I have known Mark for years as another musician in the island kindly introduced me. I have heard him occasionally play and the time has come to find out what he is up to… (spoiler alert: exciting news ahead!)
Hi Mark, do you have a stage name?
No, I don’t have a stage name, but we are currently thinking of a band name for the bar (interviewer’s note: bear with us, it will all be revealed in due time…)
Ok, tell us a bit more about yourself: Where are you from originally?
I was born in Salisbury, but moved here from Milton Keynes.
And how long have you lived in Lanzarote?
I’ve lived here for 12 years and counting.
That’s a long time… what brought you here in the first place?
I used to come on holiday here when I was younger and we would go and watch Charlie at Charlie’s Bar. Charlie and Dex used to get me up on stage as a guest when I was a teenager. I decided to move over here 12 years ago to look for work and that is when I met Albert and Pedro. I played drums with them for a short while at Buddy’s which is now the Electric Island Bar, and this is also where I met Steve who I play with now.
It’s a small world, isn’t it? What do you like about the island?
I like the relaxed way of life out here and love that I get to play music for a living. Trying to do this in the UK was really hard!
I can imagine. So, what is your favourite place in Lanzarote?
There’s too many to list but one of my favourite places in Lanzarote has to be Mirador del Río up in the north of the island, it has the best views of La Graciosa.
Yes, one of my favourite places too, as long as it’s not cloudy! Back to business, what do you play and sing ?
I play and sing anything from The Eagles to Thin Lizzie to Oasis to U2 and so much more. My favourite band to play has to be Stereophonics.
And who is your inspiration?
My musical inspiration has to be Steve Mariott from The Small Faces.
I must admit, I don’t know him or the band, I’ll definitely have to check him/them out. How would you describe your gigs and your music for someone who’s never heard you before?
We play a wide range of different songs and we also do our best to play any requests from the audience.
Do you have any special projects coming up?
The main project we have on at the minute is the take over of The Electric Island Bar! The opening date hasn’t been announced yet but keep an eye on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/electricislandlanzarote/, as an announcement will be coming in the next few weeks.
We will be open 6 nights a week (Monday to Saturday) from 8pm and we will have live music every night. The band is made up of myself, Steven Sharp and Conor Sloane. At 9:30pm every night we will have a 30 minute acoustic set from a different member of the band every night. The band will start at 10:00pm and play until late. We will have a couple of special guests in the future, one of them being Albert himself.
It sounds amazing, I can’t wait! Finally, how can our readers keep up to date with any news?
Via our Facebook page:
where we will be posting all future announcements.
We also have an Instagram page – ‘@electricislandlanzarote’ so make sure to tag us in your pictures when you visit!
Well, Mark, I can’t wait to come to see you all play as soon as you open. Thank you su much for your time and wish you & the new resident band all the success with this new endeavour!
Update 5/8/2020:
The opening date has now been announced, it’ll be the Friday the 28th. Doors will open at 20h. Live music will start at 21:30h.
Wishing Mark, the newly formed band and staff all the success!!!
