Mark Watrous is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and graphic/video artist from

Richland, Washington Richland () is a city in Benton County, Washington, United States. It is located in southeastern Washington at the confluence of the Yakima River, Yakima and the Columbia River, Columbia Rivers. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was ...

. He is best known as a former member of the band Gosling (also known as Loudermilk). Watrous is currently a member of Earl Burrows and

the Shins The Shins are an American indie rock band formed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1996. The band is the project of singer-songwriter James Mercer, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The band's c ...

and has routinely performed as a touring member of

the Raconteurs The Raconteurs (, also known as The Saboteurs in Australia) are an American rock band from Detroit, Michigan, formed in 2005. The band consists of Jack White (vocals, guitar), Brendan Benson (vocals, guitar), Jack Lawrence (bass guitar), and ...

the Greenhornes The Greenhornes were an American garage rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio, formed in 1996 by vocalist/guitarist Craig Fox, bass guitarist Jack Lawrence and drummer Patrick Keeler. They released their debut album '' Gun For You'' in 1999, foll ...

, Shudder to Think,

Brendan Benson Brendan Benson (born November 14, 1970) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He plays guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, and drums. He has released eight solo albums and is a member of the band The Raconteurs. Recording career ''One Mis ...

, and

Karen Elson Karen Jill Elson (born 15 January 1979) is an English model, singer, and songwriter. Early life and education Elson was born in Oldham, Greater Manchester, and attended North Chadderton School as a child. She has a fraternal twin sister, film ...

among others.

Biography

Loudermilk (1995–2004)

In 1995, friends Davey Ingersoll (vocals, guitar), Mark Watrous (guitar), Shane Middleton (bass) and Issac Carpenter (drums) formed the

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

quartet Loudermilk in

Tri-Cities, Washington The Tri-Cities are three closely linked cities (Kennewick, Washington, Kennewick, Pasco, Washington, Pasco, and Richland, Washington, Richland) at the confluence of the Yakima River, Yakima, Snake River, Snake, and Columbia Rivers in the U.S. s ...

. They released their own album, ''Man with Gun Kills Three!'', independently in 1998. After hearing an unauthorized demo, American Recordings subsequently signed the group. Commenting on the demoes, Ingersoll stated that the demo was made just to get songs down and that "It was something edidn't even want people to hear". Despite touring with groups such as

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Hollywood, California, in 1981 by bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, with guitarist Mick Mars and lead vocalist Vince Neil joining right after. The band has sol ...

and

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

, they were dropped from the label. Speaking about the group being dropped from the label, Ingersoll stated:

DreamWorks Records DreamWorks Records (often referred in copyright notices as SKG Music, LLC) was an American record label founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Mo Ostin, his son Michael Ostin and Lenny Waronker as a subsidiary of DreamWorks Pictures. The label opera ...

signed them in early 2002. Several months later, they recorded and released their first official major label album, '' The Red Record''.

Gosling (2004–2006)

In 2004, Loudermilk changed their name to Gosling, after changing their musical style, retaining all members with Watrous switching from guitar to keyboards. Influenced by the likes of

Sunny Day Real Estate Sunny Day Real Estate is an American emo band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1992. The band currently consists of founding members Jeremy Enigk (vocals, guitar), Dan Hoerner (guitar) and William Goldsmith (drums), alongside Greg Suran ...

The Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The ...

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

and

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

, they released the ''Gosling EP'' through

The Control Group The Control Group is an independent record label, founded by Nabil Ayers in Seattle, Washington in 2002. Notable artists who have released albums on The Control Group include El Perro del Mar, Lykke Li, Cate Le Bon, Alice Boman and Wildbird ...

in August 2004. Earlier in the year, they supported

Velvet Revolver Velvet Revolver was an American hard rock supergroup consisting of Guns N' Roses members Slash (lead guitar), Duff McKagan (bass, backing vocals) and Matt Sorum (drums, backing vocals), alongside Dave Kushner (rhythm guitar) formerly of pu ...

The Roxy Theatre The Roxy Theatre (often just the Roxy) is a nightclub on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, owned by Lou Adler and his son, Nic. History The Roxy was opened on September 20, 1973, by Elmer Valentine and Lou Adler, along with ...

West Hollywood, California West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writing ...

. They released their debut full-length '' Here Is...'' in 2006 through V2 and went on to tour with

Rose Hill Drive Rose Hill Drive is an American rock band. The group is often aligned with other bands that are reviving traditional hard rock and early metal–psychedelic. Combining hard-driving rock and blues with modern touches and arrangements, they are of ...

. A cover of

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

's "

Cat People (Putting Out Fire) "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" is a song recorded by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie as the title track of the 1982 erotic horror film '' Cat People''. Bowie became involved with the track after director Paul Schrader reached out to ...

" was included on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

to the film '' Underworld: Evolution'' in 2006.

The Shins (2012–present)

In 2012, Watrous joined

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

as guitarist and multi-instrumentalist

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watrous, Mark Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Richland, Washington American male singer-songwriters American rock singers American rock guitarists American male guitarists American rock songwriters American indie rock musicians Singer-songwriters from Washington (state) Guitarists from Washington (state) The Shins members Gosling (band) members