By Nicholas Jason Lopez
After he previously worked as a writer and producer with artists like Lauren Alex Hooper, Matt Marcii and TikTok star Sophie Frear, Yorkshire-based indie-pop artist Richard Marc recently dropped the music video for his own debut single, ‘Put It In A Postcard.’
The synth-happy, guitar-driven song revolves around the sorrowful heartbreak that occurs with the bad ending of a what was otherwise a great relationship. His inspiration for it came as a way to say what he wanted to say to this person, something that anyone can relate to, whether it be a relationship or a good friendship.
Influenced by other pop artists like Lauv, Taylor Swift and Nick Wilson, who’ve all taken their own style and added a modern twist to it, he feels nowadays is the perfect time to let his light shine. Fans can expect to hear more from his upcoming project ‘Mixtape Vol. 1’ in the near future.
The Music Bugle had the chance to speak with Marc about “Put It In A Postcard’ and more.
Music Bugle – What was it like making your new single “Put It In A Postcard”?
Richard Marc – Mostly, it was fairly relaxed. I wasn’t writing for any particular project at the start, which sort of took the pressure off. I was just writing for the sake of writing. I started to feel the pressure later on, when I decided that this is something that I wanted to release with my own project, but I loved making it. I always love making music. For me, there’s nothing better than the feeling of coming out of a writing session with a great song and thinking, “Wow, we made this thing that didn’t even exist a few hours ago.”
Music Bugle – How have you been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic?
Richard Marc – That’s a strange one. Part of me feels like I haven’t really done much different! I sat in a room, making music in front of a computer before and I still do that now! To be honest, I feel like I’ve had a pretty good lockdown, which is more than a lot of people can say. I get on well with my flatmates, so that helps and I’ve just tried to keep doing the things I normally do, but online instead – writing, production sessions, just calling people for a chat and a hang out. I’m in the middle of a Masters Degree too and that all moved online with the teaching and all that. I’ve had so much more time on my hands, more than I can ever remember, which is nice. I also started a relationship just before the country went into lockdown, so we had time to take things easy and get to know each other without the pressure of work and jobs and all the other stuff that goes along with normal life.
Music Bugle – What would you say is the biggest challenge in being an independent artist right now?
Richard Marc – It’s been talked to death about how little streaming services pay, so I’m not going to talk about that! However, breaking through to actually get heard against the masses of music that’s available to people now is just so difficult. How do you convince them to listen to your song, rather than to the other 60,000 new tracks that were added to Spotify that day? With there being no gigs for the last year, that source of income has dried up for everyone, so we’re all basically relying on streaming income.
Music Bugle – What excites you the most about your style of music?
Richard Marc – It sounds kind of obvious, but I make the music that I like to listen to. It’s quite often guitar-heavy and has its basis just in a good song.
Music Bugle – Does social media help or hurt musicians?
Richard Marc – I think social media is a great tool for artists to promote their music, as long as you know how to exploit each platform to its strengths. You can’t just post the same thing on all your platforms and expect it to work. You need different content for Instagram than TikTok, which is different to how you might post on Twitter, but I find myself exhausted by it sometimes and I don’t always know what to post, especially in the last year, when I haven’t been doing much different or exciting from day to day.
Music Bugle – Where do you go when you need an escape?
Richard Marc – My bedroom/studio, with the biggest mug of tea I can get my hands on. I’ll either settle down with a good book or stick something like “Friends” on and mindlessly doodle with my guitar while I’m watching. I do this so often, I’ve actually started learning the musical interludes that they play in between scene changes!
Music Bugle – If you had to pick your own theme song, what would it be?
Richard Marc – One of my all-time favorite songs is The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside.” It never fails to get me pumped up. I love it. Another song with a similar effect and similar genre wise is “Shut Up And Dance” by Walk The Moon. It would probably be one of those two.
Music Bugle – What was the moment you knew you wanted to be a musician?
Richard Marc – I’m not really sure I can pinpoint an exact moment. I grew up with a musical family, so I’ve always been surrounded by it. I’ve wanted to be a musician for as long as I can remember, except for a time when I was a small child and I wanted to be a train driver.
Music Bugle – What’s something that you wish happened more in today’s music industry?
Richard Marc – I wish people were more willing to share knowledge. A lot of the time, it’s such a closed circle and nobody wants to give you any information as to how you can actually move forward with your career. A lot of it just feels like shooting arrows in the dark.
Music Bugle – What’s a quote that motivates you to keep doing what you do?
Richard Marc – I read this years ago and it was in reference to writing books instead of writing songs, but I think the principle is the same. I have no idea who originally said it, or where it came from, though. “Every first draft is perfect, because all a first draft has to do is exist.” It’s something that helps me a lot when I’m struggling to write. Honestly, though, I couldn’t stop making music if I tried.
