Q: Hey, can you tell us a bit about where you come from, and what made you want to start a career in music?
A: I come from Australia spending most of my time between Adelaide and Darwin in my younger years and started playing side drums in a pipe band at a very young age and it grew from there , my dad was also a radio Dj at a community radio station in Dawin and would assist with helping him pick out records for his radio show so there was a lot of music around me all the time inspiring me to take up music.
Q: And what other artists have you found yourself listening to lately?
A: I have found myself listening to a lot of Keith Urban , Pink , Tom Grennan , Tom Gregory and a big fan of George Ezra.
Q: Who were your first and strongest musical influences, and why the name ‘Mr Meo’?
A: There were so many influences taking me back to the days I call the radio station days but the strongest influences were Roy Obinson , Elvis , Creedence , Fleetwood Mac , Phil Collins , Jimmy Barnes , INXS , Cat Stevens and I would be playing and singing along on the drums to a lot of them. There were just so many because I absorbed everything I could get my hands on. Also I would spend a whole paycheck working in a record store buying as much Vinyl as I could.
Mr Meo ? I was using the name Markus Meo for quite a while but found when people asked me where I could find my music there was always this awkward response from people to the name , plus most people spell Markus with C and not a K , I also felt it was a bit long. My wife had always called me Mr Meo and I always thought that it had a kind of ring to it, kind of catchy lol !!
The Meo Name I actually adopted from my grandfather who fought in world war 2 so I wanted a name that still had meaning and was part of the family heritage.
Q: You have just released your new single, ‘HUMAN’. Is there a story behind it?
A: Human is a song that came about when we were all going through the lock downs which was tough for so many people that could not see or spend time with loved ones. I was about to get married to my beautiful wife at the time and the wedding had been postponed once already because of the restrictions. When the wedding finally did go through I still could not have other family members because of the restrictions so that was hard and felt very emotional. The song Human is about our inner emotions and how we truly connect with others , it’s that basic instinct and desire for touch and human interaction spending time with friends and loved ones.
Q: Can we expect a new EP or even an album from you in the near future?
A: Yes I have been working on a album of songs for the last two years so I’m hoping to release an Album next year in 2023.
Q: What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
A: The Key elements in my music I hope people will resonate with are the lyrics , messages of Love , peace hope , Unity and connection as more than ever we need more love , peace and freedom in the world right now , freedom to be ourselves. Music is the Universal language and expression of all those important things.
Because of so many influences over the years I would best describe my sound as Indie Crossover which I think covers everything whether it’s Pop , Country , Rock , Blues or Easy listening. Being independent I have never liked putting music in a box because when you listen to music that’s the last thing you think of , it’s the song , the melody , the beat and the connection , not that it sounds country or it sounds rock and so on lol. Unfortunately that’s just the way commercialism of the music industry has made it so.
Q: Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more?
A: I guess my music does give me back a lot of fulfillment, especially now that as an indie artist you can create something interesting in a home studio and be able to share it with so many more people with how everything has changed with social media. There is quite a lot of work from the idea to the production to the marketing of any song and it would be nice to have my music heard from as many people as possible.
Q: Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song?
A: All songs a different sometimes it will start with picking up and strumming the guitar with a few chords and tuning into the what I call the invisible universe and sing out some random lyrics , then it might be ok now I need a song title , what ‘s the meaning of the song and build from there .Once I have the lyrics , the title and the meaning I’ll take it to the production stage trying to give it a sound of it’s own with beats , melodies and so on. It’s also this stage where I find myself changing the shape of the song to make it sound unified as a whole.
Q: What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
A: The most difficult thing over the last few years I would say has been learning all about production of music at home and learning all about the different software you need to understand which has been very time consuming and frustrating at times. The easy part though has been my natural ear for producing music , I can already hear it in my head how I want the song to flow.
Q: On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
A: It has been an amazing journey to be able to create and produce music at home and having my songs played on the radio , that to me has been the most significant so far.
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