Chalk and Cheese

This post has been scheduled as I’m currently away until Tuesday.

Compared to his brother, Marcus was a dream child.  Quiet, biddable, musical, and eager to please, Marcus has gone through life so laid back that he’s almost comatose.  Indeed, several times he apparently fell asleep in business studies at school, and nobody ever woke him up!

Marcus was born in November 1985.  For the first 13 years of his life he was quite introverted and lived in the shadow of his louder older brother, but then, suddenly, he picked up my acoustic guitar which changed him overnight.

After I had taught him some chords, he asked if he could have guitar lessons.  Every Saturday we would take him to Bury St Edmunds for his lessons with his pride and joy – his new electric guitar.  He learned quite quickly to make the guitar cry and sing, mastering the instrument in no time at all.  The guitar often ended up in Marc’s bed all night, as he would fall asleep whilst practising riffs.  Before we knew it he had grown his hair long and was hanging out with several long-haired unwashed muso types who you wouldn’t want to meet on a dark night, and playing heavy rock / metal in several different bands. He became popular at school when he took the guitar in to play at lunchtimes, the highlight of his day.

Sam became an unofficial roadie – driving Marc about to gigs and helping to lug about the heavy amps and speaker cabinets.  I’d organise the gigs in my spare time, and Marc and the band quickly grew a little crowd of fans.  When the singer left and they needed a new one, I put an advert in the music shops in Bury and Ipswich.  Marc had a text from a girl who worked Saturdays in the Ipswich shop and wanted to know more about the singing job.  They arranged to meet in March 2002, and haven’t been apart since.  They married in 2010, and now have 2 boys of their own.  My daughter-in-law has since told me that her friends dared her to answer the advert. She never did sing with the band!

The highlight of Marc’s musical career was going on tour for a month with his band, supporting a well-known Canadian musician.  Sixteen guys lived in a tour bus and played UK and European gigs at medium-sized venues, but Marc realised that without a team of roadies (the roadies didn’t work for the support band), being an up-and-coming rock star wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.  Long hours spent hauling all the equipment about after gigs when he was tired was not doing it for him, although he did enjoy the tour.  He lost a lot of weight while he was away, but he had lived his dream and was glad to have had the opportunity.  He doesn’t regret a single day of it.  Below you can see Marc and his prized Mesa Boogie amp a few years ago before all his hair was cut off…

Everything seems to have been handed to Marc on a plate, whereas Leon has had to fight a bit harder.  Marc is 31 now, quiet but sociable, creative, and sometimes can appear rather other-wordly.  He is still laid-back.  He adores his sons, and gave up playing in the band to spend more time with them.  He has lived his dream, and is now living a different one – being a husband and father.

Love you Marc, but I do wish you hadn’t cut your hair! x