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Mark Loftin, Drums
Medley of Song Clips
Mark Loftin is a West Coast-based drummer, percussionist and composer. Loftin co-founded indie rock band Morning Spy, and has played with Astral, Foxtail Somersault, Space Waves, Brittany Shane and various side projects and solo work. Songs with his contributions have received FM airplay across North America and Europe - charting on numerous countdowns - and been featured on shows such as NPR's All Things Considered and KALX-FM's Next Big Thing Show. In early 2011 songs from three of Loftin's bands were getting simultaneous FM airplay, and in 2004 the top 10 was broken twice. TV and film placements include CBS's The Ghost Whisperer and the award winning Ebert and Roeper Pick of the Week A Lawyer Walks Into a Bar (also reviewed in the Wall Street Journal). He's shared the stage with a diverse range of bands, including The Silverson Pickups, The Lilys, Loquat, Helio Sequence, Betty Serveert and Holly Miranda.
Press coverage includes MTV Network's OurStage, Pop Matters, The San Francisco Chronicle, The SF Bay Guardian, The Portland Mercury and Performer Magazine. He has also written for Modern Drummer magazine.
Recent News
7/28/12: Live with San Francisco shoegaze band Foxtail Somersault at Slim's (San Francisco) with Loquat
6/4-6/7/12: Recording with San Francisco avantgarde band Shawerma
4/12/12: Live with Portland indie rock band Space Waves at The Hemlock (San Francisco) with Vir and Astral
4/1/12: Recording with Space Waves near Portland, OR
2/15/12: Live with Space Waves at The Hemlock with Grimble Grumble (Chicago) and The Soft Bombs (Sacramento)
2/8/12: "Grind" from solo album Retro Carnival played on the Reaching For Lucidity San Francisco Band Blowout podcast
10/12/11: KUMD-FM (Minneapolis, MN) adds "Road Americana" from Retro Carnival to playlist
8/12/11: Feature story on Foxtail Somersault on MTV Network's OurStage site
8/9/11: WMBR-FM (Cambridge, MA) adds "Grind" from Retro Carnival to playlist
7/13/11: Foxtail Somersault live at The Rickshaw Stop (SF) with Fake Your Own Death and Foreign Cinema
6/25/11: Foxtail Somersault live in-studio acoustic podcast at Mutiny Radio (SF)
5/28/11: Foxtail Somersault live at the Mindwave Festival, Echo Park (Los Angeles)
3/26/11: Foxtail Somersault's "To a Runaway" spun at Portland's 9th Annual Vampire Masquerade Ball
Discography
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Foxtail Somersault - Live at Echo Park (LA) (2011)
Label: Mindwave Records Notes: Recorded live at the Mindwave Fest at Echo Park, Los Angeles on 5/28/11. Vinyl LP pending. For Download: Bandcamp page | ||||||||||||||
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Foxtail Somersault - Live at Mutiny Radio (2011)
Label: Mutiny Radio podcast archive Notes: Acoustic versions of various songs from Reflections (2010) and Fathom (2007) with DJ St. Kilda For Download: Mutiny Radio podcast | ||||||||||||||
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Astral - Forever After (2010)
Label: Vibraphone Records Peak Chart Position: #13 - CJSW-FM (Calgary, CAN), 9/3/10 Airplay: #27 - KALX-FM (Berkeley, CA), #41 - KEXP-FM (Seattle, WA), KUSF-FM (San Francisco, CA), KZSU-FM (Stanford, CA) Notes: Drummer/co-songwriter on "All is Said and Done" and "Million Miles from Nowhere" For Sale: Amazon, iTunes | ||||||||||||||
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Foxtail Somersault - Reflections EP (2010)
Label: Vibraphone Records Peak Chart Position: #20 ("To a Runaway") - SomaFM (San Francisco, CA), 11/6/10 Additional Airplay: KALX-FM (Berkeley, CA), KUSF-FM (San Francisco, CA), Radio Crystal Blue Honors: Best of 2010 - North Atlantic Underground Radio, The Dumbing of America For Sale: Amazon, iTunes | ||||||||||||||
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Foxtail Somersault - "Birthday" (2009)
