7 Answers From: Mark Hutchinson of Muntjac
A conversation with Mark Hutchinson.
Hi Pal,
Welcome to 7 Answers From. This is a newsletter where I have conversations with artists, composers, producers and other creatives in and around the Christian alternative indie scene by asking them 7 questions.
Bio: Muntjac is the alter ego of Mark Hutchinson from the UK. He came late to songwriting, launching his debut album, ‘Stranger’ in his early 50’s in the autumn of 2021. His first album established Muntjac as a relevant voice, notching up over 100,000 streams on Spotify in its first six months. It also has had airtime on a number of radio stations in the UK – with his music described as ‘just genius in my opinion’ by Total Rock.
Muntjac sits outside any traditional music genre – seeking to write songs that cross over alternative rock, modern folk and alternative Christian music. His songs are highly influenced by his beliefs, yet are written to speak to anyone, regardless of their beliefs. They aim to help them think through complex themes and be relevant in today’s challenging times.
Introduction
I ran into Muntjac’s Stranger (2021) album through a random Spotify recommendation two years ago. From my first listen, I have always connected to his ability to tell compelling stories that have an underlying soothing quality, irrespective of the theme. Last year, when he started releasing the singles for Jubilee (2022), I had a gut feeling that we were building up to something special and I was not disappointed.
In this chat, we talk about his life, the relationship between grief, loss and faith; his musical inspirations, his creative process and much more.
The Conversation
Q: Happy new year Mark. Sometimes it’s so easy for us as listeners to get caught up in the artistry. In your personal life and your walk with God, can you walk me through some lessons you learnt in 2022?
For me, 2022 was a significant year because it was the year my father died. He fell ill in the backend of 2021 and died in May 2022, a couple of weeks before the latest album's first single, Jubilee Day, came out. I saw him in new ways through his illness - watching him face imminent death without complaint and with absolute confidence about where he was going was a real inspiration.
Equally, we met lots of people afterwards to whom he had been a massive influence in quietly encouraging and supporting/showing the way. It made me look at my father with new eyes and if I could get to the end of my life and have lived as he lived; that would be wonderful.
Q: It’s no secret to anyone who consistently follows this newsletter how much I loved your latest album – Jubilee. Unlike many albums with consistent themes, this album feels like a collection of stories. Can you talk to me about the inspiration behind this album and the threads that tie everything together?
You’re right and I like that description as ‘a collection of short stories’ and I think that is what the Jubilee album is. I write songs all the time and I’m always thinking about themes.
Sometimes I come up with a couplet and put that to music, sometimes I write some music and I think about words. I suppose there are a couple common threads across the Jubilee album and the first is that I think there is a deep nostalgia - most of the songs look back in some shape or form. They also bring a magnifying glass to times of suffering, struggle or dilemma; in different times, and sometimes quite bleakly recognizing that faith in the Lord is the bedrock of everything. Those are the consistent themes: nostalgia and a thread of faith through everything that life throws at you.
Q: I have dubbed your music “storyteller indie” more than once in this newsletter. Listening to your songs, it is clear to me that both positive and negative emotions can be sources of inspiration for you. When you draw from painful experiences, how do you take care of your mental and spiritual health?
You’re right, I do draw from both positive and often negative emotions or times of real struggle. Not always my struggle, I can be inspired by other people and seeing other people’s journeys can really throw things up for me and make me think things through. Tides, for example, I wrote soon after two friends of mine, of a similar age to me, lost their wives suddenly and it made me think about what it would be like to face such a devastating loss at this age. Equally, Dusk, off my first album Stranger, was written after a guy that I knew committed suicide. It really threw up a lot of questions for me about why and how someone finds themselves in that situation and the tragedy of it.
I think difficult emotions are to be faced head-on, and it's really important that we recognize them and not just brush them away or shove them under the carpet. I think I am in a much healthier place than I was a few years ago which enables me to be able to look back and think about hard times and experiences with a degree of objectivity. Writing is huge therapy in itself and prayers, reading the word and having strong friendships with people who are brothers in my journey. All these things help keep me healthy.
