A collection of songs by the group of SoundCloud artists known as The Eclectic Collective. Mostly original music (they have a few covers), and definitely an original sound. I’ve had the pleasure to write and or contribute on more than a few songs, but mostly I just love hearing what these very talented fellows come up with on a weekly basis!

Graphic art logo design by me  ☺️

The Eclectic Collective [playlist]

Dig Deep II

mistermark Selection

Mix 6

a few songs where I take a turn at the singy part, either the lead, or backing harmony, or just a little noise here & there.


Playlist photo by John Curley; iPod Photoshopery by me

Singing stuff (songs with voices)

Moon In My Pocket

This is a song that Steve of Steve's Planet wrote and for which recorded the vocals and acoustic guitar. He then gave it to Ken (K2 and the Three, K2 and the Four) to play with it. Ken added rocking drums and perfect backing vocals. Ken then sent it to me, and I added the bass, organ, piano, and more, high backing vocals. Then we got Tez (Llanpsych) involved to work his magic and mix the beast, which he did masterfully, as usual. This is our first song with Steve, but it certainly won't be the last. We hope you enjoy it.

Better Than Nothing (Eclectic Collective)

This is a perfect song for collaboration that JJ came up with on the keys and bass, based on a really cool drum track that Ken (K2 and the Three, K2 and the Four) gave him. They are both wildly creative, and left the perfect amount of collaborator space, as they do on every song. Then I got a hold of it and added the main guitar, lap slide, mandolin, and some synth. Then we sent it over to Stephen (TexMex Shaman), who added that really cool guitar solo at the end of the first part, and some more guitar to the end. Also, and very importantly, Stephen produced and mixed this for us. Talk about monumental task! It was like we gave him a basket of cats, and he made a cohesive thought out of it. I'm amazed. I can't overstate how much I enjoy making music with these three sorcerers. We hope you enjoy listening as much as we did making this.

Junebug (Eclectic Collective)

an excerpt of the intro of a song written by my good friend Dyniss from back in the day when we were in a band together (lead vocal - Dyniss, harmony - me). It's a good example of our vocal tandem when we sang together. 

Here is a cover of Dyniss's band covering "We Can Work It Out", with me on vocal lead: 
https://soundcloud.com/user-432503709/we-can-work-it-out-with-dyniss-vocal-mark?in=user-432503709/sets/singing-stuff

Here is a medley of Dyniss tunes recorded from our rehearsal sessions:
https://soundcloud.com/user-432503709/dyniss-ditties-bestest-bits?in=user-432503709/sets/compilations

For more about Dyniss, visit http://dyniss.com/

Live in the Studio

Less Than Me (intro harmony / song by Dyniss)

I think this was the only cover tune we did back in my band days playing with my great friends Dyniss, Morris, and Alex. Here I take a turn at lead vocals with Dyniss on harmony. This is a ‘live’ version recorded in Dyniss’ studio (I believe in one take), though we performed it live on stage often.
Them wuz some good ol' times.

Dyniss Band members:
Dyniss - acoustic guitar, backing vocal
Mark - keyboard/accordion, lead vocal
Alex - 6 string fretless bass
Morris - Drums

Written by Lennon, McCartney

We Can Work It Out (cover; vocal mark)

My grandma's favourite song. that's papa on guitar, me taking a turn at vocal. I also do a pretty lame job trying to strum accompaniment while dad plays the middle solo. Originally recorded around 2014 with my phone mic, I also recently (in 2024) used AI tools to isolate the vocal & guitar into separate tracks so I could better adjust the balance. happy with the result. 

This song’s got a lot of meaning in our family. About as close to a perfect country song as it gets for me. 

(written in 1946 by Fred Rose. covered by the likes of Hank, Roy, Charlie, Elvis, and of course, Willie.)

