| Welcome To Holo Interviews. The #1 Interviews Club in the world! Today we have the Top Musician of The Holoist Society, a published author and much appreciated member of the Holoist and MAL Community, @MeanMrMusician Glad you are here, tell us about yourself. Okay! Hello! I'm MeanMrMusician, but you can call me Musician or Mark. I'm a 20-year-old college student from San Antonio, Texas. I play guitar and keys, and I'm pursuing my Bachelor's degree in music education. I enjoy listening to music, watching anime, reading manga, and chatting with friends. How did you get into anime and manga? I don't know; it just kinda happened. I never grew up watching Pokemon, Dragon Ball, Naruto, or any of the other anime most kids have some familiarity with. One day, I just decided to give the medium a try, and after browsing Netflix - almost having chosen Erased as my first anime - I settled on Great Pretender, and the rest is history. As for manga, it took me a while to come around, but I eventually started reading series and liking it more and more. What are some of your favourite shows and who are your favourite characters/waifus? As you can see by my list, it's hard for me to pick favorites, but a few of my favorites include Great Pretender, Beastars, and Kids on the Slope. Some of the more popular series I enjoy are Hunter x Hunter, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and Haikyuu!! In terms of favorite characters, some that will probably always remain on my list are Radical Edward from Cowboy Bebop, Legoshi from Beastars, Gon from Hunter x Hunter, and Ryuk from Death Note (an anime I've always found very hard to get into). If you could live in the world of an anime you've seen or manga you've read, which would it be and why? I have two answers for this. In terms of anime, it would be great to live in the world of Haikyuu!! Playing for Karasuno or Nekoma would be pretty cool and probably never boring; I also wouldn't mind being a manager or something like that. For manga, I would love to live in the world of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou. It's very serene, and there's barely any conflict to be had; my life would consist mainly of sightseeing, getting coffee, and meeting new people. Who wouldn't wanna live a life as stress-free as that? Outside of anime, what other interests do you have and like to do for fun? Well, as I said, I do play guitar and keyboard/piano (I'm better/more dedicated to the former). Classical guitar is actually my principal instrument in college, and I quite enjoy it. I love listening to music as well - many different types, from classic rock to city pop, jazz to hip-hop. I also like playing video games from time to time, but it's mostly "non-gamer" choices like Guitar Hero and Mario Kart. How did get into learning to play guitar and keyboard/piano? I started playing keyboard when I was five years old. My aunt and cousin were getting rid of a keyboard, so they gave it to me. I took lessons for a while, but for the most part, I've been self-taught. I haven't dedicated that much time to it, but it's still something I can mess around with. As for guitar, I had played around with a couple guitars as a little kid but finally started taking guitar lessons at age 9. I took them for a few years but was mainly self-taught after that. It wasn't until I prepared for college that I started taking classical guitar lessons. Very cool. We have to know, how many and what kind of guitar do you play? I can play acoustic, electric, and classical guitar. Here is a list of the guitars that I use and what year I got them: ACOUSTIC: - Carlo Robelli F600CE (2016) ELECTRIC: - Epiphone Les Paul Special II (2016) - Squier Stratocaster (2018) - Gretsch G5425 [?] Electromatic Jet (2019) CLASSICAL: - Altamira N500+ (2023) I also have a First Act acoustic, a First Act electric, and a Cordoba Cadet classical that I no longer use. Who are you biggest musical influences and favourite artists? I haven't thought much about influences, but one that comes to mind is The Beach Boys. Whenever I sing, I sometimes try to emulate their style, whether or not I'm singing a song of theirs or not. In terms of my favorite artists, they include The Beach Boys, Genesis, Vulfpeck, Billy Joel, and MF DOOM. From Star: Can you talk about why you admire Brian Wilson? I don't know why it is that I admire Brian Wilson so much, but a lot of his music is just so... magical at times. The Beach Boys were my favorite band in high school - along with The Beatles - and all eras of their music give me some kind of nostalgia. It's truly a blessing to have someone like him around. From Chef: Ok, favorite musical experience you have been part of / favorite thing that you have ever played? Two experiences instantly came to mind. The first happened in my junior year of high school. My school was putting on a production of the musical Xanadu, and I was asked to play guitar in the pit. It was tiring, but it was a lot of fun, and I've always hoped to be able to do something like that again. The second is from this past semester of college. I joined one of the mariachi groups at my school, and we had a concert in November. It was really great because unlike other concerts, such as those for orchestra or choir, the audience really got into the music - seeing as San Antonio has a large Hispanic population. Naturally, though, as I progress through school, there are sure to be other amazing experiences! Have you ever combined the two and play any songs from anime? I've never really played any anime songs - besides messing around with a couple songs from Cowboy Bebop - with one exception. A couple years ago, for my piano class, I chose the "title" piece from Beastars for one of my exams. It was tricky, and I didn't nail it 100%, but it's still a fun piece to play every once in a while. From North: Who is the greatest lead guitarist of all time other than Northmostisle? I think the greatest guitarist of all time - or at least my favorite - is Eddie Van Halen. His sound and ability were amazing, and it's really a shame that he's gone. I think his death is the celebrity death which impacted me the most. You mentioned in another interview that you have published a book. Could you tell us about it for those in Holo Interviews and have you published another since then? My mom and I wrote a book in 2018 called He Loved Her Before. It's a romantic mystery about a man who sees a woman he doesn't know in his dreams every night - and then meets her one day at the bookstore she owns. Although it's not perfect, and we would've done it differently today, it's still something that we're proud of. We've worked on another book, but we haven't gotten around to completing it yet. This is so cool and wholesome! Are there any cool places you have travelled to? And any future travel plans? I don't travel a whole lot but have been to most of the other big cities in Texas such as Dallas, Austin, Houston, Corpus Christi, and Laredo. I've also been to Atlanta once for my cousin's wedding and have visited my dad's home state of Minnesota four times. As for what the future holds, we don't know yet, but there might be some really cool places coming up later this year. I'll make sure to update if it happens! Anything to say to our readers? Thanks for reading! I will be happy to answer any more questions you guys have in reply to this interview. |
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