Markus Zosel
Known as a folk / singer-songwriter artist with an enigmatic side, Markus Zosel's new single ‘Flow Ye Waters’ has exploded on radio and put this folk / singer-songwriter artist on the world map.
BLAKE: As an artist on the rise, what is one thing you are most excited about and one thing you are most afraid of happening in your career?
MARKUS ZOSEL: I am gladly looking forward. That is the main thing I have in mind. I am so excited about being heard now by so many people on radio stations around the globe- so grateful for that very special experience in my life. I am looking forward to people I am going to meet, to have the chance singing to them. I thank the LORD for being able to share that with all the people I don’t know yet – but, maybe soon will get to know.
There’s not much I am really afraid of. I trust in what is about to come. As it always has been. It is good that way. So you see, it is not fear – it’s more being grateful about the light that shines on my musical work now. Let’s enjoy that together…!
BLAKE: Your song ’Flow Ye Waters’ is receiving a positive listener response on radio. What was your initial reaction when you first heard your song playing on radio?
MARKUS ZOSEL: It took my breath away – no, it really blew me away. Playing live-shows has always been an essential thing to me but hearing my song on the radio, played by a radio station half a world away, is such an enormous joy and wonder I am not really able to put into words in a satisfying way.
Most of all I am grateful of 26 years of practicing on stage and doing my recording. To be able to be heard by listeners all around the world is a great thing to know now.
BLAKE: What was the inspiration behind your debut radio single?
MARKUS ZOSEL: The feeling of being grateful of all the occurring changes that man is not able to stop. There is grace deep within when looking at all these changes around you. The changing of the seasons. The changing of things around you without even getting the chance to influence anything at all. The way you change year after year – and, hopefully, becoming wiser with every change that has taken place.
I wrote at the very beginning of the first verse of the song: “Life is like a circle, going ‘round and ‘round”. That sounds quite absurd to what I said before. But there are moments in life, when you go back to certain stages and places – but different in your own attitude, because you’ve changed. ”Your mind is like a mirror with reflections you can’t see….”, that’s the beginning of the third verse and there is so much truth just in this one sentence. That is, because so many of these changes remain unspoken und not noticed, even by yourself, as they take place in your mind every single day.
The fourth verse begins with my personal credo, as I might put it here: “For love is still the reason and love is still the way…” This is what I think to be the most important thing to realize and to notice. Love in all it’s different shades and shapes that does exist in every man on this very unique and wonderful planet we call our dearest home. Changing as a person or an individual is a way to explore all the different ways in which love does appear right in front of your eyes. And it is the key to each other’s hearts to be able to communicate and to understand.
BLAKE: It is often said that great art arises from difficult experience. Is there something in your life experience thus far that you would describe as the ‘catalyst’ or ‘fuel’ for your desire to create music?
MARKUS ZOSEL: To me it has always been nature - in all its different pictures or moments. You know, life will always have the two opposite sides to everything: there will always be sad and tragic moments the same as moments of joy and happiness. But despite all the difficult experience we all may have to live through at some points in our lives, there’s always that light that shines and warms up each aspect of our days. There’s so much positive wonder and so much bright things shining even on a rainy day.
And there is gratefulness of being right within all this wonder: that’s exactly where my music comes from. I am thankful for all the things I went through. And there will always be things you have to face – but it’s a gift to go along and to share. It is good to "be“ and to look at it honestly and true to yourself.
BLAKE: How would you characterize yourself as an artist/musician? (Ex. Down-to-earth, serious, fun-loving, complicated…)
MARKUS ZOSEL: Most of all I am interested in all the things happening around me. Being serious and fun- loving seems to be a contradiction when looking at it at the same time – but it isn’t!
In private moments, all by myself, I can be very serious and down-to-earth. That’s when I am all by myself and in a state of mind that allows me to write or work on new material. On the other side, there are a couple of songs that came just out of moments of pure happiness and joy. It’s shadows and light – and it needs to be, to work on a certain level.
 |
 |
BLAKE: What has your experience been like working with the other people on your team?
MARKUS ZOSEL: Most of the stuff I do, I try to do on my own. When starting my way into music business, there was a lot of disappointment going on. It’s always hard to find people who are able to do a good job.
But it’s funny, because the more I did for myself to gain a certain level of musical quality and of performing, the more I met people worth working with. And that really is a wonderful experience. Working with the AKADEMIA in Los Angeles (USA) is such a blessing. It’s professional – and that way it is good. It opens up a space form me and the band to expand and spread our music on a much higher level worldwide. And I want to thank these lovely people for that.
BLAKE: Did you come from a musical background? Are there other musicians in your family?
