MARK & THE CLOUDS
Mark & The Clouds, Maryon Park, London, October 2020. from left: John O'Sullivan,Marco Magnani & Shin Okajima.
© Photo by Rachel Kashi
Mark & the Clouds is a London-based band fronted by singer/guitarist/songwriter Marco Magnani (formerly in Instant Flight + The Crazy World of Arthur Brown + Smokers + Avvoltoi ) whose idea to gather various friends to record new tunes led to the release of the first album "Blue Skies Opening" (CD,Vinyl & Digital) by Mega Dodo Records on 30th June 2014. The list of names on the record includes: Ian Button on drums (Ex Death In Vegas, now Papernut Cambridge), John O’Sullivan on Bass/Guitar/backing vocals (also in Instant Flight + The Snakes + Limozine), Shin Okajima on drums (he formed The Smokers with Marco in 1994), Fabio Mongelli on backing vocals (singer/guitarist in The Lysergics), Tiberio Ventura on drums (previously with Marco in Italian cult band Avvoltoi) , Fabio Serrone on guitar & bass (guitarist in Mixed Company and JJ King & The Coolers), Javier H.Ayensa on guitar (his first album as J.H.A. Band, had Marco on bass), Ray Fontana on keyboards, Michele Rossiello on bass(Atomic Workers + That's All Folks), Joe Hammond on trombone & Tom Hammond on trumpet. Drummer James Ovens, previously with Marco in Instant Flight, performed with Mark & The Clouds at the Alleycat Club on two occasions. Their second album "Cumulus" released in 2017 by Mega Dodo on CD & Vinyl, had a different line-up: Marco Magnani(vocals & guitars), John O'Sullivan(bass & backing vocals), Shin Okajima(drums), Javier H. Ayensa(rhythm guitars) and the occasional help of Lucie Rejchrtova' on keyboards, Joe Hammond on trombone & Tom Hammond on trumpet. Keyboardist Charles Bennett joined them for their "Live at the Half Moon, Putney"(2015), released by Mega Dodo Records as a limited double CD of "Cumulus" as CD2. Several good reviews have been written on their albums, including Shindig Magazine, Terrascope, Bliss/Aquamarine, Strange Brew, Heyday Records, Expose' Online, Aural Innovations, Code 7 Records Distribution, Record Collector magazine (U.K.), Wild Thing (Greece), Clearspot Distribution, Carry Munter's New Underground Music (Holland), Blow Up Magazine, Rumore(Italy) and many others. They had a lot of Radio play, including BBC, the Smart Set by DJ Marrs Bonefire,"Ice Cream Man Power Pop & more" by DJ Wayne Lundqvist Ford(Sweden), Radio Scotland by DJ Mark Waters, Monies New Indie Radio(USA), Lenn Johnston Parallel Universe(USA), Radio Citta' Fujiko & Radio Citta' del Capo(Bologna) and many others.
They played several gigs in London(What's Cooking, Betsey Trotwood, Dublin Castle, Country Soul Sessions, Camden Proud Gallery, David Bash "I.P.O" London, Alleycat Club), Billion Dollar Fest(Barcelona), Cortile Cafe'(Bologna), Sidro Club(Cesena) and more venues. They had a regular monthly "Unplugged" performance at the Aces & Eights, London, between 2017 & 2019.
Mark & The Clouds third album "Waves" has been released by Gare Du Nord Records(U.K.) on 14th May 2021 (CD & Digital). A single on 7inch vinyl is due to come out in July 2021 with Hypnotic Bridge Records(U.S.A.).
The new album "Machines Can't Hear You" will officially be released in March 2024 by Gare Du Nord Records on CD and all main Digital platforms. The album includes special guests which already appeared on previous album: Tom Hammond (trumpet), Joseph Hammond(trombone), Rachel Kashi (Keyboards), Tiberio Ventura (drums), Lucie Rejchrtova'(Keyboards) & Javier Ayensa (acoustic guitar).