Money Mark was money before money was a popular expression. Moneys work as the keyboardist for the Beastie Boys has made him a highly regarded figure in the hip-hop world. Its always a shock when he puts out a solo album and it is so radically different from the live and album work he has done with the Beasties. That shock was even more apparent when his new album, Brand New By Tomorrow, was released through Jack Johnsons label Brushfire Records.
Buy Brand New By Tomorrow
Daniel Robert Epstein: What are you doing today?
Money Mark: Today I got to take the dog into the vet. He tried to escape. He crawled under the fence and hurt his ribs or something.
DRE: Well thats his own fault.
Mark: Yeah, I have a Jack Russell. He keeps me in shape though.
DRE: What was the inspiration for Brand New By Tomorrow?
Mark: I was going through a transition in my life. I wanted to be a little more vulnerable with myself and not be so self-conscious. Also I was working on songwriting, just sitting under a tree strumming my guitar rather than being in a studio and making my pieces.
DRE: Some people have said the albums a break-up record, is that true?
Mark: To a certain extent maybe it is, but I was just feeling the vibe of whats going on around me too. As we live here in the States or even in the world, shit just doesnt feel right. I guess I was sensing all of that too and it was working its way into personal relationships and business relationships and my health. My entire well being was being challenged.
DRE: The album is a lot more soulful than a lot of your work. Was that something youve been looking to do or was it just a result of everything that came around this record?
Mark: I would say I always had a soulfulness element, but I just decided that I was just going to put vocals on every song. I think it comes out more when vocals are there. This is really the first time where Ive made a record where every song has a vocal on it.
DRE: How do you like doing vocals?
Mark: Im still working on it. I like to sing but Im always learning about music and learning how to achieve a song.
DRE: Had you met [Beach Boys bassist] Carol Kaye before you decided to work together?
Mark: I met her at some sessions when I was playing keyboards doing some movie stuff or something.
DRE: What made you want to work with her?
Mark: I usually play all the instruments on my record. Then when I start getting toward the end of completing it, Ill decide to bring in a musician to help out. I thought the song combined with Carol Kaye would work.
DRE: How much of it do you complete before you ask someone else to work on it?
Mark: I usually do the whole thing. This record really was a demo record. Every song was a demo first that already had a limited release in Japan. It was a long term plan to do that and then I would go back and redo, rework and complete them.
DRE: I read that then track, Black Butterfly, was about a friend that wore a lot of black.
Mark: Yeah.
DRE: Where is that friend today?
Mark: Around.
DRE: With you?
Mark: I guess I run into them every once in awhile.
DRE: What struck you about the fact that he wore black in high school?
Mark: Hes younger than me and I guess I saw myself in the direction they were going in.
DRE: Was that the direction you wanted to go?
Mark: Yeah. I think I needed to experiment and feel out what the world was like and see how far I could go with it. There were even times when I thought I might just drop out.
DRE: Was the album a very cathartic experience?
Mark: I would have to say it was a good thing for me to do. Now its weird thing because Im already onto something else so Im talking about it with a little distance. But at the time I wouldve probably said it was one of the more difficult things Ive done. In the world, things seem to have gotten a little more hectic, harder to deal with but personally Im cool.
DRE: How did you and Jack Johnson hook up?
Mark: When I remet him he was actually looking for a person to play piano in his band for a short tour in Japan. So he called me and I said I would do it. We were sitting in a hotel room in Osaka, Japan somewhere and he was like, You said you were doing some new songs. I want to hear them. So I burned him a disc and I gave him the demo versions of the songs. He said, Hey. These are cool. Ive started a label and its a good platform for you.
DRE: Do you not want to work with a much bigger label?
Mark: I always just worked with independents and it was a mixture of the opportunities not being there. I was offered deals but not good ones. Now I get this record back even in a few years. Jack was like, Youre an artist. You should own your stuff. Thats rare and that would never really happen if I signed onto a major label.
DRE: How was it working with Mario Caldato, Jr. as producer?
Mark: Im better with the broader strokes and hes good with the little knobs and all those little detail things. I wanted to put the songs out in demo form but he listened to them and said, These songs deserve a recording. The only song that stayed the same was the title cut. So you can hear how the record may have sounded before.
DRE: Do you also produce?
Mark: Yeah, I do but I just dont have the patience. My mind doesnt want to sit still like that. Its nice when someone else can come in and do it.
DRE: Since the stuff that you do is so different than the stuff that you do with the Beastie Boys, is it a much different process?
Mark: In the end I guess I dont really see that much difference. From this side I dont feel much different.
DRE: Obviously the Beasties music has a much different energy.
Mark: Maybe theres an emotive element thats different. I like to do it all. When Im with them and were recording or jamming or performing, I feel like it is completely my gig so I can go a little nuts.
DRE: So when we see you spinning around at the show, thats you going nuts?
Mark: I go a little nuts. I just spill all my energy out when Im behind my keyboard.
DRE: The story of how you met the Beastie Boys was that you were fixing something in their house, but what does that mean exactly?
Mark: I was a set carpenter for awhile in Hollywood. After they moved to Los Angeles, I got called in to make some record shelves and some other cabinets or whatever. We just became friends. Thats really how it happened. There was a party one night and I got invited. We didnt really talk about music right off the bat. I didnt even know who they were at first. I figured that out after like three or four meetings.
DRE: Are you going to be opening for them again?
Mark: No, I dont think so. I couldnt figure out the Beastie Boys crowd. It was a mixture of these frat boys and girls.
DRE: You said youre already working on something new. Is that another album or are you working with somebody else?
Mark: I think Im working on another album. I dont have a major label breathing down my back so I get to work at my own pace. The new album definitely has a different energy. Its louder and noisier and faster and its not as clean. I have a habit of flipping the script. I dont know why. Thats just my nature. Im like a chicken with its head cut off.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Buy Brand New By Tomorrow
Daniel Robert Epstein: What are you doing today?
