Born and raised in Chelmsford, Essex, his influences are broad, yet tied together by a strong desire to share his story and spark emotion in the listener.
From his early forays into music, playing piano, to his recent incarnation as Model Man, Mark has always drawn on his eclectic tastes to transmit a range of different feelings.
In his native Chelmsford, Model Man grew up in a Mormon family with a strict religious framework. He learned classical piano from his piano-teacher Mother. By his twenties he’d become enchanted by the allure of rave culture, the antithesis of his early years as a ‘hardcore Christian’. Initially he rejected his rigid upbringing, but, through working on his debut LP, he eventually realised that it would be impossible to completely deny his background while trying to present a realistic portrayal of himself, as a whole. So he began to merge the two parts of himself into one cohesive mesh of traditional, classical tones and melodies spliced with the carnal, visceral energy of rave.
Model Man's live show sees Brandon take to the stage solo, and build his high-energy sets with live loops, sample triggering and audio manipulation, all-the-while playing his trademark piano parts live. Heading to the U.S. and Mexico for the first time in November 2022 to play a string of shows/festivals, Model Man has announced a London headline show for the same month at Colour Factory, following a number of sold out shows across the City already.
In 2022 the definition of a “model man” continues to shift and evolve. For Mark and his self-defining project, it’s about authenticity; embracing yourself as a whole, not being afraid to be whoever you are, free from the limiting expectations placed on men by society, religion, cultural ideals and other oppressive aspects of our world. With Model Man’s music we get the proud, unfiltered distillation of Mark Brandon; pure, emotive and vulnerable. The blueprint for all Model Men…
