FEATURE: John Mark Nelson Opens Up About Rediscovering His Creative Spirit On New EP ‘Hideaway’ & Interview

For singer-songwriter John Mark Nelson, his relationship with music has not been a straight line. After finding success early on, this all eventually flipped over after being dropped by his label and his creativity began to flicker.

Still in his mid-20s, the Minnesota native was already reaching for a new beginning. His last proper full-length album had been released two years earlier back in 2017, and he wasn’t sure what the future held for his own music. So him and his newly wed wife packed up their bags and moved across the country with high hopes and excitement – but little did they know that right as they’d find themselves further from family and friends than they’d ever been, the bottom would drop out of life as everyone knew it.

Yet, he was able to rekindle his joy for music after taking the opportunity to work with Dan Wilson (Mitski, Leon Bridges, Taylor Swift) in Los Angeles for a few years.

Fast forward to 2020 and after holing down in his new house with his wife during lockdown, the inspiration for his new EP Hideaway flourished.

With Nelson reinvigorated as an artist, the songs were equally inspired by and conceived within the competing forces of isolated pandemic living and his experience working at one of the most currently relevant production studios in the world. Lyrically, the EP focuses on intimacy and comfort of his one bedroom apartment with his wife, and it examines the dynamics of relationships, and the urge to reinvent oneself through them.

Leading the way was the triumphant and heartfelt single “Bright”, written about his appreciation for the love of his life. “I created bright in a tiny apartment in Saint Paul, Minnesota shortly after getting married,” shares Nelson. “I was in somewhat of a downward mental spiral because the career that I thought was panning out for me, sort of fell apart in a quick hurry. The only thing that felt truly bright in my life at that moment was my wife. For the production of the song, everything is built around a fast picked classical acoustic guitar. The cool thing about that guitar is that it was actually my wife’s when she was a kid. So it’s the first song I made on that instrument after our stories’ combined.”

Further down the track list comes “Perfect Stranger”, a song built around swirling, ambient piano, that dives into the often serendipitous ways of finding new beginnings. While “Don’t Look Back” taps into the equally enticing trap of nostalgia, and our collective tendency to pine for the rose colored hue of the past when it comes to relationships. His poignant delivery and sincere lyricism throughout Hideaway is refreshing token of a promising next chapter.

Outside of his own music, he’s also recently collaborated with Suki Waterhouse, Sofia Mills and Alex Lahey among others. The forthcoming EP is also joined by the recently released ambient LPs Signa One and Signa Two, collections of instrumental compositions inspired by the natural world that he plans to add to as an ongoing series, exploring a path opened to him when he began delving into the works of Goldmund, Riceboy Sleeps and Jon Brion. Once again, Nelson is plunging into the unknown. “I don’t really know what the future of my career as a performer looks like,” he shares, “but I know I have tons and tons of music to make.”

Listen to the EP below, and read through the Q&A feature just past:

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Interview with John Mark Nelson:

It’s been a number of years since your last album. Do you remember how you felt after Four Days Away?

Yes! It has been a while. Four Days Away was a pivotal project for me because it felt like returning to my musical origin story. When I first started making music, I didn’t have any expectation of what it would be or become. I simply made it for the joy of making. After a few years of trying to turn that joy into a career,  I think I lost the narrative a bit, and started creating as an attempt to earn attention or affection or praise. That quickly turned me into a perpetually miserable and ungrateful person. I made Four Days Away to try and get back to the innocence of creation. So when it was done I just gave it away for free. It gave me everything I hoped to get out of it. 

What brought you back to music?

Four Days Away was a big part of the return journey, but I also think significant life events turned me back into a curious and excited creator. I got married in 2016. We started our life over and moved across the country in 2019. And there was a global pandemic in 2020. So . . . lots to process! Music is my outlet for that. 

How did your time working with Dan Wilson in the studio re-invigorate your sense of creativity?

The roughly two years that I worked directly with Dan had probably the single most significant impact on my creative life. It was such an immersive learning experience. Working with new artists every single day in every single genre and style really expanded my musical horizons. It inspired me to start trying new things with my own music, implementing the production and writing insights I picked up from Dan on a daily basis. It was a very exciting environment.

How did your experience moving across the country with your wife influence this EP?

I think any major life reset gives you a chance to evaluate all the components of who you are and then shed things that no longer feel true, or try things that you maybe didn’t feel were possible until all your routines and infrastructure were rattled. Because I felt fairly unplugged from everything familiar, it gave me a blank slate to try and make something new. 

How do you feel about putting new music out into the world?

I feel cautiously excited! I don’t really know what the metrics are for successfully putting out music anymore, but I just hope that anyone that does listen enjoys it. It was a lot of fun to make, so I hope it’s fun to listen to haha. 

What is something you would like to tell your younger self?

Thanks for not giving up.