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Idols: Catch-Up with Mark Haze

Written by TVSA Team from the blog Interviews on 03 Oct 2011
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Mark Interview 28

As spilt in our interview with Dave, Thato and I spent Friday night at the Idols Top 2 performance show.

t_and_t_final
Thato and I plotting our next move as T&T from our seats.

Afterwards we chatted to Mark too and almost didn't make it out alive when we found ourselves caught in the clutches of a hardcore group of his fans. The pics tell all ...

Mark Interview 300

T&T:
Why don't you drink guava juice?
Mark: It makes me die.

T&T: How many times has that happened?
Mark: I used to drink it a lot when I was a kid and I was fine and then all of a sudden one day, it became like asthma - I started coughing a lot and you try to to inhale but you can't because my lungs close up.

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T&T: What's been your best moment of the competition?
Mark: It's difficult to say because every week we step it up a notch and there's a new mentor and stuff like that. I've got to say that before we got to the choir round, singing R&B was a big challenge for me.

Getting over that was really, really cool because I'm seen as the rock guy but I listen to so many different styles of music so it was great to be able to showcase that.

From that moment, I decided it would make more sense for me to branch out and try different things and bring it into my own genre. You know, Born This Way is typically a dance song and I made it my own style.

I think the biggest highlight must have been singing with the Mzansi Youth Choir 'cos to sing with 40 different people on stage with you is quite challenging to say the least and I'd loved that song since I was about 12-years-old.

After Freddie Mercury died I saw George Michael do the song and I've always wanted to do it the same way, with an actual choir behind me so that was phenomenal. You know, you've got to feel so self-important when all these people are singing for you, it's like: "Wow, okay."

I heard from the choir, they wrote to me the other day, they said I was their favourite performance. It was really nice to hear.

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Thato's been to a couple of the live shows and each time she's spotted this person chatting to Mark. We decided it was time to find out who she is. We approached ...

Mark Interview 7
... and discovered her name's Dawn Haynes - a head honcho of a Mark fan group called the Red Rockers. As you can see they're a force to be reckoned with 'cos one moment Thato was safe and the next:

mark_interview_1000
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Turns out Dawn's son Matthew's a traitor who supports Dave. PS: his glasses didn't have glass.

Mark Interview 600

T&T: What's it like having fans?
Mark: Very different and very new - especially such young fans - it makes you step back a bit. From the background I come from, it's like dirty pub rock. You play holes in the wall and stuff like that and you play rock music and it's over 18's - mostly over 21's - and it's dirty and alcohol driven, it's nasty stuff - it's gritty and that's what it is.

Now you're performing to a much wider audience, a family audience and I kinda realised I can still be the same guy I always am but I don't have to be an aggressive, nasty, drunken, swearing, -

T&T: Is that what you used to be?
Mark: Not at all - I've always been exactly who I am but the type of people around me have always been that sort of thing. They're like: "Yeah Mark rock 'n roll," that sort of thing. It's kinda cool and cute to look out at the audience and they're pulling the rock 'n roll sign at me. It's innocent and it's wonderful you know.

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T&T: The other day there was a comment on facebook along the lines of: "Oh you've sold out man, you're a rocker and now you're on Idols." What do you have to say about the perspective that rockers are anti-establishment and yet Idols isn't?
Mark: What I have to say to that is: "Get off your high horse." Those who feel they are anti-establishment are actually very establishment because to be anti-establishment, to say: "I'm not ever gonna do what the rest of people do, join me," Doing that means that you've just created another clique.

There's no way you can ever be different or unique or whatever - if you want to be that person you have to go live in cave somewhere and not have any sort of technological advantage to yourself. Get off your high horse - rock 'n roll's for the people - it's not for the person sitting in a club who doesn't want to share it. I write songs for everyone to listen to and I perform for everyone to listen to. Come say it to my face is what I'd like to say.

You know, there are a lot of guys - even some friends of mine who are in the industry - who would turn around and say things like: "Oh, my music's for me and not for anyone else. If they don't like it, then that's fine, I perform for myself," which is the biggest contradiction I've ever heard in my life because why would you be standing a stage doing it? Why don't you just sit in your bedroom and play then?

The real reason you want to be a performer is because you want to touch people's lives.

T&T: If you win, will your album have your own songs on it?
Mark: Definitely.

Mark Interview 21
Mark with Brian Lee - the basist in his band 12th Avenue. Brian was at the performance show and the whole band's gonna be at the finale on Tuesday.

T&T to Brian:
How've you felt seeing Mark in this context?
Brian: I'm proud to know him.

T&T: Are you worried you're gonna lose him?
Brian: No, he's not going anywhere - he won't lose me, I'm like one of those little Jack Russell's who bite you on the ankle, that you can't get rid of. *laughs*

T&T to Mark: Where's your wife?
Mark: She's not here - in total, in the three and a half months I've been here, I've seen my wife for nine/10 hours in total. She sees me at the gigs but we don't go anywhere afterwards or anything like that. She's at every show - the problem is we only get a certain amount of family time and our schedule's hectic.

We'll finish the show tonight, tomorrow morning we'll already have started picking our next song. For the Top 2 I have to be at the M-Net building at 07h30 in the morning tomorrow, first to do two shows - one at Monte Casino, the next at Jo'burg Pride and then catch a flight to Cape Town, do a press conference in Cape Town.

T&T: What will you do if you don't win?
Mark: The same thing I'll do if I win. Look, I've left my job now - I used to be in corporate sales - I can't do that anymore. I used to do that to fund my music career, I used to give guitar lessons and jingles and whatever so I'm hoping to be picked up by a label.

Even if I don't I know how to record an album. I've got various contacts out there - people I've met in the competition and people they've put us in touch with - to be able to put out a Mark Haze album. I have the band back at home and they're all waiting for me.

We've been given a booking agent for the next three months but I've also been approached by several booking agents now, people looking for shows so I've cemented a decent situation.

In terms of being an all rounder - I've tried to prove that through the show - I didn't want just be the rock guy that screams rock 'n roll all day - that's why I did a lot of genres to try to showcase different skills but the most important thing is to make my own music and go forward from there.

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T&T: Last year Lloyd and Elvis spoke about splitting the prize money - have you and Dave?
Mark: We spoke about this too but the thing is, we were asked this at the beginning, we were asked please not to do it because it would be in bad taste, just kind of tarnishng the memory of what Elvis and Lloyd did so we've been told there's some sort of surprise. I don't know what it is so I'm waiting to see what they've got 'cos that would be interesting to know.

T&T: Maybe they're gonna have a second prize for the first time?
Mark: You know, we've met Lloyd and Elvis - they've come to give us like discussions ...

T&T: Did they end up splitting the money?
Mark: They did split the money - they didn't split the other prizes as far as I know. Lloyd and Elvis both made up more than R500 000 in the next three months from shows, each. They're both registered millionaires.

For Dave's interview, check out: Catch-Up With Dave.



2 Comments

zam.ngcobo
04 Oct 2011 11:31

I cant wait fo tonight!

johan123
04 Oct 2011 11:37

hi mArk jong ek hou duim vas vir jou!!! stem vir MARK!!!! Rainbow Dragon: Arrived 27 minutes, 58 seconds ago Spotted by Lady after 27 minutes, 47 seconds 2 Diamonds earned!


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