Marlon Hevers - Life loves LIVE
Orange is fortunate to have a vibrant and growing local live music scene. So, in conjunction with JAM Orange, we thought we’d introduce you to some of our talented local musicians. Catch them at Jam Orange’s monthly Open Mic Nights, or at a venue near you!
Marlon Hevers is a young man determined to make his mark in the music industry.
At 18 years of age, Marlon is already well known on the local music scene and has been playing in pubs and cafes since he was just 16.
“It was pretty tricky actually,” said Marlon, about convincing licensees to let a minor perform. “I had to have my parents supervising me and a lot of the places were a bit iffy about getting me there.”
Marlon completed his HSC last year and is currently on a bit of a gap year; working part time at a local pharmacy while also practicing and performing music.
Music has always been part of life for Marlon, who said he always sang but it was only towards the end of primary school that he came to take music a bit more seriously.
“Orange Public had a bit of a rock band going on and I thought that sounded like fun, so I sang for that and that sparked me wanting to do music more,” said Marlon.
“I picked up guitar and now I've been playing 8 years, so that is probably the point where music started for me properly.”
Marlon continued to study music through high school and jumped at the chance to perform at school events.
But even though the response to his music was good, he never believed there was actually a future for him in music.
“I'd always enjoyed doing the school shows, but I never really thought I'd get onto another stage, because I was like, no one will want to listen to me, these are just family members coming in and watching their kids,” said Marlon, who’s confidence in his own ability grew after he began performing at the Orange Farmer’s Markets.
“I was just busking really, but when I played the farmers markets by myself and people actually sat down and listened to me and enjoyed… well, me. I thought that was really awesome. Hey, people actually want to listen to me! And it was probably at that point I thought I want to do this more.”
And it was through the farmers markets that Marlon got to pick up more and more paid gigs.
“I'd do my promotional thing shamelessly and I think I got pretty good at it after a while. I’d say: ‘Hi I'm Marlon Hevers and if anyone has an event or they want some background music or entertainment, I'm free,’” said Marlon.
“From there I went to other gigs; I started playing at the Blind Pig and the Ex-Services Club… A lot has happened in a really short amount of time. So, over the past two years I've got to where I am now — playing at bars and cafes and I'm actually recording some original music down at the Dotted Eight recording studio.”
“My plan is to record some songs and play around here, it then move to Sydney next year and do a course on sound production and audio engineering. I enjoy producing music and I've done some producing with my friends, but I want to learn how I can make my own stuff sound better. So, after this year, I’ll move to Sydney and see where it takes me from there.”