Mark Gormley is a singer-songwriter from
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...
who achieved
internet fame
An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social m ...
for his music videos on YouTube.
He mostly performs
acoustic rock
Acoustic music is music that solely or primarily uses instruments that produce sound through acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means. While all music was once acoustic, the retronym "acoustic music" appeared after the adven ...
consisting of acoustic guitar and vocals. As of October 2021, Gormley's music videos have been viewed more than 7.9 million times.
Early years
Gormley learned to play the guitar as a teenager and later wrote a number of original compositions in the mid-1970s. His musical influences include
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
,
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
,
Rush
Rush(es) may refer to:
Places
United States
* Rush, Colorado
* Rush, Kentucky
* Rush, New York
* Rush City, Minnesota
* Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River tributary), Illinois
* Rush Creek (Marin County, California), a stream
* Rush Creek (Mono Cou ...
,
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
,
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...
and
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
.
During his time enlisted in the
Marines
Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...
, Gormley was stationed in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
where he recorded a demo for his songs, but he was unable to gain a recording contract on his return to the USA.
In 1986, Gormley entered the music studio once again to record two new songs.
''The Uncharted Zone''
Having decided to give up pursuing a career as a musician, Gormley didn't release his music to the public until his first music video was filmed in 2006. Gormley was given a platform when his music videos appeared on ''The Uncharted Zone'',
a weekly
public-access television
Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...
music show that plays original and cover videos by local artists.
''The Uncharted Zone'' is shown on the
Blab Television
Blab TV is a local television channel in Pensacola, Florida, United States. It airs local programming as well as locally produced infomercials for businesses in the Florida Panhandle. Blab TV programming airs on local cable systems and on WPAN (c ...
cable station
and is based in the Gulf Coast of Florida.
Gormley has since recorded a number of music videos for the show.
The low-budget music videos are produced by
Phil Thomas Katt,
a local musician
and former radio DJ.
The videos are characterized by their frequent use of
green screen
Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to r ...
effects, local scenery and, quite often, comedic or dramatic story lines.
Katt runs ''The Uncharted Zone'' with his co-host and longtime friend Tommy Robinetti.
The two can be found introducing each video with quirky commentary and anecdotes about each featured artist.
In addition to the television broadcast, ''The Uncharted Zone'' began posting videos on YouTube in 2007. These videos gained popularity during 2009. In a 2010 interview, Phil Thomas Katt explained: “The videos had been on YouTube for a while, and then, last year, things really took off.”
Thanks to these YouTube videos, Katt became a cult icon to a growing group of fans and fellow musicians, and Gormley was propelled to internet stardom.
In October 2010, Gormley received the first ever ''The Uncharted Zone'' 'Youzie Award'.
The award signified Gormley becoming the first artist in ''The Uncharted Zone's'' history to have a music video surpass one million views on YouTube.
Internet fame
Gormley's music videos have reached an audience of millions on YouTube.
In an article on Gormley, UK-based newspaper ''
Metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...
'' proclaimed "The internet has a new musical hero in the form of singer-songwriter Mark Gormley".
Gormley and his music have been featured on the
G4TV
G4 (also known as G4TV) was an American pay television and digital network owned by Comcast Spectacor that primarily focused on video games.
The network was originally owned by G4 Media, a joint venture between the NBCUniversal Cable division ...
television program ''
Attack of the Show!
''Attack of the Show!'' (''AOTS'') is an American live television program and that aired on G4. AOTS features segments on pop culture, video games, and movies. After an initial run from 2005 to 2013 (which originally aired from 2005 until 2013 ...
,''
and later G4TV's ''
Web Soup
''Web Soup'' was an American weekly infotainment series that aired on the G4 cable network. The show premiered on June 7, 2009, and was hosted by Chris Hardwick. The series focused on commenting on the latest viral videos, and had a very similar ...
'', where
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...
performed an
impression of Gormley.
Gormley has been the inspiration for several fan-made videos, including remixes of his songs, cover versions, and parodies of his music videos.
The standing posture adopted by Gormley in several of his music videos, known as the "Power Stance", became an
internet meme
An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...
.
Gormley has been asked to perform by concert bookers and TV shows including the late-night talk show ''
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...
'', but he decided to decline the offers.
Gormley has avoided the spotlight and is notoriously
reclusive
A recluse is a person who lives in voluntary seclusion from the public and society. The word is from the Latin ''recludere'', which means "shut up" or "sequester". Historically, the word referred to a Christian hermit's total isolation from th ...
.
In an interview conducted by ''The Uncharted Zone's'' Michele Carnley, Gormley claimed "I'm just little old me from Pensacola."
When asked about his sudden internet fame, Gormley replied "It's a bit overwhelming. You know, when I did this I just did it for fun. Something to do, something therapeutic."
