He's one of the most influential people, but little less well known, in the Grunge scene.
Let's share a few facts about the singer, guitarist and musician Mark Arm:
(Photo: Daigo Oliva)
1. He was born as Mark Thomas McLaughlin, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on February 21, 1962.
2. In his youth his family moved to the city of Kirkland in the state of Washington, located in the eastern suburbs of Seattle.
3. As early as 1980 he formed his first band - "Mr. Epp and the Calculations".
4. In 1982, the band released an EP called "Mohawk Man" and was a local success, including warming up bands like "Ten Minute Warning" and "Dead Kennedys".
5. In 1983 the guitarist Steve Turner joined the band and the band released with him another material that was only released on tape.
6. After the band disbanded, in 1984, Mark and Steve formed the Green River band of which was also joined by bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard, who will later be members of the band's "Mother Love Bone" and "Pearl Jam".
7. "Green River" is known as one of the first and most influential bands in the grunge scene.
(Photo: Charles Peterson)
8. Together with "Green River", Mark released from 1985 two EPs and one studio album which was released in 1988.
9. After the disbandment of "Green River", Gossard and Ament left for "Mother Love Bone" and Mark and Steve set out to form the band "Mudhoney".
10. "Mudhoney" released its first single - "Touch Me I'm Sick" in 1988 and immediately afterward the EP "Superfuzz Bigmuff".
(Photo: Mudhoney Twitter Page)
11. "Mudhoney's" single and EP released in 1988 greatly influenced the Seattle music scene at the time and "Mudhoney" became the flagship of the "Sub Pop" label which would later become associated with Seattle and the grunge scene.
12. Mark was the owner of the warehouse of the record company "Sub Pop" which was the catalyst for music in Seattle. He packed CDs and records as a job.
13. "Sonic Youth" members who were very impressed with the single and the EP invited "Mudhoney" members to join them for a tour held by Sonic in England.
14. It is interesting to note that Matt Dillon's imaginary band Citizen Dick in the movie "Singles" has a song that corresponds with "Mudhoney's" first single and is called "Touch Me I'm Dick".
15. "Mudhoney" were also part of the soundtrack of the movie "Singles" to which it contributed the song "Overblown".
16. "Mudhoney" released its first studio album in 1989 and is among the only grunge bands that continue to release grunge albums to date, the last one came out in 2018. They are true to themselves and the music they have been devoutly making for over 30 years.
17. Mark and "Mudhoney" also continue to release their albums, to this day, under the same mythological label associated with the grunge genre - "Sub Pop".
18. Mark is among the first to use the term "Grunge" in reference to a musical scene. This happened back in 1981 when he wrote a letter to one of the local newspapers in which he described the music his first band made - "Mr. Epp and the Calculations" as "Pure Grunge !, Pure Noise !, Pure Garbage!".
19. Mark is featured on the song "Right Turn" from the EP. "SAP" of the band Alice in Chains. Chris Cornell is also a guest on the same song and the credit for the same one-time supergroup, was given to "Alice Mudgarden" which is a combination of the three bands: "Alice in Chains", "Soundgarden" and Mudhoney.
20. Alongside his membership in the band "Mudhoney" to this day, Mark Aram has a solo career and is active in several ensembles, including the supergroup "The Monkeywrench".
21. In 2004, Mark Aram replaced the mythical singer of the proto-punk band MC5, during the band's tour, after he passed away.
22. In 2009, Mark Aram and "Mudhoney" came to perform in Israel and shredded the "Barby" club with an attack of distortion.