MARKUS ZOSEL: I was born, raised and educated in Germany, in Nordhessen. This is a very beautiful place to be. We have these soft green hills and mountains you may know from pictures of the Smoky Mountains in the United States. But the families of my mother and my father came from the alpine parts and regions of Austria and Hungary. There has always been a deep connection between my person and any kind of alpine landscape. I love the mountains and the people who dwell in these areas. And there surely are a lot of musical roots to find there. My mother, she has a beautiful voice. I’ve always loved to hear her sing and she sometimes still does. But she has never had the courage and the power to stand up in front of people listening to her. She never wanted to. But any time her voice is to be heard, it is a blessing and a moment of joy. My father loves the fun coming along with a good-humored song or a strong and beautiful melody that might take him away somewhere. He’s a final test for the quality of every song which sprang out of my mind. It’s the way he looks at it when listening that tells you: this one’s right or not. That’s a great gift, too.
My brother used to play the 12string guitar. But he isn’t playing too much now. He is responsible for my dedication to that instrument, because I‘ve loved the 12string guitar since the day I first touched it in his room at our house way back then. And I have always played that instrument for 25 years on live gigs, anywhere I went.
My sister isn’t very much into music. But she always likes listening to it. The other relatives of mine aren’t involved in musical actions. Just as my sister – they like listening to it.
BLAKE: What do you find most rewarding about being an artist? What do you find most challenging?
MARKUS ZOSEL: To have the chance to communicate with people you wouldn’t have met otherwise. To make them share my thoughts and feeling by singing to them – things I couldn’t only say by talking. I need to have the music all along with the lyrics. And while being right in a performance there are, sometimes, moments of magic and words seem not to be able to explain such phenomena - they really aren’t! These are moments when people are really listening to you – these are the most precious moments.
It’s a blessing to embrace people emotionally this way in such moments – and being embraced by them the same way. It’s a gift when they appreciate the work you do and when they say: „I like it!“. I’m always very grateful when the audience seems to be affected or touched by the things I do. I really am and I thank the LORD for having the chance to do so.
I love to talk to people – but I, much more, love to sing to them. And that is the reason that has always kept me going on this way and following my own path musically.
BLAKE: Who are your role models in music?
MARKUS ZOSEL: First of all I should mention the name of former Cat Stevens. He framed my teenage years with the way he sang his guitar based songs and the wonderful melodies he added.
The second and important one is Gordon Lightfoot, a Canadian singer- songwriter. He t
BLAKE: Describe your best or most memorable performance.
MARKUS ZOSEL: There are two things I remember. First: some years ago I play a tiny gig in a beautiful coffee house with a good humored crowed listening to me. I told my stories to them and I let them share all the songs I brought along. And somehow everything seemed fine – everyone in the audience seemed satisfied and pleased the way I did it.
Totally satisfied I ended up that night with a handful of encores. After all the people had gone and I returned to my stool I found a note a woman had left. It said: „You’re a gift. Thank you for being with us tonight….“ It almost made me cry, because that was the thing I should have told to my audience – and they had just felt the same way I did. Wonderful moment…
Second: in 2002 me and the guys from the band went to Nashville/Tennessee (USA) and got, the first night we arrived, the chance to play at „Tootsies“ on Broadway. We played and the crowd went wild that very night. It left us wondering in a very positive way and with a memory I shall never ever forget.
BLAKE: What advice would you give to young, aspiring artists out there who are unsure and need guidance?
MARKUS ZOSEL: There will always be someone to copy when first getting into touch with music. It has to in order to find your own style in music. But this is he thing you, one day, have to.
You have, as a singer, to find your own voice and your own unique style of singing, performing and make it happen for the people listening to you.
You someday have to put all your life and all you feel into three minutes of music – not a very easy thing to do, you know. But one day it’ll work out fine and it’s worth all the work required.
BLAKE: What's next for you as an artist? Is there a new single in the works? If so, what can you tell us about it?
MARKUS ZOSEL: I’ve just finished a new CD "Oracle“ which is already available at all the major online download platforms such as iTunes, Deezer, and so forth.
I really felt honored being awarded at the AKADEMIA AWARD GALA on April 20th 2017 in Los Angeles for the Best EP: Folk/Singer-Songwriter in August 2016. It was a splendid night to remember.
And I am looking forward to a handful of wonderful live-shows and to go on spreading my music with the help of the AKADEMIA – I am really looking for it.
And I shall never forget to be thankful and say prayers to the Good Lord above to have the chance to do so. It’s a blessing and giving that back to every audience I will meet in the future, as I have always tried until now, will be one of my most important goals to achieve.
BLAKE: That sounds great! Thank you for giving us a peek into your life as an artist. I wish you continued success in your career.