Music videos
Gormley's debut music video is for the song "Beginnings", which includes still images of scenery in his native Pensacola. The music video features an appearance by model Ashton Shane, who is also a
VJ for ''The Uncharted Zone''. ''
Woot
Woot (originally W00t) is an American Internet retailer based in the Dallas suburb of Carrollton, Texas. Founded by electronics wholesaler Matt Rutledge, it debuted on July 12, 2004. Woot's main website generally offers only one discounted ...
'' found the song "thought-provoking" and noted the profound insights offered by the lyrics. Gormley considers the song his personal favorite.
The "Little Wings" music video includes footage of
seagulls
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, m ...
in flight, as Gormley sings in front of ocean scenes. Gormley and his music video for "Little Wings" were featured on the website of Colorado-based newspaper ''
Westword
''Westword'' is a free digital and print media publication based in Denver, Colorado. ''Westword'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue cir ...
'', who remarked "there's something strangely appealing about Gormley...I have to say that this song is actually pretty great". ''
Videogum
''Videogum'' was a daily Internet publication devoted to coverage of popular culture with a focus on movies, television, and trampoline accidents. ''Stereogum'' founder Scott Lapatine founded Videogum as a sister site to ''Stereogum'' in 2008, an ...
'' listed the "Little Wings" music video as one of the best
viral videos
A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhong Lan, Alexander Haupt ...
of 2009. As of September 2013, "Little Wings" has received over one million views on YouTube. In December 2013, "Little Wings" was featured on the
ITV2
ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial stations, a ...
television show ''
MC Hammer
Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), better known by his stage name MC Hammer (or simply Hammer), is an American rapper, dancer, record producer and entrepreneur. He is known for hit songs such as "U Can't Touch This", "2 Legit 2 Quit" ...
's Big Shot Academy''.
"Gray Days" is one of Gormley's darkest songs, that ''
LimeLife
LimeLife LLC. is an American privately held cosmetics company based in New York. Limelife is a division of Alcone, a company founded in 1952, which supplied Broadway theaters with professional makeup.
In 2018, the podcast “The Dream” feature ...
'' referred to as a "moving, Zeppelinesque tribute". "Gray Days" and "Little Wings" were featured on the website of Seattle-based newspaper ''
The Stranger'', who argued that although the quality of Gormley's videos had garnered him much of the initial attention, "what really should be considered is his music, for all the right reasons, as credit is due...his voice and his song writing certainly shoot for the realms of greatness" adding that "his song writing and voice approach the league of rock's finest angelic singers", comparing his vocals to
Jon Anderson
John Roy Anderson (born 25 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire. He was a member of the band across thre ...
,
Bryan MacLean
Bryan Andrew MacLean (September 25, 1946 – December 25, 1998) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work with the influential rock band Love. His famous compositions for Love include " Alone Again Or", "Old Ma ...
, and
Tim Buckley
Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an American musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years. Buckley began his career based in folk music, but his subsequent albums experimented with ja ...
.
The music video for "Stars" shows Gormley performing the song while backed by footage of the night sky and the beaches of
Perdido Key, Florida
Perdido Key is an unincorporated community in Escambia County, Florida, United States, between Pensacola, Florida and Orange Beach, Alabama. "Perdido" means "lost" in the Spanish and Portuguese languages. The community is located on and named for ...
.
Gormley's breakthrough music video is for "Without You", released in 2008. "Without You" is a love song about heartbreak and loneliness that music website ''The Daily Swarm'' described as a "soft metal masterpiece". Alternative culture magazine ''Coilhouse'' called the track "an honest, well-crafted song" and noted Gormley's "soulful voice".
''
Pensacola News Journal
The '' Pensacola News Journal'' is a daily morning newspaper serving Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in Florida. It is Northwest Florida's most widely read daily.
The ''News Journal'' is owned by Gannett, a national media holding company th ...
'' described the music video as "a frenetic mix of Gormley, scenic backdrops and a lovely young lady".
Media journal ''
BuzzFeed
BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...
'' considered "Without You" to be a contender for 'Video of the Year' and listed it among the 'Most Memorable Amateur Music Videos of the 2000s'. On January 14, 2009, "Without You" was named a viral video by music magazine ''
Blender
A blender (sometimes called a mixer or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen appliance, kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsion, emulsify food and other substances. A stationary blender consists of a blender ...
'' and ''
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...
''.
On January 16, 2009, "Without You" was the daily featured music video on the website ''
Today's BIG Thing''. Later that same year, it was featured on
G4's ''
Web Soup
''Web Soup'' was an American weekly infotainment series that aired on the G4 cable network. The show premiered on June 7, 2009, and was hosted by Chris Hardwick. The series focused on commenting on the latest viral videos, and had a very similar ...
'' where Gormley would shortly be parodied by the show's guest
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...
.
The music video achieved cult status through word-of-mouth and blog posts.
