The Music of Mark Katsouros

(Amateur Songwriter/Musician)

 

 

Some samples of music created by Mark over the years:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Death Wish, ~1985

 

This is one of Mark’s first recorded compositions, albeit somewhat pedestrian. It’s an instrumental representation of the journey from darkness and depression into the light of happiness and appreciation for the beauty of our world.

 

 

 

 

Background pattern Description automatically generated

 

 

Starry Night (Mark Katsouros & Friends; written by Mark Katsouros), 1986

 

This was composed and performed in one of Mark’s music composition classes in college (as part of his music minor). These guys had no prior experience playing together, but this took first place in the class’ first group competition! Mark is on acoustic piano, electronic keyboard, triangle, and cymbals.

 

 

 

 

A picture containing text, person, different, posing Description automatically generated

 

 

Valerie, 1987

 

Mark wrote this for his high school sweetheart and future wife, Valerie, while she was away on a trip. He wrote a piece that was more complicated than he could easily play, and had to record it in sections. (This certainly contributed to his desire to develop his mixing/production skills.)

 

 

 

 

A picture containing shape Description automatically generated

 

 

Jabbed (The EP), 1994

 

1.      Your Smile

2.      29 Years

3.      Soft, Brown Eyes

4.      Let Them Tell Me I’m A Fool

5.      I Just Wanna Get To Know You

6.      The Best Medicine

 

Mark took up guitar after getting a brief intro to the instrument by friends/workmates Matt Mathai and Clay Gump. Valerie bought him his first acoustic (and Clay gave him his first electric). Without a doubt, the guitar lent itself to a songwriting process that Mark had not yet experienced so easily. Mark believes that he was at his "creative peak" during this time. Chord structures and lyrics just came naturally, as he played more guitar, and learned from the aforementioned friends/workmates and by noodling through things himself. Another friend/workmate, Dave Donoho, would later call this effort "Mark’s version of Once (the film)." (Note the Glen Hansard reference below.)

 

 

 

 

A picture containing text Description automatically generated

 

 

Your Smile (with intro), ~1994

 

The finger-picked intro added to Your Smile just sort of came to Mark while noodling around on his guitar.

 

 

 

 

A person wearing a hat and glasses Description automatically generated with medium confidence

 

 

I Just Wanna Get To Know You (II), ~1994

 

This is an updated recording of this song on which Mark adjusted the three-note chorus intro to be just a little more interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jazz Experiment, 2002

 

Shortly before Mark and Valerie adopted Maxwell, Mark purchased his Yamaha Clavinova (an amazing digital instrument and recording studio in one), knowing he’d probably never make such a purchase after the adoption. This was one of the first tracks he laid down. He played it one hand/instrument at a time, given that Max, who has since become quite the musician himself, was often on Mark’s lap while Mark was playing.

 

 

 

 

A person and person sitting on a red railing with trees in the background Description automatically generated with medium confidence

 

 

Musette Minuet, 2002

 

This is another multi-instrument piece, played one hand/instrument at a time. No, it’s not about those soft, Italian, almond biscuits, but rather it’s a French social dance, between two people, played on what is essentially a French bagpipe.

 

 

 

 

A person and a child sitting on the floor Description automatically generated with low confidence

 

 

Baby Hip-Hop, 2007

 

1.      K. 380 · Sonata in E Major: Andante comodo (Domenico Scarlatti)

2.      The Nutcracker March (Tchaikovsky)

 

This was an album Mark started in 2004. Unfortunately, the "baby" here outgrew being one before Mark could apply hip-hop beats to more classical pieces.

 

 

 

 

A picture of Santa Mark in his car

 

 

We Three Kings, 2007

 

This song was recorded by Mark in the basement studio of their Iowa home to wish everyone a Cool Yule. Mark plays all the instruments on this, including the electronic drums with which he heeds the call for "more cowbell." 🙂

 

 

 

 

A car parked in front of a house Description automatically generated with medium confidence

 

 

The Haves and the Have-Nots, 2008

 

Also recorded by Mark in the basement studio of their Iowa home, this song tells the tale of what it really means, while often taken for granted, to be among "the haves." (By the way, Iowa’s local music scene is nothing short of incredible.)

 

 

 

 

A picture of roads into Pittsburgh representing Mark's harrowing commute

 

 

The Harrowing Commute, 2022

 

Mark performs a piano piece he wrote to convey the acutely distressing nature of his weekly commute to Pittsburgh. A work in progress (this piece and optimizing his commute 🤣).

 

 

 

 

 

Some of Mark’s musical influences: Dizzy (Mark's favorite band, and essentially the Canadian indie scene’s Beatles IMHO), Carol Ades, Barenaked Ladies, Boo Hewerdine & Darden Smith, Dervish, Kate Bush, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Chuck Brown and Eva Cassidy, Crash Test Dummies (particularly Brad Roberts and Ellen Reid), Catie Curtis, Grateful Dead (particularly Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir), Great Big Sea (particularly Alan Doyle, one of Newfoundland's most beloved musical ambassadors), Glen Hansard (and The Swell Season), The Head And The Heart, Peter Himmelman, Judybats (particularly Jeff Heiskell), Kaleo, Maxwell Katsouros (yep, our son), Christine Lavin, Morphine, The Nadas (from Des Moines, Iowa), Newspaper Fashion Show, Of Monsters And Men, The Oh Hellos, Radwimps, Rush, Said The Whale, Matthew Sweet, Talk, Rob Thomas (and Matchbox 20), Toad The Wet Sprocket, William Elliott Whitmore (from Lee County, Iowa), and David Wilcox.

 

 

Mark and Katie

 

 

"Where once there was a bolder man

You cower now in Comic Sans"

 

—Dizzy, 2023 (from Birthmark)