Mark manages to be a reliably varied figure of endearing contrasts. An incredibly technical lover of experimental history, a deep thinker seemingly perpetually involved in flights of fancy, a musician capable of playing any part of any band in any style who spends half his time writing music for solo voice.
Growing up in a family of nerds, Mark has a full career as an engineer under his belt. And we’re not just talking sound engineer; over the last 10 years, he’s been developing everything from aeroplane parts to electric superbikes.
Meanwhile, in the background there has been a constant string of creative musical ventures. From playing a fretless bass in a Dubstep-Indie fusion 3-piece called Light Shape on BBC Introducing Leeds to singing in Welsh in a choir of 500 men in the Royal Albert Hall (no, he’s not Welsh, but it just sort of happened) he’s rushed by and ended up in the thick of all sorts.
But by Christmas 2019, Mark had had enough. The entire day job of this dyslexic man had become doing paperwork about things that he was becoming increasingly suspicious he didn’t really understand. Meanwhile, the music was still sat on the back seat without any signs of getting the chance to move forward. At that, he stepped away from the engineering and has been breaking ground in music ever since. Well breaking something, anyway.
Now Mark is a growing force in a bewildering number of different places – from a unique and beautiful solo bass act, to pioneering livestream designer, to session bassist, songwriter and visual effects artist. His insatiable curiosity and energy is constantly spilling over into new things, so much so that Mark’s Weekly Nonsense – a series where Mark literally does whatever seems interesting to him at the time – has been making waves on YouTube, Instagram and Tiktok.
Mark Gunner is one to watch as a creative artist. Partly because of just how creative he is, and partly because, still tinkering with his many projects, no one knows what he’s going to do next...