1. Hi, thanks for joining us; tell us a little about yourself.
Thank you for having me. My name is Mark Antonio. I’m an American songwriter and artist from Texas with deep Italian roots. My grandparents came to America from Naples and Gangi, Sicily, so Italy has always been an important part of who I am. I still travel to Italy to visit family and friends, particularly in Torre Faro and Civitavecchia.
I came to music and songwriting a little later in life, and I think that has shaped the way I write. I’ve had a wide range of life experiences to draw from, both personally and professionally. Some of my songs are reflective and tell stories about love, heartbreak, relationships, and those moments in life that stay with you. Others are more motivational, about perseverance, overcoming setbacks, believing in yourself, and continuing to move forward when things don’t go as planned.
2. Tell us about your new album or recent project?
a. I released my first album this year, “This Moment Is Mine”. It has a mix of motivational and reflective songs, which represent the range of music that I like to write. Some are about perseverance, believing in yourself, and pushing through difficult moments, while others are more personal and deal with relationships, heartbreak, and life experiences.
Since the album, I’ve been releasing individual songs. One song that has really connected with people is Three Days in the Dark. It’s a breakup song about heartbreak, trying to move forward, and realizing that even when you think you’ve let someone go, part of you may still be holding on. The response to that song has probably surprised me more than anything. From the comments and engagement that I’ve seen, people seem to connect with the story and recognize something of their own experience in it.
My newest release is “Borrowed Time”, which looks at love from a different perspective. It’s the realization that something you thought would last forever may only have been yours for a period of time. I continue to explore different stories and emotions while also keeping that motivational side of my music.
3. In your songs, do you prefer to tell stories based on personal experiences or imagined stories?
a. Most of my songs begin with personal experiences or something I’ve observed in life, but I’ll use imagery and storytelling to build the song around that experience. Sometimes the idea can come from a very simple moment.
For example, I was working on Borrowed Time and struggling with part of the song. I started thinking about something as simple as a hug and how much can be communicated without saying a word. Whether it’s your spouse, your child, or a close friend, sometimes you can feel exactly what that person is saying to you. It feels like your soul can hear what words don’t need to say.
That feeling became part of the song: “Your hugs would say a thousand words, I knew everything you felt.”
So I would say that’s a big part of my songwriting process. I try to take those small moments and emotions we all experience and turn them into something people can recognize in their own lives.
4. How do places and experiences from your life find their way into your songs?
a. “Paradise Alive” is probably a good example of that. I visit Italy every year, and I spend time in Torre Faro, Sicily. I can picture myself sitting on the beach there, looking across the Strait of Messina toward Reggio Calabria. In fact, the photo I use in my artist bio was taken there.
Then there are the little things you see that stay with you. The bread truck comes through town, and you might see people lower a basket or bucket on a rope to get their bread without even coming downstairs. It’s a simple thing, but it says something about the way of life.
When I compare that with the pace of modern life in America, the contrast is striking. Here, we’re often rushing from one thing to the next. When I’m there, life seems to slow down a little. People spend time together, enjoy where they are, and appreciate some of the simpler things.
That’s really where Paradise Alive came from. I didn’t have to imagine very much. I was writing about a place I know, people I know, and a way of life I get to experience every year.
5. Do your songs always end up where you thought they would when you started writing them?
a. Not always. “Three Days in the Dark” is probably the best example of that. It actually started out as a religious song, but during the writing process, it became a song about heartbreak and the difficult process of trying to move on from someone.
What’s interesting is that some of the imagery from the original idea is still there. Even though most people probably hear it simply as a breakup song, there are pieces of that original spiritual theme underneath it. For example, “Kingdoms that fell from the sky” was inspired by the image of Lucifer being cast out of Heaven. And then “I won’t spend forever pounding on the gate”. It was a powerful reference that you can’t force your way back into a relationship. It actually became one of the more powerful verses in the song.
The response to the song has really surprised me, and that has made “Three Days in the Dark” one of my favorites. Not because of where the song started or even where it ended up, but because of the connection people seem to have with it. It has resonated with listeners more than almost anything else I’ve written. I can see it in the comments and engagement, and I sometimes wonder if part of that connection comes from those two things existing together—the very human experience of heartbreak and something a little deeper underneath it.
I didn’t set out to write it that way. The song just took me somewhere different than where I thought I was going.
6. Is there a lyric from one of your songs that reflects the way you approach life?
There’s a line in “How Hard You Hit” that really captures it for me: “It ain’t luck…” That song is about what happens after life knocks you down. You’re going to get hit — we all do. What matters is what you do next. Do you stay down, or do you get back up and keep moving?
I’ve had enough experiences in life to know that success rarely comes in a straight line. There are setbacks, disappointments, and times when things simply don’t work the way you planned. “How Hard You Hit” came from that idea. It’s not about avoiding those moments. It’s about how you respond to them.
That’s probably one of the messages that runs through a lot of my motivational songs. You may not control what hits you, but you do control whether you get back up. That’s also evident in another song, “Stand Up!”.
7. What do you hope people take away from your music?
a. I hope people can find a little bit of themselves in my songs. Sometimes that might simply mean hearing a song about heartbreak and thinking, “I’ve been there.” Other times, especially with the more motivational songs, I hope it gives someone a little push to keep going.
I’ve had enough experiences in life to know that things don’t always go according to plan. You get knocked down, relationships change, careers change, and sometimes you find yourself going in a completely different direction than you expected. But you keep moving forward.
I think that comes through in a lot of my music. I’m not trying to tell people how to live their lives. I’m just telling stories and sharing some of what I’ve learned along the way. If someone hears one of those stories and it means something to them at that particular moment in their life, that’s what I hope the music can do.
8. Thanks for being with us; say hello to the Musica Magazine audience.
a. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share a little about myself and my music, and a special hello to everyone reading Musica Magazine.
Italy is an important part of who I am, so having the opportunity to share my music with an Italian audience means a great deal to me. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to listen to some of my songs, and maybe somewhere along the way you’ll find one that connects with a part of your own story.
I’ll actually be back in Italy soon to attend a wedding, so I’m really looking forward to being there again. Grazie mille to everyone at Musica Magazine and especially to everyone who has listened to and supported my music.