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I have always enjoyed making things.
When I was very young, that usually meant some bizarre concoction of old shoeboxes,
masking tape, and a lightbulb or motor somehow worked into the equation. They were
generally very useless inventions, though I did create a working handheld vacuum
(similar to a "Dustbuster") when I was about 8. With all the cool
Lego Mindstorms
kits around now, I guess a cardboard vacuum sounds pretty lame. ;-)
My mom introduced me to computer programming when I was about 6 years old on our
Apple II plus.
I mostly learned
Applesoft BASIC and a
little bit of ML via the
Mini-Assembler later on.
My dad was always building or fixing something, so he gave me my
own set of tools and workspace, where I made use of his scrap wood and surfboard foam (one of his hobbies/later business was shaping surfboards).
I was fortunate to have creative parents and friends who introduced me to a variety of interesting projects and ideas.
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!["There is no feeling, except the extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief in music." - George Eliot (1819-80), [Mary Ann Evans]](images/old_cover_drawing.jpg)
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At around age 12, I started to take a significant interest in music because of a
Christmas gift my sister had received around 1985/86...
A Casio SK-1 keyboard. I borrowed
her keyboard so much that I was given a keyboard of my own on the following Christmas.
Around age 14 we upgraded our computer to an
Apple IIGS, which
had tons of great music software including
MIDI
capabilities. I began writing music quite heavily at that point. I started taking
piano lessons at age 16, and soon after bought my first real, acoustic piano. My teacher,
David Sonsara, was not only great at teaching technical skills, but also music theory
and composition.
After high school, I studied music at Goldenwest College and earned my A.A. degree. I took classes
from jazz musician
Tom Kubis
and composer
Alan Davis,
among others. During that time I had also formed a small, informal jazz band. I started giving
piano lessons around this same time and have taught on and off ever since.
I also performed music for a handful of musicals and a studio recording session with a theatre group.
I went on to
California State University, Long Beach
to earn a B.A. in music.
I began working on Atriarch as composer and
sound designer for World Fusion Software in 1996. The project was been a huge, but exciting, undertaking.
Unfortunately it lost a little steam during the end of the 'dot-com' era. I worked there
into 2002. While there, I created over 20 hours of original, themed music for the
massively multiplayer online game.
Starting around 2002, I began working professionally as a software developer,
primarily in Java.
Companies I've worked for include:
Alphalogix,
United Rentals,
Javaground (making cell phone games!),
United Health Group/OptumRx,
and
El Pollo Loco.
Finally, I think it's worth mentioning that there is another musician with the same name who has the
website www.markirvinmusic.com -
that is a different Mark Irvin!
Musical Influences
Classical:
Joplin,
Debussy,
Ravel,
Gershwin,
Grieg,
Chopin,
Copland,
Beethoven,
Brahms
Contemporary:
Damien Rice,
Ben Folds,
Andrew Bird,
David Gilmour,
Oingo Boingo,
Pink Floyd,
Rufus Wainwright,
Brian Wilson,
Buena Vista Social Club,
The Beatles,
Pomplamoose,
and many others!
Film / Soundtrack:
Danny Elfman,
Jerry Goldsmith,
James Horner,
Robyn Miller,
Randy Newman,
Raymond Scott,
John Williams
Other:
Folk,
Gamelan,
Jazz,
(Anything with marimba!),
Native American music,
World music
Some of my creative friends and colleagues:
Daniel Bremmer
Raymond & Joseph Chavez
Stephen Chiang
David Frankel
Paul Lear
Jason MacAllister
Jeffrey Nielson
Matt Olson
Serafina Pechan & Christopher Thames
Dan Plegel
Jesse Simko
David Sonsara
Did I forget to list you above? Let me know!
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