Label: Vibraphone Records Peak Chart Position: #41 - Strangeways Radio's Top 50 of 2010 Notes: featuring Becky Uline on vocal Listen: Youtube | ||||||||||||||
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Loftin - Retro Carnival (2009)
Label: Independent Release Peak Chart Position: #11 ("Predicament") - The Indie Show 9/30/09, #56 ("Road Americana") - My Music Stream, 11/01/09 Featured Spins: KALX-FM's Next Big Thing Show 8/10/09, KKUP-FM's No Pigeonholes Show 10/11 & 10/25/09 Airplay: KUSF-FM (San Francisco, CA), KALX-FM (Berkeley, CA), KDVS-FM (Davis, CA), KKUP-FM (Cupertino, CA), WCBN-FM (Ann Arbor, MI), KUMD-FM (Minneapolis, MN), WMBR-FM (Cambridge, MA), WAAK-FM (North Georgia) For Sale: Amazon, iTunes, CD Baby | ||||||||||||||
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Morning Spy - Ghost Whisperer (2008) - TV show song placement - "Daughters of History"
Notes: "Daughters of History" (Subsequent Light), placed in season three For Sale: Amazon | ||||||||||||||
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Morning Spy - A Lawyer Walks Into a Bar (2007) - documentary song placement - "Foggy Filter" Honors: Recommended - Ebert and Roeper Pick of the Week 9/22/07, Winner - Dallas International Film Festival Notes: More info and reviews are here For Sale: Amazon | ||||||||||||||
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Morning Spy - Two Singles (2006) "Prepare to Sound" and "Our Way to Fall" Notes: Recorded at Little Red Wagon Studios (Fremont, CA). Music video to "Prepare to Sound" here, or download here | ||||||||||||||
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Morning Spy - Copper Press Compilation (Mag #23, 2005)
Notes: Indie rock compilation featuring "Voices and Vigils" For Sale: CD Universe | ||||||||||||||
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Morning Spy - The Silver Age (2005) Label: Abandoned Love Records Peak Chart Position: #75 - KZSU (Stanford, CA), 7/3/05 Airplay: CIUT-FM (Toronto), KSCU-FM (Santa Clara, CA), KUCI-FM (UC Irvine, CA), Bagel Radio (San Francisco, CA), The Podcast Network (Dallas, TX) Notes: Interview of the band on KSCU-FM (Santa Clara, CA) is here. Recorded at Tiny Telephone Studios, San Francisco For Sale: Amazon, iTunes  Morning Spy - Emma (2006) - documentary soundtrack |
Notes: Ten songs from Morning Spy's catalogue placed in this documentary by Valerie Krex. Honors: Official selection, Los Angeles and Big Sky Film Festivals For Sale: valeriekrex@gmail.com  Morning Spy - Keepsakes Compilation #23, Vol.2 (2005)
| Notes: Indie rock compilation featuring a cover of Modest Mouse's "Third Monster"  Morning Spy - Two Horses EP (2004) |
Label: Abandoned Love Records Peak Chart Position: #7 - KSCU-FM (Santa Clara, CA), 8/16/04 Airplay: KCPR-FM (San Luis Obispo, CA) Honors: Best of 2004, Schmat Records (Los Angeles, CA), Top 100 Songs of 2004 - "Hey Kirsten" - Chrisnotes (Los Angeles, CA) For Sale: Amazon, iTunes  Morning Spy - Subsequent Light (2004) |
Peak Chart Position: #3 - KCPR-FM (San Luis Obispo, CA), 5/3/04 Featured Spins: "Slow Flood" - NPR's All Things Considered #29 Airplay: #23 - KSCU-FM (Santa Clara, CA), KZSU-FM (Stanford, CA), KCPR-FM (San Luis Obispo, CA), Radio XY (Vancouver, CAN), Bagel Radio (San Francisco, CA) Honors: Best Local Song of 2004 - "Daughters of History" - Bagel Radio (Honorable Mention) and Napkin.org For sale: Amazon, iTunes  Morning Spy - EP #2 (2003) |
Label: Independent release Peak Chart Position: #38 - KSCU-FM (Santa Clara, CA), 7/13/03 Notes: Review from West Coast Performer magazine review here  Morning Spy - EP #1 (2003) |
Label: Independent release Notes: Web reviews from Left Off the Dial and Splendid  Morning Spy - Self Titled (2002) |
Label: Independent release Notes: Morning Spy's first album For sale: E-mail markplaysdrums@gmail.com for a copy ($10). |
Photos and Show Fliers
