biography: mark stephenson

lead guitar & backing vocals

born: 28th january 1972

occupation: graphic designer

www.myspace.com/markstephensonrocks

in his own words

i was fifteen, sitting in bed listening to the radio when whitesnake’s “still of the night” came on. i was blown away - those big guitars and that violin section!

then, a few weeks later, i was looking through a local record shop and an album cover caught my eye - some berk with his face painted up like a witch doctor and feathers in his hair...... “that looks cool” i thought..... and bought it! i’d never heard of the artist before, and certainly not the guitarist. the album was david lee roth’s “eat ‘em and smile”, the guitarist was steve vai. my jaw hit the floor as “yankee rose” started playing. i already played guitar, classical, but now i’d found something better i wanted to do with those 6 strings . . . rock!

sacred heart has been important for me, paul’s songwriting just gets better and better, and his ideas gave me the opportunity to play how i want to. we have many different influences between us and it shows in our songs, but the sound is still ‘us’!

we’ve been playing together for years now, but we’ve only recently (with “lay it on the line”) thought, let’s get these songs out there for people to hear. our new album “shake” is something i’m very proud of, it’s come together so well, and the results amaze me!

equipment/stuff

ibanez jem10

ibanez sz320

ibanez rg750

yamaha apx-7 electro acoustic

marshall avt150 head & cabs

custom built midi controller

shure wireless system

morley wah

digitech whammy

korg d-10 tuner

boss & zoom rack fx

trojan progear pedalboard

previous bands: theory-x-, fire coma

heroes (musical): steve vai, joe satriani, devin townsend, paul gilbert

heroes (non-musical): papa john

favourites

bands: whitesnake, little angels, paul gilbert, steve vai, devin townsend, pink floyd & alter bridge

albums: whitesnake “1987”

steve vai “sex and religion”

little angels “don’t prey for me”

concerts(s): steve vai (1994) in london, uk

whitesnake (2004) in portsmouth, uk

food: italian (well....pizza!)

drink: black coffee

alcohol: lager

places: home, music shops

tv: heroes, qi, family guy

movies: lord of the rings trilogy

song (lay it on the line): “hand in hand”

song (shake): “tonight”

*File sharing & illegal copying

SACRED HEART are 100% independent/self-financed and although all promotion (including word of mouth) is very much appreciated PLEASE be considerate with the music you possess, as behind every release - whether it be through a label or privately - there are artists whose creativity & hard work deserve return as well as recognition. THANK YOU (P. Stead)