Here's one other song we did together around the same time: 
- Back Home Again: https://soundcloud.com/user-432503709/back-home-again-cover-take-2-collab-with-dad 

All comments welcome, and don't be shy to be critical or suggest ideas to help me improve. :)
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here's some pictures I took: www.flickr.com/photos/mark_boucher/
my best photos on 500px (safe site): 500px.com/p/mrmark?view=photos

Voice Memos, country

blue eyes crying in the rain (cover, with Dad)

Cast of characters:
Steve's Planet--@steve-vervaet—Steve—acustic guitar, vocals, lyrics, composition/arrangement

TexMex Shaman–@texmex-shaman–Stephen–electric guitar, production, and mix

J.J. Terrell--@j-j-terrell—JJ—organ

K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara–Ken–drums, percussion, and low vocal harmony

Llanpsych–@llanpsych–Tez–electric guitar 

Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)–@josh-clary-1–Fender precision bass  


This song began as an acoustic guitar and vocals stem written and performed by Steve. He sent it to me, and I added the undulating staccato bass line, with the help of Ken's always well-suited drums. We went back and forth a couple of times, as is our process, until it clicked. Tez added some really dynamic leads and fills throughout, and Stephen filled in the rest of the electric guitar in a Keith/Ronnie kind of way, which is very tasteful. JJ then added some perfectly complimentary organ. Finally, Ken pleasantly surprised us with the low vocal harmonies, which were spot on. 
  Stephen also mixed and produced this one for us. He's brilliant behind the board, and we're lucky to have him aboard. This one came together in a matter of a relatively short period of a fortnight, which is rare for the Eclectic Collective. But, when something is hot and already put together, it comes quickly. We all hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed putting it together.

Lyrics:
Fallin’
Wandering aimless
Couldn’t shoot straight
No ability
Not much to say
There was no sign of me
Good times, bad times
Leaving out the sad times
Easily
That’s what they’re telling me
Mend or break
Looking over rooftops
Coming to a full stop
Suddenly
On a sad height
Raging endlessly
Breakline, beeline
Picking up the freeline
Easily
Follow my way
Leavin’ the fast lane
My- My mind is fallin’
When I think about, losing out
There’s no doubt, you started fallin’ x2
And I – I’ve been going my way
One more time, only today 2x
My- My mind is fallin’
When I think about, losing out
There’s no doubt, you started fallin’ x2

Fallin' (Steve's Planet with Eclectic Collective)

This collaboration came about when I was commenting on a track from @cosmic-ratzzz, saying how I was very inspired and influenced by his incredible music and style - both solo, and the over 100 (!) songs he & @Joerxworx have worked on together. Then suddenly, Ratzzz offered to send me a track he created - a complete backing arrangement (bass, drums, clav, synth, keys, some sax, effects, etc.) - and suggested I add something to it. I was apprehensive cause his stuff is top notch quality, but I took a stab at it, and this is what came out. My part is the 2 lead horns - sax & muted trumpet (both played on keyboard), and Ratzzz did everything else. 

The title comes from the fact that Ratzzz made it so easy to work with because of his incredible talent and a fully baked track to solo over. I tried to leave some space and work around what he was doing and I think it turned out quite nice for a first try.
The image is a bit of a mashup I did of both our SC avatars.

Thanks Ratzzz for your generosity and amazing music; hope you all like this!

All comments welcome, and don't be shy to be critical or suggest ideas to help me improve.   :)

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here's some pictures I took: www.flickr.com/photos/mark_boucher/
my best photos on 500px (safe site): 500px.com/p/mrmark?view=photos

Eazy Breezy (with Ratzzz & mistermark)

Arrite... dusting this one off again for another year.
First, to answer the question I know everyone wants to know about this one - "Is that your real hair?!?" 
No. No it's not.   😎 
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I lived in Japan for a year between 2002-2003 doing the teaching English thing, and made some good friends at one of the schools I worked at. We sometimes went out for Karaoke (of course!) and on one such night around Christmas I took a turn to sing one of my faves - Blue Christmas, the Elvis version. 

