MARK MCKOWEN

(The Alchemist)

DRUMS, ORCHESTRATION

Mark came from a very musical family and was exposed to symphonic music from a very young age. Being exposed to Bach's organ works on the local Sunday night radio program from Purdue University (in West Lafayette, IN), as well as the classics of Grieg, Beethoven, Handel, Wagner, Bartok, and countless others, Mark had plenty of musical listening experience prior to beginning an actual instrument at age 11 as part of the youth band program.

By high school, Mark had become a proficient concert percussionist, but began diving deeper into mallet percussion, rudimental snare, and drumkit (playing in all of the band options offered: marching band, pep band, jazz band, concert band, music theory, and so forth).

Wishing to remain in a music-related field, Mark continued his music studies in undergrad with a double major in Music Engineering and Electrical Physics, which also included minor lessons in piano. The objective was to design the next generation of instruments, but the result was a love of writing for orchestra.

While in school, Mark toured with some phenomenal regional/national bands such as Ladymoon and Austin Bridges (the latter he still plays reunion shows with). Wanting to use his training to glorify God, Mark began writing music that he would later potentially use with a faith-based band. The opportunity arose with an ad on Craigslist from Woody in 2015...and the rest, as they say, is history.

Mark wishes to thank these companies for their fine products:

Saluda Cymbals
Scorpion Percussion
Mapex Drums
Gibraltar hardware
Yamaha Keyboards