Money Mark: Today I got to take the dog into the vet. He tried to escape. He crawled under the fence and hurt his ribs or something.
DRE: Well thats his own fault.
Mark: Yeah, I have a Jack Russell. He keeps me in shape though.
DRE: What was the inspiration for Brand New By Tomorrow?
Mark: I was going through a transition in my life. I wanted to be a little more vulnerable with myself and not be so self-conscious. Also I was working on songwriting, just sitting under a tree strumming my guitar rather than being in a studio and making my pieces.
DRE: Some people have said the albums a break-up record, is that true?
Mark: To a certain extent maybe it is, but I was just feeling the vibe of whats going on around me too. As we live here in the States or even in the world, shit just doesnt feel right. I guess I was sensing all of that too and it was working its way into personal relationships and business relationships and my health. My entire well being was being challenged.
DRE: The album is a lot more soulful than a lot of your work. Was that something youve been looking to do or was it just a result of everything that came around this record?
Mark: I would say I always had a soulfulness element, but I just decided that I was just going to put vocals on every song. I think it comes out more when vocals are there. This is really the first time where Ive made a record where every song has a vocal on it.
DRE: How do you like doing vocals?
Mark: Im still working on it. I like to sing but Im always learning about music and learning how to achieve a song.
DRE: Had you met [Beach Boys bassist] Carol Kaye before you decided to work together?
Mark: I met her at some sessions when I was playing keyboards doing some movie stuff or something.
DRE: What made you want to work with her?
Mark: I usually play all the instruments on my record. Then when I start getting toward the end of completing it, Ill decide to bring in a musician to help out. I thought the song combined with Carol Kaye would work.
DRE: How much of it do you complete before you ask someone else to work on it?
Mark: I usually do the whole thing. This record really was a demo record. Every song was a demo first that already had a limited release in Japan. It was a long term plan to do that and then I would go back and redo, rework and complete them.
DRE: I read that then track, Black Butterfly, was about a friend that wore a lot of black.
Mark: Yeah.
DRE: Where is that friend today?
Mark: Around.
DRE: With you?
Mark: I guess I run into them every once in awhile.
DRE: What struck you about the fact that he wore black in high school?
Mark: Hes younger than me and I guess I saw myself in the direction they were going in.
DRE: Was that the direction you wanted to go?
Mark: Yeah. I think I needed to experiment and feel out what the world was like and see how far I could go with it. There were even times when I thought I might just drop out.
DRE: Was the album a very cathartic experience?
Mark: I would have to say it was a good thing for me to do. Now its weird thing because Im already onto something else so Im talking about it with a little distance. But at the time I wouldve probably said it was one of the more difficult things Ive done. In the world, things seem to have gotten a little more hectic, harder to deal with but personally Im cool.
DRE: How did you and Jack Johnson hook up?
Mark: When I remet him he was actually looking for a person to play piano in his band for a short tour in Japan. So he called me and I said I would do it. We were sitting in a hotel room in Osaka, Japan somewhere and he was like, You said you were doing some new songs. I want to hear them. So I burned him a disc and I gave him the demo versions of the songs. He said, Hey. These are cool. Ive started a label and its a good platform for you.
DRE: Do you not want to work with a much bigger label?
Mark: I always just worked with independents and it was a mixture of the opportunities not being there. I was offered deals but not good ones. Now I get this record back even in a few years. Jack was like, Youre an artist. You should own your stuff. Thats rare and that would never really happen if I signed onto a major label.
DRE: How was it working with Mario Caldato, Jr. as producer?
Mark: Im better with the broader strokes and hes good with the little knobs and all those little detail things. I wanted to put the songs out in demo form but he listened to them and said, These songs deserve a recording. The only song that stayed the same was the title cut. So you can hear how the record may have sounded before.
DRE: Do you also produce?
Mark: Yeah, I do but I just dont have the patience. My mind doesnt want to sit still like that. Its nice when someone else can come in and do it.
DRE: Since the stuff that you do is so different than the stuff that you do with the Beastie Boys, is it a much different process?
Mark: In the end I guess I dont really see that much difference. From this side I dont feel much different.
DRE: Obviously the Beasties music has a much different energy.
Mark: Maybe theres an emotive element thats different. I like to do it all. When Im with them and were recording or jamming or performing, I feel like it is completely my gig so I can go a little nuts.
DRE: So when we see you spinning around at the show, thats you going nuts?
Mark: I go a little nuts. I just spill all my energy out when Im behind my keyboard.
DRE: The story of how you met the Beastie Boys was that you were fixing something in their house, but what does that mean exactly?
Mark: I was a set carpenter for awhile in Hollywood. After they moved to Los Angeles, I got called in to make some record shelves and some other cabinets or whatever. We just became friends. Thats really how it happened. There was a party one night and I got invited. We didnt really talk about music right off the bat. I didnt even know who they were at first. I figured that out after like three or four meetings.
DRE: Are you going to be opening for them again?
Mark: No, I dont think so. I couldnt figure out the Beastie Boys crowd. It was a mixture of these frat boys and girls.
DRE: You said youre already working on something new. Is that another album or are you working with somebody else?
Mark: I think Im working on another album. I dont have a major label breathing down my back so I get to work at my own pace. The new album definitely has a different energy. Its louder and noisier and faster and its not as clean. I have a habit of flipping the script. I dont know why. Thats just my nature. Im like a chicken with its head cut off.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
He's done a lot of touring with the Beasties, but the Ill Communication tour with the Boys playin' their instruments 2/3 of the night along with Bobo, DJ Hurricane and Mark, that was an incredible show/tour. Good times.