Mark Drilling - Songwriter

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MySpace LayoutsFor Australian songwriter Mark Drilling, discovering country music was a true awakening.Mark had always been a musician - right from when he started banging on his mother's pot and pans as a toddler - and he trudged a long road honing his professional skills in a series of bands ranging from pop to heavy metal before he discovered country."I think country music kind of caught me by surprise," he recalls. "I used to be pretty much into the excitement and party atmosphere but the thing that caught me with country was the story in the lyrics."I suppose with age comes a certain amount of maturity and for me that means looking to write songs that tell a story about life, but packaged in a catchy tune … something that's memorable."A graduate of the 2000 College of Country Music in Tamworth, Mark's talents are diverse, with his obvious skill as a song writer backed up by a solid grounding as a producer, drummer, keyboardist, guitarist, music director and arranger.It was this talent that led to him signing a music publishing deal with ABC Music Publishing in August 2003 and subsequent relocation from his hometown of Adelaide to the Central Coast of NSW.He has gone on to have written songs with and for artists such as Gina Jeffreys, Beccy Cole, Grant Richardson, Alison Hams and Jessie Ché.Laid back and unassuming, Mark is philosophical about his abilities."I try to write strong songs," he says. "And I guess that's the feedback I get from artists that pleases me most."Mark is a prolific producer of quality material and he places enormous importance on telling a good story well. . "I'm a story teller, so I write about all kinds of things … it's not all just about love. There's a lot of life stories out there, and there are issues that need to be put out there in the public eye. I guess a songwriter’s dream is to write songs that have a positive effect somewhere in someone’s life... ”Mark believes many country singers feel pushed into writing their own material just to fit into the singer/songwriter trend - even when they feel uncomfortable with it."There's probably a lot of good singers around who miss their chance because they don't have strong material and it's a shame to see their talent wasted," he says."Everyone has skills and talents but just because you're a good singer, it doesn't mean you're a good song writer. It makes sense for good singers to team up with strong writers and work towards a common goal."To that end, Mark spends time with singers to develop songs that are suited to their own style and passion."I can see a lot of potential for singers to be directly involved with songwriters to make sure there's a real understanding of what 's required," he says."If you don't feel 100 per cent comfortable with what you're singing, then your performance won't be honest … and audiences can sense that straight away."For Mark, that honesty is all-important. It's what driven him to this stage of his career and what will keep him going for a long, long time to come.