This is a live recording of me that night. The exuberant reaction from the group is partly due to the fact that I was/am normally a pretty quiet & reserved fellow, especially in crowds, and they were both shocked and seemingly quite impressed by my getting up to sing Elvis, and by how much I apparently sounded like him. 

I could translate some of what they're saying here, but you'll get the idea. For example though, the word "Sugoi" means "Cool!". In another spot, someone walks into the room mid-song, and another person says "hey hey, this is cool, it's Elvis!... watch this..."
See what you think.  ;)

Happy holidays everybuddy!

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here's some pictures I took: www.flickr.com/photos/mark_boucher/
my best photos on 500px (safe site): 500px.com/p/mrmark?view=photos

Blue Christmas (Karaoke in Japan)

Here it is! A highlight reel of Eclectic Collective's greatest moments in the year 2023. This medley includes short interviews with group members, interspersed with their music. Special thanks to Jeff (StonerJazz) for hosting the Q&A, and to J.J. for assembling the medley. 

The Eclectic Collective (EC) is a very loose band of musicians who collaborate over the internet and communicate via email only. I'm honoured to have worked with the EC on a few songs, and look forward to playing with them again soon! Hope you enjoy listening!

CAST OF CHARACTERS (including interview start times):
Hosted by: StonerJazz on.soundcloud.com/6qwFQ
(1:32)    J.J. Terrell - keys, synth, organ on.soundcloud.com/ivM1E
(4:30)   Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary) - bass, lap slide guitar @josh-clary-1
(7:03)    K2 and the Three - drums, percussion @k2andthe3
(9:02)    Llanpsych - guitar, effects on.soundcloud.com/xehCe
(11:06)  TexMex Shaman - guitar, effects @texmex-shaman
(18:20)  MisterMark - piano, synth strings, vocals, effects on.soundcloud.com/qMWgp

Not interviewed in this piece, but a big thank you from all of us goes to:
Artur of Surfers Like Us @user-411502040
Mysterious Decibel @themysteriousDecibel
Steve of Steve’s Planet @Steve-Vervaet
Chris Maness @user-419254289-15129531

No animals were harmed in the making of this medley. ;)

(logo design my MisterMark)

The 2023 Eclectic Collective Rockumentary

Vocals + lyrics: She's Excited! (https://soundcloud.com/she-s-excited)
Keys, bass + initial backing track: Greg (https://soundcloud.com/g-c-ess)
Aleatoric method, guitar, beat + production: Wou-Wou & The Wormling

Chords, tempo, time signature and lyric themes were all picked out at random using dice, coin flips and pulling prompts from a hat.

Artwork by Wou-Wou & The Wormling (https://www.instagram.com/wouwouandthewormling)

0304: Plastic or Steel (feat. She's Excited! & Greg)

I wrote this contemporary jazz piece after watching Rick Beato's wonderful interview with Keith Jarrett. This features Ric Fierabracci on bass, Larry Salzman on percussion and Mannuel Trabucco on soprano sax.

Looking To Allentown

I enjoyed a lot to collaborate with Synline https://soundcloud.com/synline ( Composition and Sampling collage) and mozawa_* https://soundcloud.com/user-174681242 (Beat) on this one. 
A great honor and pleasure for me to write and sing along.


