BABYLON ONLINE MAGAZINE

Max Murgia (Translated by Shadowqueen)

Mark Wilkinson, that is when art meets music. Mark is one of the most appreciated record cover designer: his paintbrush has been beneficial to some very important bands such as (Fish era) MARILLION, JUDAS PRIEST and IRON MAIDEN, defining a style and integrating perfectly in the imaginary world of the bands for which he’s been the illustrator.

I personally cared much about this interview, and it was supposed to be made during a rainy Saturday night in Milan, when Mark came to Milan for his recent appearance in an MTV Italy show. The informal ambience and the copious quantities of alcohol that flooded the Pudding Tavern table made this a hard attempt, so I gave up. I’d rather let Mark talk freely and listen to him replying to the interrogations of something like 15 of his hardcore fans, who had lots of inquisitive questions for him.

Mark was very kind and made himself available to sort-out the information, oddities and behind the scenes anecdotes that had been called to mind during that night, in an e-mail interview that I hope you’ll find as interesting and enlightening as I did.

MELVYN GRANT INTERVIEW FOR THE IRON MAIDEN ITALIAN FRANZINE 'EDDIE'S'.

1- Hello Melvyn! First of all, give us what you consider a brief but exhausting description of you.

I was born in London, England of Anglo Saxon, French and Celtic ancestry and I now live on the English South East coast. I’m male, dark haired (sometimes long, sometimes not so long), and quite a nice guy, so I’m occasionally told. My father said I was a cocky little sod and I guess he knew. I try to keep fit and trim, but it’s not easy when I’m chained to a drawing board most of the time. Of course, I could be a lot wealthier… in fact, I would like to be a whole lot wealthier, but that’s wishful thinking and I try not to do too much of that.
I’ve always been an artist right from the beginning, achieving top marks all through my school life. I attended the Brassey School of Fine Art from the age of twelve. I dropped out at the age of eighteen and travelled throughout Europe, although not Italy at that time. I then taught myself to paint properly. I returned to London, worked in animated films, tripped over something and fell into Fantasy illustration, and there I’ve stuck… sometimes at an odd angle. I guess I’ve been lucky, things could have been a lot worse. But I’m having a good time and I really enjoy painting… the exciting creative stuff. I hate the boring stuff… but I need to earn a living, sometimes.

To sum up me, I’ve always felt I’ve been riding the train to somewhere that could be special, but as of yet… I’ve not arrived, or maybe I past the station and I forgot to get off. So I’ll just ride on and see what’s at the end of the line.