Mark Hilton
Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia | SELF
Music
Press
Well crafted pop - under produced Freedie Johnson or Billy Baxter on Prozac - Vicky Mihelakos - Beat Magazine Australia
A chronicle of humour and pathos with a rare stamp of originality that drifts from surf melodicism to pastoral whimsy to Eastern bedlam and as such, is a fine example of his storytelling skills. - Fred E. Gostein - Citysearch.com.au
A varied, accomplished and witty album, with some great grown-up pop songs (notably the title track) and fantastic guitaring and violining, entirely worthy of our attention irrespective of the many contributions made to it by Procoler Chris Copping.
www.procolharum.com/9/cc_hilton.htm - Roland Clare - Official Procol Harum website
Hilton’s found a depth in his songs that is irresistible. Here Come The Indians is deceptively simple: guitars, voice, strings, strong melodies and clever words. And Hilton puts it together soooo easily. From the first words he utters here (on the darkly haunting Heavenly): “You’re my heroine, I’m so thick and you’re so thin …,” you know sweet love songs are never going to be quite the same again. And there’s the mesmerising, lazy warmth of I Wanna Drive, and the whimsy of Mulberry Tree, stocked with childhood memories that ripple up like waves of heat. Faith Is A Fool tries to deal with being left alone, while Little Brown Bag happily bops along about how wonderful and silly obsession can be. Musically, Hilton hints at the likes of John Lennon in acoustic mood, Queen, The Go-Betweens and Elvis Costello, with wisps of eastern and celtic smoke wafting through. But he never gives up the character of his songs. Here Comes The Indians is the essence of indie music … stripped back, atmospheric, killer melodies … heart with soul. Simple, eh? Simply wonderful, in fact. - Trevor Hockins SUNSHINE COAST DAILY
If you're looking for a gig that will cleanse the soul and drown out the constant white noise surrounding us, look no further than Mark Hilton.
A fantastic lyricist and songwriter, Hilton and his band of musical gypsies, the Lavender Girls, will play at the Wheatsheaf tomorrow...
At times as heart-wrenching as running into your first love, while as liberating as hitting the road with the top down, Hilton provides a show to satisfy any mood with songs off his great new album "A Good Man".
Where: The Wheatsheaf
When: 7pm, Friday March 6, 2009 - Bek Devlin - ADELAIDE ADVERTISER
The elegant and intimate Bogarts Restaurant provided the ideal setting on Sunday night for the release of Mark Hilton's fourth solo album "A Good Man."
Red Plum and Snow and Ally De Groot performed some songs to open the show and warm up th audience. The talented musician plowed his way through diverse set of songs that featured a mix of genres including country and rock. Mark was backed by some solid bass work by Dapper Dan Davies, Tony Robinson on Steel Guitar and backing vocals and Tony Frey on Drums.
A Good Man features some high quality tracks. As well as the title track, Emogene, Landing on your Feet, Monkey Forest Road and Never Forget You are also high quality efforts. Darwinians will relate particlulaly to the punchy and clever lyrics on Emogene. Monkey Forest Road takes us on an interesting journey of discovery.
For my money the pick of the tracks is undoubtedly Landing On Your feet. A smooth acoustic intro leads into an easy paced track with a good melody and some thoughtful carefully constructed lyrics. Marks Guitar work is great and he knows how to interact with an Audience. Over the next month he will be continuing on with a tour to venues in South Austrlia, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.
(Mark Wood March 6th., 2009) - Territory Regional Weekly
Discography
2008 - A Good Man (12 track CD album)
2005 - Beauty & Indians (4 Music Videos + Extras DVD)
2003 - Here Come the Indians (12 track CD album)
2000 - Beauty & Innocence (12 track CD album)
1997 - Sleep is Calling (5 track CD EP)
Photos
Bio
INFLUENCES – anything that comes from the heart, whether it be happy, sad or humorous…the chain gang worksong, existential atonal industrial racket, song of a nightingale, roar of the ocean, murmur of a prayer, howling of sins, laughter of children, warmth of the sun.
SETS US APART – the rest of the band are all individuals – but I’m different from them – I’m not an individual.
STORY – The band was born in a cyclone on the northern most tip of Australia in a place nobody wants to visit for Xmas. It's called Darwin and apparently she's the Arafura Pearl - she looks out on a sea by that name.