Bodies Swaying

Smooth,
Into the groove…

Step by step
That is a romance
Meet me on that spot tonight
Tune by tune
That is a romance
Hoof by hoof
That is the moon dance

Sometimes it’s one ahead and then three to back
Then swinging round and returning on another track

And ancient lanters wander across the sky again
Singing old songs in a language we’ll never understand
And they go…

Meet me under the moon tonight  
Let us dance into the morning light
I promise I will not step on your toes
Just swaying bodies in the silver light

Smooth, 
Waving in the silver groove

Sometimes it’s one ahead and then three to back
Then swinging round and returning on another track
Into the distance and then out of mind
Then slinging round and appearing on the other side

While our bodies swaying to the music
And they go…

Meet me under the moon tonight  
Let us dance into the morning light
Oh, bodies swaying to the music
Our bodies swaying to the music

Bodies Swaying (wt Synline and mozawa_*)

Bolero's sands ✞*:･

Infinity

Dad & me making music together. took us over 40 years but we did it! This was recorded around 2014 or so I think. 

dad - acoustic guitar
me - voice

We tried this in 2 takes. The 2nd take had a bit louder, stronger sounding vocals, but the singing wasn't quite as subtle and soulful as this one, which is the 1st take. Even with the funny botched ending, this was always my preferred of the two versions. Unfortunately the vocal recording on this 1st take was too quiet (gotta find a better way to record singing than in the basement with my phone mic!). But after looking for years for a way to bump up only the vocals, I finally made use of one of the many AI tools popping up these days for isolating instruments from audio recordings. The tool I used is called 'Splitter AI / vocal remover', but there are others out there. Finally, I was able to isolate the vocals & guitar into separate tracks and make the voice  louder. 

(Song by John Denver)

I'm happy to be sharing these examples of my family making music from back in the day. :) Here's the other song we did around the same time. This is a very special song in our family, and I was super glad I got to sing it with my dad playing.  

Blue Eyes Cryin' In the Rain: https://soundcloud.com/user-432503709/blue-eyes-crying-in-the-rain?si=29d81db0b84147ab9c54e6a0062a498f&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

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here's some pictures I took:
https://500px.com/p/MrMark?view=photos

Back Home Again (cover - take 1) [collab with dad]

Artist Picture. Shyntwirl 
Art Cover Editor. Shyntwirl 

Programmer. Shyntwirl 
Composer. Shyntwirl 
Mixer. Shyntwirl 
Produccer. Shyntwirl 
Idea Creator. Shyntwirl 
Keyboard. Shyntwirl 
Melody. Shyntwirl 
Flute. Shyntwirl 
Electronic Sounds. Shyntwirl 

Ambient / Atmosphere / Experimental Alternative / Electronic 
PROD. Shyntwirl

Shyntwirl - Waiting For Something From You (PROD. Shyntwirl)

This song sounds like it could be in one of those bad 60's Elvis movies.
A late night jealousy motel song.
From the Album: "Arrhythmia & Blues" 2024

Lyrics:
Don't leave me lonely
I love you only
We're playing the blame game
Every night

Ahh, well, we go out
Almost every Saturday night
And it always ends up
Ends up in a fight
Because I see that you're making eyes
With every man in sight
(You're manipulating me, Baby!)
(You're really pushing all my buttons)
Don't leave me lonely
I love you only
We're playing the blame game

I'm out for a walk
A woman comes up to me
She says: I want to take you back to my secret sanctuary
I see you're looking for a thrill
Come back to my Bastille
I'm gonna do bad things to your body
And bend you to my will
And you say with those crazy eyes of yours
"Oh no, that man is mine!"
(Oh, baby)
(Baby baby baby)
( I don't even know who this woman is)

Don't leave me lonely
I love you only
We're playing the blame game

You're waking up the neighbor
Saying things that you can't take back
We've got to stop playing this blame game with each other
Gotta gotta gotta gotta gotta
Stop playing
The blame game

The Blame Game

Anti Monk In Shining Armor

CAST OF CHARACTERS:
J.J. Terrell-- @j-j-terrell—JJ-- electric piano, synth, seed idea
Mistermark-- @user-432503709 -- Mark –  vocals, lyrics, mix, and production
Llanpsych-- @llanpsych -- Tez – guitar
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen–banjo, guitar, sitar, and final mastering
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken–drums, seed idea
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –Josh – four-string fretless bass

