For fans of folk-leaning alternative-esque rock and great songwriting, 12 Weeks from Mark Remmington delivers an impressive collection of recordings. Despite many years of playing and performing on commercial projects, 12 Weeks represents Mark’s first time creating a full length solo album.

In this interview spotlight, we chat about the new release, challenges, technology and more.

Full Q&A along with links and music below.

Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)

I’m an Essex boy, that’s South of England bordering London for any non-UKLanders. But the last 10 years I’ve been raising rug rats in the rural carrot crunching East. But that’s cool; I like carrots for starters.

Also living out here in the flat Fens, surrounded by farmland, rivers and woodland has definitely seeped into the music I write, which currently ranges from Prog influenced Alt. Rock but definitely jumps with both feet into Indie Folk and even Neil Young-esque Americana.

What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?

That’s an interesting way to frame the question. I didn’t start playing music till I was 14, and then I was suddenly obsessed with it; I guess looking back, I needed to have something I could do, be good at, something that could be mine. When you’re that awkward kid at school with like one or two good friends, zero aptitude for sports or any other popular pursuits, you need something to build your self esteem around, something to build your self on. For me, and I really think I’m not alone in this, it was music.

Now that kid is a distant, fond memory, and I’m this big ugly dude, very sure of myself, well travelled, scarred and full of stories, I know my place in the world. But what I found is that I still needed the music, it’s the foundations I built myself on and the drive to create is just a necessity. In fact in the last year, it probably saved my life, saved my marriage, got me back to being my best, my better self.

My counsellor is a lump of mahogany with six strings on it basically.

How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?

I’m really proud of “12 Weeks” and what it stands for. I’ve made albums with some bands in the past, I’ve been fortunate enough to session in studio with some artists I really admire ranging from the worlds of Rock, Country, Soul, Folk and a lot of blues… not that I’m a virtuoso by any stretch. But I’m well organized, I do my homework on a song before I hit the studio, and that method generally delivers the goods.

This however, is my record, my songs and its my debut.

I wasn’t trying to make an album as it started, I made it as a result of the difficulties of life under lockdown.

I found myself in a very dark mental state in 2020, compounded by social restrictions, financial insecurity, and everything else we’ve all been experiencing. As we rolled into the new year I guess I just got sick of feeling sick.

I decided in response I would set my self the goal of writing, recording and releasing a song every week for 12 weeks. I even announced my goal magnanimously on social media, but that was great as it made me further accountable for seeing it through.

So these songs are the stories I collected, polished and put into song during that period, January to March. Somehow I managed to hit a lot of bases, there’s a couple of fairly epic numbers, there’s short and sweet, there’s dark and poetic. I sing to the great gift of friends, the unassuming self sacrifice in others, the beginnings of love and attraction, as well as relationships in a state of ruin, loss, of the lessons and learned and reasons to live life to the full, to live well.

For me I would say the process of writing all this brought a sense of meaning back into my life, and it fixed me. I would certainly encourage anyone else that may be experiencing a similarly dark time to pursue their own passion project. That and the solace of friends is a powerfully restorative thing.

Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?

Its fantastic how you can set yourself up as an Independent Artist and start sharing music immediately these days. Also, the quality of the software is incredible, the free plugins and DAWS; a generation ago this stuff would be in the form of hardware costing in the tens if not hundreds of thousands.

I made this album for example with a very simple, one Mac, One Mic and an interface set up. I even kept some tracks from the demo’d versions that I’d recorded with my Iphone! Its crazy really.

The difficulty is getting your voice truly heard, making sense of where you can go, finding your people, making the tunes is the easy bit! Outlets like  Indie Music Discovery are invaluable for sharing my own music but in your shop window. Also for allowing you to tap into other like minded musicians, and support each others work. It can be a community if you let it, and the Twitter platforms can be really good for building that network

So yeah the big challenge is the modern day marketing, we can all do it for ourselves now, except we don’t know what the hell we’re doing; my God if I had the slightest interest in Marketing I’d have studied it, I’d have a real job, a real job in marketing. Here I am unpicking the online world, and working out how to get my music heard. I feel like I’m retraining.

Retraining sucks.

What was the last song you listened to?

I’m sitting here with “The Big Ocean” by Ben Sollee running in the background. If you don’t know him, check it out. A indie/americana singer-songwriter who’s principle instrument is Cello… his voice and songs are amazing and his Cello playing is such a treat.

Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?

Vinyl is the best experience of the full album package because the art work is there to be enjoyed, but I aint gonna lie, I’m not here to try and be cool. I got young kids and the Vinyl LPs are currently safely stored in the attic where I can occasionally sit in the dark and pour over them like Gollem in the cave staring at my precious ring.

The only CD player I own is actually in my car, but I made damn sure my new album was available to buy at least on CD, with a three gate fold cover in beautiful matt finish, because its that tactile thing, something to have, to hold, to pour over in the dark, to covet.

How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?

I’ve tried them all and recently jumped back into bed with spotify following a problematic divorce with apple music, all the while seeing amazon music on the side, and the odd date with Deezer, but that was just a one night stand.

Spotify wins on the playlists, that and it just seems to get me as a person…

Bandcamp however, honorable mention, how great is that! So much amazing independent music there, as well as record co affiliated releases. I love that you can leave a review for an artist when you buy their album. Its also a great platform for buying CD’s as well as the digital streaming access.

So they’re my top two.

Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?

I keep my Facebook and Insta pages pretty well updated and try to commit as much meaningful content on my YouTube account as possible. In fact, every song on the album has an accompanying music video, and I’d say YouTube is the best, most uncluttered place to check that all out.

You will find my music on every major streaming service though, downloadable too, and CD’s available via Bandcamp only. Well, my Mum is also selling the CD’s out the back of her car. So BandCamp, or me Mum for the CD’s, My Mum is my newly appointed Global Head of Sales and Distribution.

Anything else before we sign off?

My debut album “12 Weeks” is available today. Hit me up on social media, you’ll find music I have collaborated or performed on otherwise on there too. And I’m pretty responsive to visitors comments and messages, so y’all stop by any time and I’ll do my best to entertain you.