After moving to Sydney last year and recording an EP with Gadigal Music, singer/songwriter Marcus Corowa is building a strong following with his catchy melodies and smooth, soulful voice.
Marcus released his EP The Greater You last year. It contains infectious melodies with some signature soul. The track ‘She’s The Kinda Girl’ which Marcus says he wrote for his girlfriend, Sharni, was an instant stand-out.
“Everyone seems to enjoy that song. When I was first writing it – all I had was the hook and I kept singing that over and over until the rest of the song came,” says Marcus.
Other songs on the EP include the title track, ‘Everybody’, ‘It’s Alright’ and ‘Another Lover’. The album projects a positive energy about having enough confidence in yourself to follow your dreams, which is something Marcus did himself in moving to Sydney recently to pursue his own musical career.
He grew up in Bowen, Queensland, before moving to Brisbane with his family in his teens, and admits that he missed the easy pace and relaxed lifestyle of Bowen.
“The whole town is your family. It is a simple life. There were no traffic lights. You just go fishing and go out with your family all the time.”
He says his musical ability comes from his family, and he picked up a guitar at the age of six.
“It has always been there, especially on my dad’s side. They all play guitar – grandad did too – and there was always lots of singing. As a child I was surrounded by music all the time,” he says.
“I grew up listening to my uncles and aunties – they all have these silky smooth voices as well – but I also liked listening to Al Green, George Benson and a lot of that old Mowtown music appeals to me.”
Marcus describes his unique style as a merger of soul, gospel, jazz and RnB.
“A lot of people say it is RnB but I think it is more soul and gospel and then it merges to blues and jazz and rock. That’s how I like to think about it.”
After refining his sound, Marcus became a finalist in Queensland’s premier song writing competition, the Q Song Awards, in 2010 and then the APRA Professional Development Awards in 2011.
This gave him the confidence to move to Sydney to continue his career. Since then he has performed at the 2012 Yabun Festival alongside Jessica Mauboy and Dan Sultan and recorded his first EP with Gadigal Music.
He says moving to Sydney was daunting at first, but that has paid off.
“I used to think I would never move to Sydney, but I did and the first few months were hard because I didn’t know anyone. Now I am embracing the city and making a lot of contacts and it has been really great for my music.
“People are starting to catch onto my sound. I had my EP launch and have performed at a few festivals, so I am slowly trying to get my foot in the door.
“Gadigal Music funded my EP and Alec (Doomadgee) pushes me and tries to find me opportunities. I am looking to hit it up in a big way now, taking it seriously.”
For the moment though he is excited about the prospect of continuing to get his music to more listeners and performing as much as possible. He is also writing more material for a later album.
“That will be next. I am writing a whole heap of stuff at the moment – groove rock to blues to country influences as well,” he says.
He also hopes music will allow him to travel the world one day, something that is already happening.
“I made a trip to Brazil in 2010 and I was really influenced by their music there and the whole culture – I went over as part of an ACPA (Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts) exchange program. It was a great experience.”
For more information about Marcus and his new EP go to www.marcuscorowa.com
Comments are closed.