Mark Hart
Mark Hart was born in Fort Scott, Kansas, USA, on July 2, 1953. Mark has an older brother Jeff, who has a medical practice in Kansas City.
Music came to Mark at an early age. His parents used to sing to Mark and his brother at the breakfast
table. When Mark was about seven he started taking piano lessons, and a few years later he also learned to play the guitar. His
music teacher was five years older than Mark and also played in a band.
His teacher could play blues on the piano and taught Mark songs such as "Watermelon Man" by Herbie Hancock on piano, and
also taught Mark songs on guitar.
Mark started to study classical music and went to a musical college. After his college days, Mark became a full-time musician, working with a variety of people, from Sonny Bono's daughter to Danny Elfman. He also had a band of his own called Combination, which was managed by Gary Stamler (who
was also Crowded House's US manager for close to a decade). Combination had a record deal, but nothing happened and the group disbanded.
Mark also played with Samantha Phillips and toured and recorded as a session musician with
the band Supertramp. In 1989, he started working with Crowded House.
Crowded House had a keyboard situation occur when Mitchell Froom, their producer and session keyboardist on their
albums, didn't want to tour with the group. Initially, the group had hired former Split Enz keyboardist Eddie
Rayner to play with them, but due to fatherhood he declined to continue as touring keyboardist, so Crowded House needed someone to replace him. The band's manager, Gary Stamler, recommended Mark, knowing him from his time with Combination. In 1992, after several tours with Crowded House, Mark became a permanent member prior to the recording of "Together Alone".
As a member of Crowded House and Supertramp, Mark Hart has established himself as a gifted and compelling musician. For more than two decades he has contributed his talents to such critically acclaimed albums as Crowded House’s "Woodface," and "Together Alone,"
and Supertramp’s "Free as a Bird." and 1997 platinum "Some Things Never Change." He has
also played and recorded with such artists as Ringo Starr, Chrissie Hynde, Peter Case and Sam Phillips.
Aside from music, Mark is in fairly high demand as a composer and producer. His film credits include award-winning festival favorite
"The World’s Greatest Gunfighter", the wickedly-comedic "Life Among the
Cannibals" and his latest, soon-to-be-released "Mockingbird Don’t Sing." As a producer, Mark has collaborated with such artists as Tim Finn, Emma Paki, and most recently, Supertramp, co-producing the group’s upcoming release Slow Motion.
Currently, Mark Hart lives in Los Angeles with his wife and their two daughters.
Mark most recented added a solo release to his
repertoire, "Nada Sonata", released in April 2002.
Paul Newell Hester was born in Melbourne on January 8, 1959. His father, Mulga Mike Hester, was a legendary bushman and his mother, Ann, a jazz drummer.
Paul also has a sister named Carolyn.
From an early age, Paul was encouraged by his mother to learn to play the drums, and was soon displaying his talent. His schooldays were less
successful however. Paul had the dubious honor of being the first student in the history of education
in Victoria to have his teachers sign a petition asking him to leave.
Following his departure from school, Paul tried out various jobs before embarking on a musical career. In 1980 he was a founding member of a quartet called Cheks, a group which in 1982 evolved into another group, Deckchairs Overboard.
In late 1983, popular New Zealand group Split Enz needed a new drummer, so
through the advice of Rob Hirst from the group Midnight Oil, Paul was
able to audition. After having attended three rehearsals without knowing if he was in or not, Paul finally brought a tape recorder and got each member to say he had
the job. He didn't get to play long with them however, because in 1984 Split Enz decided to go separate ways.
Paul along with Neil Finn, the current singer, guitarist, and songwriter with
Split Enz, formed a new group called the Mullanes, which was later
changed to Crowded House. Paul remained a key member of the group
and played on all of the studio albums. Several years later Paul quit
Crowded House during an American tour in April 1994 and cited the pressures of touring and declining motivation for the group as his
reasons for resigning.
Since leaving Crowded House, Paul has been a guest host on various radio and TV shows in Australia, and has opened a tea house in Elwood Beach.
