Mark Kozelek

Mark Kozelek is an American singer-songwriter, musician and producer from Massillon, Ohio. He is best known as the frontman of Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon, and he also records as Mark Kozelek & Desertshore. His work is associated with contemporary folk, indie folk and singer-songwriter styles, and he is also linked to slowcore, indie and alt-country.

Early life and Red House Painters

Kozelek is born in 1967 and is raised in Massillon, Ohio. After moving to Atlanta, Georgia, he meets drummer Anthony Koutsos. The two later relocate to San Francisco, California, where Red House Painters form in 1989 with guitarist Gorden Mack and bassist Jerry Vessel.

Between 1992 and 1996, Red House Painters release a run of albums that establish Kozelek's intensely personal, autobiographical songwriting. The group later faces problems after his split with 4AD and a major label merger leaves the 1998 album Old Ramon unreleased at the time, which slows the band's progress. Kozelek then turns towards solo material as Red House Painters dissolve.

Solo recordings and cover versions

In 2000, Kozelek releases the solo EP Rock 'n' Roll Singer, which includes three original songs and covers of John Denver's "Around and Around" and three AC/DC songs: "Rock 'n' Roll Singer", "Bad Boy Boogie" and "You Ain't Got a Hold on Me". Two of the AC/DC versions are rearranged into gentle acoustic folk settings, replacing the original hard rock style. He develops this approach further on What's Next to the Moon, a full album of AC/DC covers issued in 2001, where the reworkings are so different from the originals that a KCRW radio executive mistakes the title track for a Leonard Cohen song.

Kozelek had already carried out similarly radical versions of other songs with Red House Painters, including material by Simon & Garfunkel, The Cars, Yes, Paul McCartney and Francis Scott Key.

Tribute releases and live recordings

During the period between band projects, Kozelek contributes to compilation and tribute albums. He records "New Partner" for a Will Oldham tribute release, I Am Cold Rock. I Am Dull Grass. He also assembles a John Denver tribute album, Take Me Home: A Tribute to John Denver, which features artists such as Will Oldham, The Innocence Mission and Low. On that compilation, he performs "Around and Around" as a duet with Rachel Goswell.

A limited live recording, White Christmas Live, appears on Sub Pop in 2001. Alongside solo songs, it includes stripped-down versions of Red House Painters material, one a cappella track, an early version of Sun Kil Moon's "Lily and Parrots" as an uncredited bonus track, and one previously unreleased song, "Admiral Fell Promises".

Sun Kil Moon

Sun Kil Moon debuts with Ghosts of the Great Highway in 2003. The project includes former Red House Painters members Jerry Vessel and Anthony Koutsos, together with Geoff Stanfield, formerly of Black Lab, and Tim Mooney of American Music Club. In 2005, Kozelek releases the follow-up Tiny Cities on his label Caldo Verde Records; the album consists entirely of covers of Modest Mouse songs.

In 2006, he contributes the original song "Leo and Luna" exclusively to Paper Bag Records' See You on the Moon! Songs for Kids of All Ages compilation. Later that year he releases the live album Little Drummer Boy Live, which draws on his solo work, cover versions and songs from both Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon. Sun Kil Moon's third album, April, follows in 2008 and includes guest vocals from Ben Gibbard, Will Oldham and Eric Pollard.

Sun Kil Moon's fourth album, Admiral Fell Promises, is announced in 2010 and released later that year.

Labels, books and films

Kozelek forms Caldo Verde Records and releases several projects through it. He is also associated with God Forbid Publishing. In 2008, Nights of Passed Over is reissued as a 256-page hardback containing lyrics to songs from his solo work, Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon, along with setlists, handwritten lyrics and a preface by Kozelek. The updated edition includes a 12-track bonus CD, Nights LP, with live and rare recordings from 1996 to 2007.

Later in 2008, he and Caldo Verde Records issue The Finally LP, a collection of unreleased tracks that includes covers of Stephen Sondheim, Will Oldham, Hüsker Dü and Low, plus two unreleased instrumentals. Two live albums, Find Me, Ruben Olivares: Live in Spain and Lost Verses Live, follow in 2009. A documentary film, Mark Kozelek: On Tour, is released by Caldo Verde Records in 2011 and is filmed during parts of his European and North American tours of 2010 and early 2011.

Other notes

In 2012, an article discusses Kozelek's interest in boxing, which influences the name of Sun Kil Moon and appears in a few songs on a Desertshore album. He has also been involved in material under the name Mark Kozelek & Desertshore.