bio
Mark Edward Smith was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1960.
The Motown music scene was alive and well. As were Marvin Gaye, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and John F Kennedy. Detroit in the ’60s & ’70s was the hotbed of cross-cultural music in the USA.
As a child Mark spent his weekends in a garage listening to his uncles Accapella group. Thus singing and harmonizing were the foundation of what led Mark to Switzerland. Keeping him performing 45yrs after first stepping onstage as a child.
Fast forward to San Francisco in the decadent ’80s.
Mark chased his dream in the SF bay area. With artists likes Toto, Journey, Huey Lewis, and Mr. Big.
Following their example, he fought his way to the vocal teacher responsible for helping singers like Frank Sinatra and Barbara Streisand. As well as 80’s superstars Prince, Tina Turner, Steve Perry of Journey & Eric Martin of Mr Big. The legendary vocal coach Judy Davis. (Note: Eric Martin is responsible for first bringing Mark to Switzerland in 1994)
With this training, Mark achieved great reviews and a 5yr indie record deal in the bay area. As a result in 1994 the offer came to travel to Switzerland. There he would train newcomer swiss talent with American style English. Working for Warnermusic Schweiz.
Arriving in Switzerland
Mark performed in various seasonal bands. He toured the ski areas and valleys of Schweiz while giving private lessons. In 1997 he joined the house band for Sandra Studers live music tv show Takito. He enjoyed performing with a range of international talent. Names like NSYNC, David Hasselhof, Dieter Thomas Kuhn, and Gotthard. That visibility led to work in PowerPlay recording studios. There he coached vocals for BMG Schweiz artists, Core22, and Roger Vivian.
In 2000 he began working at Warnermusic, and began what would become his 2nd life. This led to meeting Dada Ante Portas at Musikproductiv 2000 talent show. Soon after, Mark took on the producer/manager/booker/video director roles for the band.
Together with A&R Andreas Renggli, they began lifting local newcomer swiss artists to an international standard. They toured in Germany, Italia, and the UK supporting international acts. All while filming videos and mastering productions at Sterling Sound New York, Bernie Grundman in LA, and The Plant Studios SF.
During his 5 years with Warner Mark worked with a variety of swiss talent. Well known names like Lovebugs, Andreas Vollenweider, Lunik, Krokus, Vivian, Dodo. He also worked for Phil Collins Little Dreams Foundation as an exclusive vocal coach.
After leaving Warnermusic in 2005
Mark remained busy with a variety of independent productions and projects. These included part-time musical director for Roman Meyers Pianobeat event act. In addition to the Swiss Rock & Blues Cruize 2011 & 2013 with DadaAntePortas. He also joined the Pee Wirz Solo tour in 2012, Happy Mondays, H2U, and Spacetrain for studio work.
In 2010 he was offered and accepted a permanent position in the event band Pianobeat as a singer and musical director.
This brings us to today in 2022 where Mark & Pianobeat continue to prosper.