Musically, he has collaborated with Richard Pleasance, Deborah Conway from the group
Ultrasound, and Penny Flanagan, and is writing songs with old Deckchairs Overboard
band member John Clifforth.
Paul lives in Elwood, Melbourne with his girlfriend, photographer Mardi Sommerfeld,
their daughter Sunday, who was born July 29, 1994, and their two dogs, Stan and Rose.
Nicholas More Seymour was born in Benalla, Victoria, Australia, on December 9, 1958. His father was a headmaster and his mother was a school teacher. Nick has three siblings: Mark, who was the lead singer of the group Hunters & Collectors, Hilary, and Helen, a music teacher.
In their youth, the four siblings made performances together around Victoria, encouraged by their parents to develop their creativity. From an early age, Nick wanted to become an artist and after high school he enrolled at an Art School in Melbourne. He spent five years at the art school, developing his abilities as a painter. In his spare time, he taught himself to play
the bass guitar and began playing in local bands, such as Romantics and Glory Boys. He
also got to do work involving the settings for movies, like "The Leonski Incident".
In late 1984, he saw a TV interview with Neil Finn and Paul Hester of the popular New Zealand group Split Enz, who were doing a farewell tour after 12 years together. Finn and Hester spoke about their plans for a new band and that they were looking for a bassist. Nick
then went to the Split Enz farewell party and spoke to Neil Finn and offered his services as a bass player. After an audition with Finn and Hester, Nick became the
permanent bassist of Finn's new group, Crowded House.
In 1989, Nick married an American woman, Brenda Bentleigh, in New Orleans, but after four years together the couple decided to part ways in 1993.
Apart from his bass playing with Crowded House, Nick has also done the artwork for all
of the Crowded House albums, and has also been involved in the making of the group's promo videos and their stage costumes.
Mitchell Froom was the main producer for Crowded House during their first three studio albums, but was dropped before the band's forth studio release. He also helped many times as a session musician and played and wrote some songs, as well as toured a little with the group. He mainly contributed on keyboards and Hammond organ when playing.
As mentioned, Crowded House formed in 1985 when Neil Finn dissolved Split Enz. Instead of carrying through with the new wave direction of latter-day Split Enz, Neil moved in favor of a stripped down, back-to-basics combo featuring ex-Enz drummer Paul Hester, bassist Nick Seymour and, guitarist Craig Hooper.
Initially, the group dubbed themselves after Finn's middle name, touring Australia and recording demos under the name the Mullanes.
Hooper was dropped shortly after this formative period, and in June of 1985, the group headed to Los Angeles to shop for a record label, eventually signing with Capitol Records. Capitol requested that the band change their name and the group settled on Crowded House, a reflection of their living conditions in L.A. They began work on their
debut album, enlisting the help of then-unknown producer, Mitchell Froom.
A partnership between the band and the producer formed, which made Froom nearly a fourth member. The partnership benefited both the band and the producer
- the band was helped by Froom's direct approach and more "American" sound as well as his input as a musician, and Froom was able to build a career as a high-profile producer.
Froom has done a lot musically and in producing apart from his work with
Crowded House. His discography is both vast and varied, having produced over 75 albums since 1985,
including artists Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello, Los Lobos, the Corrs, and
of course Crowded House. He also has received nominations for 2 Grammy's, an Emmy, and a Golden Globe.
The most notable addition to Froom's resume as a producer is the release of
his own album, called Dopamine. Froom's sound is instantly recognizable, if difficult to pin down in words. This "solo" effort features collaborations with a
star list of Froom collaborators past and present. Produced by Tchad Blake (who costarred with Froom and a couple of Los Lobos in the Latin Playboys), Dopamine also showcases the talents of Soul Coughing's M. Doughty, Lisa Germano, Suzanne Vega (Froom's wife), Mark Eitzel, Sheryl Crow, the Attractions' Bruce and Pete Thomas, and several more.
The result is an interesting blend of Froom's production skills and the styles of each conspirator.
While the album could probably pass as a collection of highlights from Froom projects, there is a melodic continuity underneath the songs that binds everything together
tightly.
*Note: This info was originally written by Stefan Warnqvist.