When asked about the success of "Without You", Phil Thomas Katt stated: “It spread like wildfire. I started hearing from folks all over the country. Mark never cared about being a celebrity, but the interest was there.”
In January 2011, "Without You" was featured on
truTV
TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts comedy, docusoaps and reality shows.
The channel was originally launched in 1991 as Court TV, a network that focu ...
's ''
The Smoking Gun Presents: World's Dumbest'' ''Performers #6''.
Commentators on the music video included actor
Daniel Baldwin
Daniel Leroy Baldwin (born October 5, 1960) is an American actor. He is the second oldest of the four Baldwin brothers, all of whom are actors. Baldwin played the role of Detective Beau Felton in the NBC TV series '' Homicide: Life on the Stree ...
, comedian
Loni Love
Loni Love (born July 14, 1971) is an American comedian, television host, actress, author, and former electrical engineer. While working as an electrical engineer in the early 2000s, she switched to music engineering, until later launching a caree ...
, and writers
Billy Kimball
Billy Kimball (born July 8, 1959) is an American writer and producer. He was a co-executive producer on the acclaimed HBO series ''Veep''.
Personal life
He was born in New York City, attended Trinity School, and graduated from Harvard College w ...
and Michael Loftus.
Loni Love criticized Gormley's choice of clothing, whereas Michael Loftus commented "you don't expect him to have a golden throat like that".
In September 2012 and January 2013, "Without You" was featured on the
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
television program ''
Rude Tube
''Rude Tube'' is a British television programme broadcast on Channel 4 and its sister channel E4. Most of the programme's episodes have been presented by British comedian Alex Zane, who launched the show's pilot episode in February 2008. Comedi ...
'', including an interview with Phil Thomas Katt. As of February 2022, "Without You" has received over four million views on YouTube.
Gormley's missed opportunities and sudden fame were parodied in the music video for "The Cries in Our Eyes". During the course of the video, Gormley is depicted performing in front of famous
landmarks
A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances.
In modern use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...
from around the world and being photographed by
paparazzi
Paparazzi (, ; ; singular: masculine paparazzo or feminine paparazza) are independent photographers who take pictures of high-profile people; such as actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, and other celebrities, typically while subjects ...
.
According to Missouri newsweekly ''
Riverfront Times
The ''Riverfront Times'' (''RFT'') is a free progressive weekly newspaper in St. Louis, in the U.S. state of Missouri, that consists of local politics, music, arts, and dining news in the print edition, and daily updates to blogs and photo galler ...
'', the music video created "the Mark Gormley tour that could have been".
The music video for "Sing Me Your Song" largely takes place on the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
and in space.
The video capitalized on Gormley's success by featuring
product placement
Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of th ...
for the
Cheetos
Cheetos (formerly styled as Chee-tos until 1998) is a crunchy corn puff snack brand made by Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. Fritos creator Charles Elmer Doolin invented Cheetos in 1948, and began national distribution in the U.S. The initi ...
snack food.
Music website ''Video Static'' described the song as "haunting" and praised the music videos use of product placement.
Gormley opted to receive no money from the product placement deal, giving all revenue to ''The Uncharted Zone'' to help them during the difficult economy.
Gormley's music video for the song "All We Need" was released on June 27, 2010. It marks the final music video from his debut album. Gormley plans to write and record new songs in the future,
and in February 2014 he began working on new songs at ''The Uncharted Zones recording studio. A Mark Gormley DVD is also in production.
The music video for the song "Together" was released on February 7, 2017.
The video features Gormley in space and on the beach.
Phil Thomas Katt has explained the reason behind the near seven year wait for Gormley's new music video: “Mark Gormley’s been slowly working on new tunes since his last hit in 2010. The recording process with Mark is extremely slow. He generally only works about 20 minutes per session.”
Recordings
Mark Gormley's self-titled debut album of original recordings has been released via ''The Uncharted Zone''.
Track listing
# "Beginnings" – 4:40
# "Little Wings" – 3:54
# "All We Need" – 7:48
# "Gray Days" – 5:01
# "Sing Me Your Song" – 5:58
# "Stars" – 4:36
# "The Cries in Our Eyes" – 3:58
# "Without You" – 3:52
All tracks written and performed by Mark Gormley.
See also
*
Internet celebrity
An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social ...
*
List of YouTube personalities
YouTubers are people mostly known for their work on the video sharing platform YouTube. The following is a list of YouTubers for whom Wikipedia has articles either under their own name or their YouTube channel name. This list excludes people who ...
References
External links
*http://www.myspace.com/markgormley Mark Gormley fansite on MySpace
*https://www.youtube.com/TheUnchartedZone The Uncharted Zone on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gormley, Mark
Living people
Outsider musicians
Musicians from Pensacola, Florida
Singers from Florida
Year of birth missing (living people)