A Chat with Mark Cee (18.08.26)
Brimming with warmth, contentedness, and a deep-seated sincerity that makes every moment of his music comfortable, Mark Cee can hold your hand and make you smile without even being in the room. We speak with the talented singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist about his EP, Ghost Talk Show, what music means to him, and much more.
OSR: What drew you to music? Why did you choose to be a musician?
Mark Cee: Honestly, I don’t think I ever “chose” it in some deliberate way — it was more that music chose me and I just never told it no. I’ve been writing songs for about 40 years, mostly for myself, mostly in private. It was never a career decision. It was the thing I did in the margins of a whole other life — a long career in IT, saving for retirement, all of it — and it just kept pulling me back. There’s something about sitting alone with a guitar and turning a feeling into a melody that speaks to me.
OSR: You’ve been writing for 30 years but only started releasing music in 2025. What prompted the move from writing to releasing? Long time coming, or a moment’s decision?
Mark Cee: It’s a bit of both, and it’s worth correcting the record a little — this isn’t actually my first time releasing. Back in 2010 and 2013, I put out music under the name Legend 2012 (‘Tricks with Mirrors’ and ‘Mayan’), and in 2019 I released a single called ‘Ascending Hearts’ as Mark Amy Gracie. Those were rudimentary, experimental, really just me figuring out my own sound with whatever tools I had at the time, and I didn’t do any real promotion for them.
What changed with Mark Cee is that I finally had the time, the recording setup, and honestly the freedom to take it seriously. I retired at the end of 2025, and once I wasn’t spending my energy on a job anymore, I had the bandwidth to actually finish songs properly, record them the way I’d always wanted to, and put real effort into getting them out into the world. So less “sudden decision” and more that the door finally opened.
OSR: Your music is entirely self-produced and organic, with no AI involved. What’s your take on AI’s presence in the entertainment industry – pros and cons?
Mark Cee: For me personally, it’s a hard no. Every note, every take, every imperfection on my records is human, recorded live in my den, because that’s the whole point for me. Music is supposed to be a person telling you something true, and I don’t want a machine standing between me and that.
That said, I try not to be a purist about what other people do. AI has real upside for the industry – it can lower the barrier to entry for people who don’t have access to instruments, studios, or training, and it can be a genuinely useful tool for someone who wants to sketch an idea quickly. The downside is exactly what you’d expect: it risks flooding an already crowded space with content that has no fingerprints on it, no one who bled for it, and I think listeners can feel that difference even if they can’t always name it. I’d rather stay small and real than big and synthetic.
OSR: You released your 2025 album Ghost Talk Show. What can you tell us about it? Any particular theme or backstory?
Mark Cee: Ghost Talk Show was really my reintroduction to releasing music after a long gap, and I think of it now as my first true album under this chapter of my life. It came out of a period of just writing without much of a filter – letting whatever wanted to come out, come out – and it shows. It’s a little rougher around the edges production-wise than what’s coming next, but that roughness is honest; it was me relearning how to record and release music after years away from it.
OSR: Since Ghost Talk Show, you’ve released two more singles. Do you still feel it’s a true representation of you as a musician and person?
Mark Cee: It’s a true representation of where I was, but I don’t think it’s the whole picture anymore. I’ve grown a lot since then as a recording engineer, as a songwriter, and honestly just as a person adjusting to this new stage of life. The songs I’ve released since, and the album I have coming, reflect a more deliberate, more controlled version of what I was reaching for on Ghost Talk Show. I don’t disown it; I just see it as the first draft of a voice I’m still refining.
OSR: What do you hope people take from Ghost Talk Show and your music in general?
Mark Cee: I hope people feel less alone in whatever they’re carrying. A lot of what I write comes from real, sometimes heavy places – loss, distance, memory – and if a song of mine can sit with someone in a hard moment the way songs have sat with me, that’s the whole job done as far as I’m concerned.
OSR: What does music mean to you?
Mark Cee: It’s the place I go to be honest. I spent a long career solving other people’s problems and managing other people’s priorities; music is the one place that’s entirely mine, where nothing has to be practical or efficient, it just has to be true.
OSR: If you could speak to a younger you, what advice would you give little Mark?
Mark Cee: Honestly, I did everything I wanted to accomplish. The technology has come a long way from where I started, making it easier than ever to make and release music. Pay yourself first and don’t wait for the right time. I’ve been at this for thirty years, writing songs and mostly keeping them to myself. It’s a fool’s errand to wait for some version of “the right time” that never really arrives on its own. I’d tell him: you don’t need a label, a manager, or anyone’s approval to make something real – just start putting it out there, even if it’s rough.
OSR: If you had to introduce a listener to your music, which song would you recommend?
Mark Cee: I’d point them to ‘Missed Connection’. It’s the most recent thing I’ve released, and it’s the most personal. It’s about my father’s sudden death and what it’s been like to process that. I think it’s the clearest example yet of the sound I’ve been working toward: stripped down, human, nothing hiding behind production.
OSR: What can we expect from you in the future?
Mark Cee: My second LP as Mark Cee, It’s Me, Mark Cee, is coming this fall. It’s the fullest statement of this project so far — nine tracks that I think show real growth from Ghost Talk Show. Beyond that, I’m treating this whole project as an ongoing experiment rather than a career ladder to climb, so I honestly don’t know exactly what comes after the LP. I imagine I’ll keep writing and recording, because at this point it’s just part of who I am.
OSR: Do you have a message for our readers?
Mark Cee: Thank you for taking the time to listen. This is a passion project, not a second career, and I am doing what I enjoy. This isn’t a big machine with a label and a team behind it; it’s just me, in a room, trying to be honest. If a song of mine finds you at the right moment, I hope you’ll reach out and let me know. That connection is really the whole point.
Many thanks to Mark Cee for speaking with us. Find out more about Mark Cee on his Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, SoundCloud and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
