Mark Crew

Mark Crew (born 21 February 1985) is a songwriter, record producer and mix engineer based in London, known for his work with Bastille, Rag n Bone Man, and The Wombats.

Production & Mixing

Mark produced and mixed the debut album by Bastille titled Bad Blood, which charted at #1 in the UK,^[1] and at #11 in the US.^[2] The lead single from the album, Pompeii, charted at #2 in the UK^[3] and #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US,^[4] and has achieved over seven million sales to date. It has been awarded five-times platinum sales award in the US.^[5] Bastille subsequently won 'Best Breakthrough Act' at the Brits in 2014,^[6] and were nominated for a Grammy for 'Best New Artist' at the 57th Grammy Awards.^[7]

Mark also produced the two mixtapes that commenced Bastille's campaign, titled Other People's Heartache Parts I & II. One track from these mixtapes, Of The Night, was the launch single for the extended version of the album, 'All This Bad Blood'. The song charted at #2 in the UK,^[8] and has sold over 1.5 million downloads to date.

After Bad Blood, he produced the Bastille mixtape titled VS., an eight song set continuing in the vein of the previous mixtapes, featuring appearances from Lizzo, Angel Haze, and Haim.^[9]

Mark also produced Bastille's second album, Wild World.^[10][11][12] He also mixed 13 titles on the album. Wild World was released on 9 September 2016 and spent two weeks at number 1 on the UK album charts^[13] and reached number 4 in the US Billboard 200 charts.^[14] The lead single from the album, Good Grief, spent 23 weeks on the UK Singles Chart and was certified with a Gold sales award.^[15]

Mark also produced the third album from The Wombats.^[16] Titled Glitterbug, it was released on April 13, 2015. The first two singles from the album, titled Greek Tragedy and Give Me A Try, were both Zane Lowe's Hottest Records, and play-listed on Radio 1. The album entered the UK albums chart at number 5,^[17] and the Australian albums chart at number 2.^[18]

He has also worked with Coasts, producing their songs Oceans, Stay, and Tonight;^[19] and To Kill A King, producing and mixing Oh My Love and Breathe, and mixing their album ‘To Kill A King’.^[20]

Best Laid Plans

In 2013 Mark founded Best Laid Plans Records, with production partners Dan "Braque" Priddy and Dan Smith; and Best Laid Plans Music, a music publishing imprint.

The first artist to be produced for Best Laid Plans was Rag'n'Bone Man.^[21] The campaign commenced with a mini-album titled Wolves,^[22] which featured contributions from Vince Staples, Kate Tempest, and Stig of The Dump. This was followed with an EP titled Disfigured in March 2015,^[23] that included the track ‘Bitter End’; which was play listed and performed live at Glastonbury for BBC Radio 1.^[24] Rag n Bone Man is signed through to Columbia Records. Mark produced ten tracks on Rag N Bone Man's debut album with his production partner and label co-director Dan "Braque" Priddy. Titled Human, it was released on February 10, 2017,^[25] and sold 117,000 copies in the UK in its first week of release, becoming the "fastest-selling male debut album of the decade".^[26]

The second artist to be signed to Best Laid Plans was Rationale, whose debut ‘Fuel To The Fire’ EP gained early support from Annie Mac; Huw Stephens, and Phil Taggart on BBC Radio 1; and Zane Lowe and Pharrell Williams on Beats 1. Two tracks from the EP, Fuel To The Fire and Fast Lane, were play-listed on Radio 1. Subsequent single, ‘Something For Nothing’, was a 'Hottest Record'^[27] and also play-listed on BBC Radio 1. Mark mixed all titles and provided additional production on Something For Nothing.^[28]

Selected discography

Singles

Albums, EPs and Album Tracks

References