Mark Bassino dives deep into 'Top of the World': Some More! Interview

Times of discover News: I love the album and you have a great catalog. There are a lot of similarities between your last albums, Queen's English and Top of the World.

Mark Bassino: It's been a while. It's just life; a lot has happened since that last record. I have a lot on my hands. I'm currently in production foMark Bassino dives deep into 'Top of the World': Some More! Interviewr a television station in New York. I do podcasts, radio, things like that and video work, then I teach and sometimes journalism - I add to that my family priorities and the pandemic and it's all awesome. As people who know me know, I'm very slow at making records but then I do a lot of detail work. So you put it all together and you get a 14-year gap.

Preston Frazier: It's a great album. Tell me when you started the writing process?

Mark Bassino: I don't think I had any big plans or schemes when I started it. I was very excited after Queen English in 2010 – usually after releasing a record – so I just wanted to get back into it. I started writing for that record right after I did some shows. As soon as I wrote, we quickly got back to the studio. One of my co-producers on this record, Jay Sherman Gottfried, had a studio in Brooklyn at the time with a great producer and pianist named Joe McGinty. We went to his studio and started the album. We made some songs that went on Top of the World, and that happened right after the last record – but then things started to slow down, and the writing process became a little sporadic. I get a little bit of joy, excitement, of a record coming out, and then I forget all the trouble and agony of making a record. Preston Frazier: Do you spend time writing pop songs? Mark Bassino: I've done work for TV and film. I rarely do that anymore. It's more planned. It's like writing a quote. You have a brief, you have to do it, and you have to sit down and do it fast. So I gave it up. It's a young man's game. It's like writing a song in an afternoon, recording it and making it sound like a record. You're lucky if you have 24 hours to put it together. It's hard to be undisciplined. Writing pop songs for yourself can be undisciplined. It happens when the mood strikes and you feel like writing. The time period between records helps too. You want to wait until you have a good collection of tunes. I want quality over quantity.

Preston Frazier: It's like having a Wurlitzer piano.

Mark Bassino: Yeah, look carefully, man. It looks like it was made yesterday, the guy I bought it from restored it really well. It was a birthday gift from my wife Lynne a few years ago. I've always wanted to have a Wurlitzer here in the studio, but it never happened. I have an old suitcase and a Fender Rhodes at home, but it sounds different. I respect them both, but I think I like the Wurlitzer more. It's a beautiful machine. You sit down at it, and immediately, for me, songs start creeping into your head. I'm more of a guitar player than a piano player, but when you turn it on, it takes off. It has that vibe and sound.

Preston Frazier: That's a great rendition of the first song on the album, "Kaylee Hughes." But I wanted to go briefly and ask about your songwriting process. Do you start with your guitar, piano, or Fender Rhodes?

Mark Bassino: You were the first person to hear the "Kaylee Hughes" whirly there. I played the solo on it, which I'm proud of because I'm not that much of a pianist. But somehow, I got it done. To answer your question, the process is fundamental, sir. I sit with the instruments that I have around me, or I sit with the guitar, piano or whatever a lot of musicians do. I pick up the guitar or sit down at the keyboard and mess around. I always feel like you're a kid. I try to keep it that way; I think it's neat. You get to do some incredible things. I keep messing around.' If I come up with something, it's usually a chord progression first and then a melody, like some crazy tune. If I like a chord progression, I'll hum a song based on those chords. If I like a vibe I try to match the words to the music.