Composition – The Eclectic Collective
This song started in probably the most effective way our group writes them. Ken had a spectacular drum beat that was unused in a previous project, so JJ composed and recorded  a chord arrangement with his magical keys. Once we had a beat and a chord structure, Josh came along and added his foundational bass. 
     Now that the rhythm section was complete and the chord structure was in place, Stephen added his unique melody line that you hear at the beginning and every other verse on his magic banjo. He also plays all the initial guitar until around 1:40, where Tez takes over. Stephen also added some really trippy sitar in the vocal section. Then it was time for Tez to add some spice to the mix with his fiery guitar solos from about 1:40 on, eventually building up to a crescendo towards the end. 
     Once we had all the music down, we realized that we had a big gap in the bridge without much going on in it. So, Mark came through with an old poem he had written on his fridge with word magnets for his daughter more than a decade ago, and expanded on it for this song. (the poem is loosely based on the idea that our dreams exist in a digital environment/universe) The young girl's voice you hear echoing Mark's filtered voice is his daughter, in her first appearance with the EC. 
     The song was now finished, except for Mark using his production skills to trim and move a few things, then mix it. While we usually defer to Tez or Stephen for the mix, Mark did such a great job, we decided to keep his mix. Stephen did, however master and EQ it to make it a finished product. 
     This song was truly put together as a whole band effort, showcasing what the Eclectic Collective can do. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed creating it.  

Original lyrics by Mistermark:  

The moon flickers on
and rises and dances
across a celestial stage
as dreamers paint the pixels of their mind 
like an infinite canvas 

Sleep away tiny egg
and leave a delicate thread 
of memory behind 
but never log out 
you are in the elaborate web
always

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here's a photo of the original fridge magnet poem from years ago:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mark_boucher/2257994722/in/album-1495769/

and here's some collections of photos I took over the years:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mark_boucher/albums/

Dancing Moon (The Eclectic Collective)

Warm-Duscher

Cast of Characters:
Stonerjazz-- @user-911083679 -- narration of questions
Surfers Like Us– @user-411502040 –Artur– guitar
mistermark-- @user-432503709 -- Mark -- piano, organ, clavinet, synth, synth effects, harmonica, jaw harp, flute, VST instruments (horns, upright bass, guitar, fiddle, strings), drums, percussion, vocals and lyrics, production
Llanpsych -- @llanpsych -- Tez – guitar and production
TexMex Shaman–@texmex-shaman –Stephen– guitar, banjo, slide, sitar, and production
J.J. Terrell–@j-j-terrell –electric piano, organ, synth, bass, drums, vocals, and production
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara -–Ken–drums, percussion, and vocals
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)–@josh-clary-1 –- guitar, bass, madolin, keys, banjo, lap steel, sitar, and vocals

Huge thanks, too, to the other featured musicians to whom we're very grateful to for sharing their music and talents with us this past year. They are the fuel that drives the EC into new musical realms. They include:

CGMANESS-- user-419254289-15129531
TEA R. SEA-- @tea_are_sea
STEVE'S PLANET-- @steve-vervaet
JOHN ANTHONY-- @john-anthony-871225464
ELPIVERSE-- @elpiverse
SCOTTY (ONE MAN VERITY SHOW)-- @one-man-verity-show
ROY ROY-- @user-967672349
MARK FOSELLA-- @mark_f_2019
FRANS BEELAARD-- @user-936947521
THE MYSTERIOUS DECIBEL-- @themysteriousdecibel
DAVID MARCONI-- @david-marconi-917184705
RON LEWIS-- @ron-lewis-779503933
JEFF ROBERTS -- @jeff_roberts
JAMES TOBUREN (WITCHES OF THE ALAMO)-- @witchesofthealamo

