Marker Starling
+ Finn Anderson + Ian Daniel Kehoe
The Hug & Pint presents Marker Starling and Ian Daniel Kehoe
*Marker Starling *After recording and performing for many years under the name of Mantler, Toronto’s Chris A. Cummings changed his band name to Marker Starling in 2012. A solo performer for much of his career, Cummings was frequently seen playing Melancholy Party Jams on a Wurltizer electric piano, with drum machine accompaniment.
Marker Starling’s new all-covers record I’M WILLING is being released by Tin Angel worldwide in December 2016. After a longtime association with Germany’s Tomlab label, who released the second, third and fourth Mantler records (SADISFACTION, LANDAU and MONODY) Cummings began working with Tin Angel in 2010, when they co-released MONODY and released fifth album ROSY MAZE to great acclaim in 2015. In 2016 ROSY MAZE was released in Japan by 7e.p. Records, who also brought Cummings to Japan for the first time.
Cummings has collaborated with the German band Von Spar, contributing vocals and lyrics to four songs on their album STREET LIFE. His song “Deep Background” was recorded by Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadier and will appear on her upcoming solo record FIND ME FINDING YOU.
Ian Daniel Kehoe It seems now that Ian Daniel Kehoe has been hiding in plain sight. A classic songwriter pulling from a seemingly endless supply of hooks, dancing through his debut video in silver face paint and an assortment of wide shouldered sports jackets, Kehoe appears somewhat like an apparition, an emissary from a better world. Secret Republic, Kehoe’s debut under his own name, is an entirely self assured first record, ten confident, immaculate pop songs, drenched in analog synth and punchily articulate in their pursuit of love, beauty and rhythm. Recorded and performed entirely by Kehoe himself, the record is a introduction to this world, one where melody reigns supreme, every love is a true love, and the singer searches endlessly for “prizes through the mazes of the jungles, prizes at the tips of the poles.”
While Secret Republic may be a debut, Kehoe has appeared on the musical scene in various guises. For the past few years, he has toured extensively as a drummer for Andy Shauf (Anti Records), The Weather Station (Paradise of Bachelors), and Julia Jacklin (Polyvinyl). Before that, he was bassist and songwriter in Attack in Black (Dine Alone Records), while releasing several records as Marine Dreams (You’ve Changed). But Secret Republic is something entirely new; the debut of Kehoe as a preternaturally confident front man and producer, with a tight grasp on every musical weapon at his disposal. Secret Republic is a record made in a home studio, a record where Kehoe played and recorded every note, and yet it doesn’t feel inward looking or introspective. Many of the songs are constructed as crowd pleasers, songs to be played from bleachers, soundtracks to first dances and first kisses, songs that could sit alongside ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ on a radio DJ playlist circa 1983. That isn’t to say though that the record feels universal or ordinary. While being eminently approachable, it would be impossible to see it as anything but the product of a very singular mind, one particularly attuned to beauty, and to the taut magic of a perfect riff.
Kehoe has always been a disciple of pop music, in the most traditional sense of the word. A lover of Nick Lowe and Harry Nilsson, Cindy Lauper and Michael Jackson, Kehoe adheres to the idea that music should be moved to, danced to, sung along to. To Kehoe, this is both the most serious thing in the world, and also not serious at all. And this is borne out on Secret Republic, a record which could soundtrack a love either deep or glancing, a record both heavy and feather light.
Line Up
After recording and performing for many years under the name of Mantler, Toronto’s Chris A. Cummings changed his band name to Marker Starling in 2012. A solo performer for much of his career, Cummings was frequently seen playing Melancholy Party Jams on a Wurltizer electric piano accompanied by a Rhythm Ace drum machine. More recently he has been supported by a band consisting of Jay Anderson (drums) and Matt McLaren (bass), both of whom play a prominent role in Marker Starling’s new album ROSY MAZE.
ROSY MAZE will be released by Tin Angel worldwide in April 2015. After a longtime association with Germany’s Tomlab label, who released the second, third and fourth Mantler records (SADISFACTION, LANDAU and MONODY) Cummings began working with Tin Angel in 2010, when they co-released MONODY in the UK and Ireland. Since then he has toured frequently to the UK, Ireland, France, Germany and Russia. In 2014 he collaborated with the German band Von Spar, contributing vocals and lyrics to four songs on their album Street Life.
Scottish songwriter and theatre maker Finn Anderson spent his early teens directing self-penned theatre productions at his local theatre; using the profits to build his first home recording studio age 14. He had released two EPs before leaving school age 16 to study Music at the University of Highlands and Islands.
A self taught pianist and accordionist, Finn's songwriting has been shaped by his knack for poetic storytelling and penchant for the theatrical; drawing comparisons with Rufus Wainwright, John Grant and Antony and the Johnsons.
Now 23, Finn has written and directed two award nominated musicals, composed for numerous performance and film projects and completed an MA at Goldsmiths (University of London). Finn is spending winter 2015/16 touring living rooms across the UK before releasing ‘Uncharted Lands’ on 12th Feb – a 4-track EP recorded on a rickety old piano in his childhood home in rural Fife over two stormy weeks in October.
