Musician Gets Ahead Step By Step
By Rita Pliakov Staff Reporter

He visited six concentration camps, walked in silence on the March of the Living and then started Singing.

Mark Feldman, a Canadian musician and lead singer of the Mark Feldman Band (MFB), was this year’s musical director for the Toronto contingent of the March of the Living, which takes participants on a tour of concentration camps in Poland and then to Israel.  During the trip, Feldman played to a crown of 7,00 people. “It was the most moving musical experience of my life. Being on stage and…(having seen) the gates of Auschwitz, the whole thing was really the most surreal experience of my life,” he said.  “I really feel every Jew should visit Poland before Israel. It makes you appreciate Israel.” As musical director, he performed after each concentration camp tour and also went from bus to bus, singing some of his own songs.  Before the trip, Feldman was asked to learn 25 Hebrew songs- a difficult feat to do in three months. “I can read Hebrew, but I can’t understand it,” he said. “I didn’t know any Hebrew songs at all.”

Feldman, 30, has been playing music since he was 15. So far, he’s released two solo CD’s and will release a self-produced CD with MFB in June. As a singer-songwriter, his music is almost Bob Dylan-esque, though his latest CD is a bit more rock, with catchy lyrics and a bluesy quality. “There’s definitely an edgier sound on this new record. There’s a transition from soft pop to more rock,” Feldman said, explaining that rock songs work better live. “I’ve always found, playing live, it’s hard to be lax for two hours. I couldn’t exude the energy being directed at me.”  Feldman had been playing with his band when his second solo CD was released in 2008. “We just kept playing and getting tighter as a unit. We figured we’d do this one ourselves,” he said of the newest CD, called Who’s Got To Know?

Since finishing his CD, Feldman has gone back to his soft rock-pop style. “(I wanted) to write a song that everyone can sing along to, not scream along to,” Feldman said. Feldman first started writing songs in high school, while in a band. “When I got to university, I heard songs on the radio and said, ‘I can do this. Maybe I will.’” And he did, but it wasn’t easy. Since releasing his first CD in 2004, Feldman has learned to appreciate each accomplishment, no matter how small. “It’s the small stepping-stones, being written up the first time (in 2004), that was a big deal back then,” he said. And Feldman’s come a long way. So far, he’s a signed a two-song deal with Orange Lounge/InDiscover Recordings, and also signed deals with Experience Music Group and Triple Scoop Music. Recently his song, Cabin, off his second album, was in the TV show Ghost Whisperer.

Over the years, Feldman’s learned to understand the business aspect of the music industry. Unfortunately, you’re in a business where you’re trying to sell yourself. A part of me hates that, but you learn how do (do it),” he said. “I’ve always sold myself by being a genuine person. People gravitate towards honesty.” “When writing songs, Feldman’s usually thinking about both himself and his audience. “It’s 50/50. You find a concept that’s universal and you make it your own,” he said. “I saw an interview with Jeffrey Steele, a famous songwriter. He always said, ‘Just listen to what other people are saying. Look into someone’s eyes and say what they’re feeling.’ And I think that’s an incredible way to look at it. You can create from within, but to some extent, you’re finding the issues at the core of who others are.”

When creating a song, Feldman usually starts with a lyrical idea. “It’s humming around (singing) gibberish… and you formulate an idea based on phonetics,” he said. “I find the best song are the ones that just come out…when you write a song that you connect to, it gives you goosebumps. This happened during a rainy day n Jamaica, when Feldman wrote Blue Skies, a song about seeing the positive in a bad situation. It was especially popular during the March of the Living, after participants had toured death camps. “We’d be in Birkenau and everyone would be down, then someone would sing Blue Skies,” he said.

Apart from performing, Feldman also teaches. He runs a division of Stay at Home Music, a company that has some 40 to 50 teachers. “I hire teachers in addition to teaching 30 students myself,” Feldman said. While he enjoys teaching, the musician sees bigger things in his future. “I’m still nowhere near where I want to be,” he said. But he knows how to get there. “It’s just learning how to be professional and handling yourself in a professional manner. Some would say it’s unartistic, and maybe it is, but it’s such a dense industry,” he said. “Most (people) who make it are those who have an incredible work ethic.” For more information on Feldman and his band, visit www.mfband.com. To learn more about Stay at Home Music, visit www.stayathomemusic.ca