Well folks, it's that time of year again. It's time for the Eclectic Collective to take stock of the fruits of the year previous, and reflect on what making music together means to all of us. We hope you all take a chunk of time and indulge in our thanks to you. We wanted to address every one of our SoundCloud friends with our voices as an intimate way to connect with each of you.
This has become a tradition within the EC now that we've made it to our second (and a half) year of making music together. For the second time, JJ asked our friend and sometimes collaborator Jeff (Stonerjazz) to ask some interview questions of us. Then, we all came up with the answers and sent them to JJ to assemble the project.
This motley music machine we've created, that manages to release a new song every Friday, wouldn't mean anything if no one was listening. Which is why we want to extend our very sincere thanks to you for tuning in and supporting our efforts, and inspiring us with the amazing music you share as well! With that, we hope you enjoy hearing us voice our thoughts over the highlights of our musical year as much as we enjoyed a year rich in music and comradery. Happy New Year!
Here's a breakdown of the time stamps for each of our individual questions and answers:
1:28 TEZ Q1
2:20 TEZ Q2
2:37 TEZ Q3
4:42 KEN Q1
7:36 KEN Q2
13:04 MARK Q1
18:42 STEPHEN Q1
23:21 JOSH Q1
27:36 ARTUR Q1
32:00 J.J. Q1

The 2024 Eclectic Collective Rockumentary

As I've started doing lately, this is a short excerpt, focusing on just the closing section of a full piano tune I recorded around 2001. The approach kind of reminds of the ending of "Crime Of The Century" by Supertramp (obviously nowhere near as interesting). Apologies for the poor recording quality, and the piano sound wasn't the greatest back then. Still, this little 1-minute closing section is still one of my favourite things I've recorded. 
Here's a link to the original, full tune:
https://soundcloud.com/user-432503709/the-last-days-of-november-2022-remaster?in=user-432503709/sets/mark-myoozik

More goodies in the "ISOLATED TRACKS" playlist:
https://soundcloud.com/user-432503709/sets/isolated-tracks

Last Days of November (EXCERPT - ENDING)

This is just a short sample of a blending test of the cool sounds on the mellotron instrument I use in GarageBand. If you’re not familiar with how a real mellotron works, it’s worth checking it out! Here's a very informative demo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByD8gH7kYxs

The acoustic guitar is played using a VST guitar on keyboard.
The mellotron sounds are:
  - flute / strings blend
  - cello / strings blend
  - male / female choir blend
  - boys / female choir blend

Here’s a crazy song of mine where I’m using the mellotron is a really ominous chorus (Cut 2: "The Chase"):
https://on.soundcloud.com/mHrSTfwtJ2xxo7s5A

More goodies in the "ISOLATED TRACKS" playlist:
https://soundcloud.com/user-432503709/sets/isolated-tracks

mellotron choir (SOUND DEMO)

This tune began with just the upright bass & flute part that were inspired by an old song that I liked a lot by an English Jazz trio called The Herbaliser. Beyond the basic A - B - A arrangement I couldn't really think of much else to do with it, so I enlisted a couple blokes from the Eclectic Collective to help flesh it out. Namely Stephen (@texmex-shaman), and Chris (@hiddenhands-760647700).

Stephen added the trippy high pitch reverse guitar effect, and the sick bluesy lead guitar in the middle section (thus the title, Blue In The Middle). He also lent his mastering skills to great effect on this one. And Chris added some delightfully dark atmospheric backing guitar parts and effects, as well as the Portishead influenced drum track. I was then inspired to add the background echo guitar sound in the middle section, the vocal sample near the end, a bit of percussion and minor sound effects. All my parts were played on keyboard except the vocal sample (from Garageband) and the flute, which I played live. 
Thanks guys for bringing this to life, and hope folks enjoy this trippy little ditty.

Image art designed and created using ChatGPT 4o.

Blue In The Middle (with CGManess & TexMex Shaman)

This track uses sound samples from GarageBand which I then arranged into this thumpin’ thingamabobber. Like lots of my stuff, this is just an idea which may be developed into a fuller arrangement later.