Marcus Myers embraces new challenges in a music career that has spanned more than 40 years

The 59-year-old musician had toured the world and enjoyed life in the fast lane, before setting up home in the Serranía de Ronda

TONY BRYANT

Thursday, 23 December 2021, 17:29 | Updated 18:34h.

Performing and recording with some of the UK’s top bands of the 1970s and ‘80s, working as a session musician with artists such as Belinda Carlisle and Maria Nayler, starring in a movie, along with appearing on primetime television shows like Top of the Pops and Live and Kicking, are just a few of the things that Marcus Myers has achieved during a career that has spanned more than 40 years.

The 59-year-old musician, who first made his mark on the punk rock and indie music scene in London, had enjoyed life in the fast lane, touring the world and living the rock star life style, before setting up home in the Serranía de Ronda.

“In 1999, my wife told me that I had had an offer of a job in a hotel for six months. At that time, I was disillusioned with the music business, so I thought, yes.

“We went back to the UK after this, but shortly after, we were offered another job and we decided to come back for two years, however, we stayed and have been here ever since,” the die-hard rocker explains to SUR in English.

Born in Brighton in 1962, Marcus Myers began singing and playing guitar at the age of 17. His first break came when his band, Midnight and the Lemonboys, supported U2 during their first tour of the UK.

Shortly afterwards, he headed to London and auditioned for Killing Joke, a post-punk band who achieved mainstream success in the early ‘80s.

At the time, Killing Joke were experiencing internal problems, so Marcus ended up forming another group with the band’s bassist.

Aptly named Brilliant, the group enjoyed relative success, releasing several singles and touring the world with other top bands of the time, including Bauhaus and New Order, although he left the group to concentrate on new projects.

One of these was the formation of a band called Hard Rain, a group he would reform many years later in Spain after their record, Diamonds, which, unbeknown to Marcus, had been a huge hit on the Barcelona music scene of the 1990s.

After a short stint with Then Jerico, a pop band that enjoyed four top 40 hits in the UK during the late 1980s, he joined Commanche Park, and later, Alisha’s Attic.

Becoming somewhat disheartened with the bureaucracy of the music business, he began working as a session musician, recording and touring with numerous named performers.

“I won’t do an across-the-board attack on the music business, but for me, personally, having spent many years in different bands with the wrong management companies, it kind of knocked it out of me a little. I started to forget why I first found it exciting and I began to lose sight. That’s why I began working as a session musician,” he explains.

Marcus says that appearing on Top of the Pops with Alisha’s Attic is a proud moment, but one that stirs emotions, although not because he had finally made it on to the world’s longest-running music show.

“The first time I did Top of the Pops, my dad phoned me afterwards and said, ‘well done son, you’ve finally made it,’ which, of course, I hadn’t. Sadly, he died the day after, but at least he saw me on the TV,” he says.

Stress-free life

After a visit to the Costa del Sol for a change of career, Marcus and his wife, Carmen, who have just celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary, decided to settle in Spain in search of a different life and some new challenges away from the stresses and strains of the London music business.

The couple set up home in Cortes de la Frontera in 2000, where today Marcus is enjoying performing at music venues in the Serranía de Ronda, and along the coast.

He recently played guitar on the new recording of fellow expat musician Neil Armstrong; and he is currently working on some new material, which he hopes to record next year.

In the meantime, Marcus says that he enjoys growing vegetables and generally enjoying life out of the fast lane.

“It was a bit of a shock at first, and I don’t really know how we ended up in this town. We occasionally think that it might be time to move on, but we like it here and enjoy having a bit of space,” he says.

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