Album Notes

Raised on a steady diet of Led Zepplin, the Beatles, Stones, The Animals, The Kinks, The Who, Aerosmith and Gun's 'N Roses as an imprint to musical forays, Mark Hendryx of Otherworld is inspired by the guys that wrote the book on rock & roll. Mark picked up his first guitar sometime in the 4th grade after having drummed "Whole Lotta Love" into his head at school with a 45 Close and Play. "A seminal moment in my life was that one and remebering the first Beatles tune I sung along with "Hard Days Night," and then the Stones came along" says Mark. Another key influence is Bowie and "the first album I ever bought was 'Diamond Dogs,' a true classic." Otherworld is headed up by singer/songwriter Mark Hendryx who recently teamed up with Steve Gillis, Drummer from the band Filter, in Steves studio Transient Sounds. Steve is producer and arranger on the record and had a hand in co-writing on several tracks. He also plays drums on all of the tracks on this recent effort "Sonic Spirit." Clearly, Steve brings a world class beat to the record and a certain intensity. "We think the record is unique and radio worthy" says Mark. Mark also played in a number of other projects including Space 45 which played their final show at the Double Door back in '96. That band produced a studio EP, one of three that Mark has written and sung on. After continued play at area clubs and many open mics, (those will test your character) Mark formed Otherworld and teamed up with Ramsey Gouda at Onion Head studio to record "Sonic Dream," Otherworld's first studio effort. Steve Gillis was on drums and Ramsey played many of the guitar tracks and produced the album. It's was critically acclaimed and the song "Automatic" in particlar - the Entertainer referred to as epic. Automatic received airplay in '04 by James Van Osdel at 94.7, the Zone. Another track, "Before You" was also aired on Q101 by local DJ Chris Payne. We have high expectations of "Sonic Spirit" and Steve Gillis helped take our sound and music up a notch or two. I'm looking forward to sharing what we have created and making whatever contribution I can to our culture and music scene in Chicago. I love our city and it supports artists like me and is proof that if you hold on to your dreams, they will come true [says Mark].