Mark Thomas
(Bass Guitar, Vocals)
As solid as any bassist you will find in the industry, Mark lays it down right. What you really notice about Mark is his soaring tenor voice. This is a voice that can sing songs by Stevie Wonder, Mark Farner of Grand Funk, and Don Henley of the Eagles that most of us mere mortals can only dream about doing.
Mark is a Toronto lad born and bred. He’s got four brothers and three sisters. He got his first bass at 14 (no name but it looked like a Gibson Thunderbird) when some local boys started a basement band and needed the low end. He played cello in school so they though there might be a connection.
Mark instantly enjoyed playing bass and found he could sing and play at the same time – beer helps…
Bands have included Canal with Chuck Page (now leading Lisa Smith’s Power Haus), Stallion (famous band at Toronto’s Yonge Station and the Westlaw and countless other Ontario and Quebec hotels), Cinema Face with Randy Infuso and Frank Lamagna (frequently headlined at the Gasworks, Piccadilly Tube, the Colonial, and countless other Ontario and Quebec hotels).
A realization that music was not going to pay the bills and a disenchantment with the whole music business led Mark to decide to go back to school (Ryerson) for Industrial Engineering. For about 12 years he didn’t play the bass at all, until he was invited by former Cinema Face players to be part of a regular Jam downtown. They recorded a second Cinema Face CD to some interest but it was for fun mostly.
Between 2007 and 2009 Mark also played in a band called Relapse – a loud rock act that shook the foundations with fun and classic rock songs.
A couple of years ago Mark switched over to a 5-string bass to get that super low sound. His bass is Warwick $$ (double-buck) Corvette and his amp is a Gallien Kreuger.
By the way, we always wondered: why do bass players – playing the lowest-note instruments – always sing in a high range? Geddy Lee, Chris Squire, Randy Meisner, Timothy B. Schmit, Mark Thomas … It must be the extreme weight that the instrument places on their nether regions – it’s the only answer. | 
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