past, present and future.

About the review MARKX adds:

"The team at Talk About Pop Music have been so incredibly supportive with both the 'Water' and 'Air' releases. As an independent artist I rely on independent blogs to help me reach new followers and help get my music out there"

About the connection to Talk About Pop Music:

"I was introduced to Christopher Smith via an exciting new artist I'll be writing with, Sam Dickinson - it's so great to be part of this independent creative eco-system and I love how everyone rallies around and supports each other"

You can check out the Talk About Pop Music review in full here:

"Air" is now available to download on iTunes here.

You can save 'Air' on Spotify and Apple Music for streaming here

#MARKX #MARKXMUSIC #britishartist #air #independentartist #singersongwriter #ituneschart #ianmarkx #talkaboutpopmusic #airep #diaryofacreativesoul