Q: Do you have a favourite song(s) on the album from a lyrical perspective? And if yes, what are they and why do they occupy such a special place in your heart?
There are two songs in particular — Jubilee Day and Watchmaker. For Watchmaker, I’ve often thought long and hard about science, evolution, the creation stories in the Bible and how faith and science are reconciled. The concept of the “God of the gaps” has always been a troubling concept for me - that deepening scientific knowledge explains away the need for a creator God. I’ve always felt must be wrong. So in Watchmaker, I tried to address that issue lyrically - exploring the physical and the metaphysical, as it were.
Jubilee Day, on the other hand, comes from the fact that I studied History in the university some years back and I have a strong sense of history and time passing. In Jubilee Day I try to knit together the past and the present around the ‘central event’ to the song of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 - from the village fete to commemorative china mugs, reflecting on the hopes, joys and fears that were in my nation amidst a bleak economic time and on many of the events that preceded and followed. The song ends by looking back to ancient times and understanding that ‘Jubilee' was about restoration and rest.
Q: Who are your musical inspirations and what have you been able to learn from these people?
I’ve always loved music and I have listened to everything from Thomas Tallis and Baroque music to modern day artists (although probably not too much from the last 10 years!). But the artist I have listened to most over the years and the one I often return to is David Bowie. Because of the incredible variety of his music, the lyricism, the eclectic styles and the wonderful feel for a tune that he had. Also, Leonard Cohen, I love the stories that he weaves and the way he brings poetry into music. He was a poet before he was a musician and I think you can see that in his work.
Nick Cave is also one of my favourites - the theme of reconciling many of the battles in his own mind and life. Again, the music and the tunes that he weaves along with the instrumentation is just wonderful. More recently, I have loved artists like Anais Mitchell, she brings a new folk sensibility to her music which I really like. My inspirations are usually those that are trying to tell a story, say something different and bring a unique feel to their music.
Q: Late last year, we caught up a bit and you spoke to me about confidence as an artist. What advice would you give to independent musicians who are struggling with confidence with regard to putting their work out in the world?
I’m pretty new to this myself and I only started publishing music in the last 18 months, so in my 50s. I’m glad that I have, although it was pretty nerve-racking at times because when you put music out, you have absolutely no idea whether it’s any good or not. Friends will tell me they like it just because they are my friends and they do not want to offend me. But it is when it’s out there in the cold light of day and listeners find it and maybe it gets on a few playlists and people want to talk about it, that’s really encouraging. I’ve been picked up by some Christian Radio stations and one of my songs in particular — Stumble — gets requested quite often and that’s pretty encouraging and gives me the confidence to keep going and maybe to experiment more with different things.
So what I will say to any independent musician is that it very difficult to find an audience. Not everyone is going to like your music, but some will. I would encourage everyone who feels called to writing music to give it a try - with all the digital platforms out there, it’s fairly straightforward to get music out. It’s just a matter of finding an audience, but if you don’t try, no one is going to find it.
Q: What can we expect from Muntjac in 2023?
I’ve written a lot more songs — over 25 — and I’m writing at the time. But I’m also trying to experiment with slightly different styles and learn a greater proficiency with various instruments — guitars, bass, and keyboards. Also experimenting with different vocal styles and sonic treatments. So, we’ll see. More music will come this year, I’m not sure yet if it will just be a few songs, a couple of EPs or even another album towards the middle or later in the year. But keep an eye out.
Thanks to Mark for taking the time to talk to us. Outside of music, he is a father of three teenage children, happily married and living deep in the Surrey Hills. He has run numerous marathons and ultra-marathons, including the Marathon des Sables, is a keen tennis player and is an active member of Emmaus Rd Church in Guildford.
List to Muntjac here:
Apple Music • YouTube Music • Deezer
Connect with Muntjac here:
Instagram • Twitter • Facebook
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