Mark and Toby met at an impromptu recording session for the Leah Flanagan Band and started performing as a duo until they ran into Dapper Dan at the Mindil Beach Markets. Then one stormy night at the Ski Club, drummer Tony was spotted. The Ski Club, sounds exotic - and it is - but more in a plastic chairs and party lights kinda way.
In the last year or so we have…
played 130 gigs
recorded and released a 12 track CD album with the band plus strings
Mark’s fourth solo album “A Good Man” features totally acoustic instrumentation and continues in the tradition of personal storytelling and captivating melodies. Brian Manning (David Bridie) blows horns, Tracey Bunn (Toe Sucking Cowgirls) gets down with some moonshine backing vocals and The Retro Bordello Strings nail an exquisite arrangement for “Barry” by Netanela Mizrahi (Leah Flanagan Band).
created a video
for the hauntingly svelte “Landing On Your Feet”
directed by Megan Spencer (JJJ / SBS Movie Show / ABC Radio
http://au.youtube.com/user/markhilton
with seductive performances by musicians Karen Cieri and and rising star Jess Ribeiro (the Bone Collectors)
done a national tour
with funding support from Australia Council for the Arts
got great reviews
"I think your songs are really beautiful" DON WALKER (Cold Chisel)
"A fantastic lyricist and songwriter. At times as heart-wrenching as running into your first love, while as liberating as hitting the road with the top down, Hilton provides a show to satisfy any mood with songs off his great new album ‘A Good Man’ " BEK DEVLIN (Adelaide Advertiser)
"Mark Hilton had The LightHouse pumping, accompanied by an all woman string quartet, a band of accomplished gentlemen...he rocked with abandon, loud and dirty" BEN LANGFORD (NT News - Darwin Festival Review)
and then topped off this year with a LightHouse gig at the Darwin Festival
An all acoustic show featuring new arrangements for Mark's songs by violinist Netanela Mizrahi - performed by the infamous Retro Bordello Strings. Styling and virtual sets were created from a series of hand paintings and digital images by Marlene Kranz (http://www.marlenekranz.com), who worked with VJs Samuel Bondareff "Atomic Konch" and Peter Walker "VJ Asterix" to help make this an unforgettable evening under the stars.
MARK HILTON BIO
2009 The fourth album “A Good Man” is released and toured nationally
Darwin Festival gig with the Lavender Girls and The Retro Bordello Strings
Vietnam solo gigs
2008 Mark Hilton & the Lavender Girls gig in Darwin & record “A Good Man”
Video production for “Landing on Your Feet”
2007 moved to Darwin and enjoyed the eclectic music scene, playing local venues, hooking up with some great players, appearing at the Darwin Show and doing ABC radio appearances. During the Darwin Festival there was a 7 gig run on the Moonlight stage . There was also a tour in Vietnam, playing Ho Chi Minh City and Mui Ne.
2006 a year for side projects - an Adelaide tour playing guitar & bass for Floyd Thursby and the Definite Article, completing Floyd's first album ‘The Thief's Journal’ (release April 2007) and playing guitar live and in the studio for Leanne Kingwell who scored a #1 for most added song to the ACC (Adult Contemporary Charts) in the USA. Leanne garnered rave reviews from New York's Village Voice and appeared on ROVE LIVE on Sep 5th with her band.
His debut EP with his band The Holy Ghosts was 'Sleep is Calling', and the cruise-o-matic track 'God Must be Out of His Mind' received heavy airplay on 3RRR and 3PBS. That was followed up by the acclaimed album 'Beauty and Innocence', with the lead track 'What I Want' voted #4 nationally by JJJ listeners on Caroline Tran's show.
Mark performed live in Melbourne for a number of years, playing guitar and keyboards with The Philosopher's Stone and The Naturals, who had a #1 alternative hit with 'On the Alert' (Mushroom Records).
He wrote and produced the soundtrack for "The Man in the Blue & White Holden" - first prize at the 1991 St. Kilda Film Festival.
Throughout his live and recording career, he’s collaborated with members of bands such as Procol Harum, Dead Can Dance, Crystal Set, The Black-Eyed Susans, Crown of Thorns, and the Working Class Ringos.
More Info: www.markhilton.tv
Media Contact: AUM / Chryss Carr
TEL: +61 2 6680 9871 MOB: +61 417 800 869
Links
