Mark Peters

Mark Peters is a British musician best known for leading <a href="spotify:artist:3hY7jnks2m5g2JAUCw4avu">Engineers</a>, a critically acclaimed dream pop group whose music incorporates ambient, psychedelic, and folk influences. Active since 2003, the band have released four full-lengths and two EPs, including 2005's Engineers and 2014's Always Returning. In addition to his main band, Peters records solo material, such as 2017's Innerland, and collaborates extensively with renowned electronic musician <a href="spotify:artist:4znPt0HV6Ik0iR8sR4GAJE">Ulrich Schnauss</a> (also a member of <a href="spotify:artist:3hY7jnks2m5g2JAUCw4avu">Engineers</a>, as well as <a href="spotify:artist:1BGN1IdyiSR0ZYrkoKNchl">Tangerine Dream</a>), releasing records including 2021's Destiny Waiving. Peters' second solo album, Red Sunset Dreams (2022), mixed dream pop with ambient Americana.

Peters was born in Liverpool in 1975. He co-founded <a href="spotify:artist:3hY7jnks2m5g2JAUCw4avu">Engineers</a> in London in 2003, serving as bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist, and songwriter along with singer/guitarist Simon Phipps, bassist/guitarist Dan MacBean, and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:2BmJqgVoRKqzxdGeiX1ko0">Andrew Sweeney</a>. The group cited artists such as <a href="spotify:artist:0k17h0D3J5VfsdmQ1iZtE9">Pink Floyd</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5Wabl1lPdNOeIn0SQ5A1mp">Cocteau Twins</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3oDbviiivRWhXwIE8hxkVV">the Beach Boys</a> as influences on their ethereal dream pop sound. <a href="spotify:artist:3hY7jnks2m5g2JAUCw4avu">Engineers</a> signed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Echo+Records%22">Echo Records</a> in 2004, and their self-titled 2005 debut album reached the Top 100 of the U.K. album charts.

The group moved to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kscope+Records%22">Kscope Records</a> for sophomore album Three Fact Fader, and following its 2009 release, MacBean and <a href="spotify:artist:2BmJqgVoRKqzxdGeiX1ko0">Sweeney</a> departed the band. Bassist/vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:1FSTGf0hH6ItL50KHB9ada">Daniel Land</a>, drummer Matthew Linley, and keyboardist <a href="spotify:artist:4znPt0HV6Ik0iR8sR4GAJE">Schnauss</a> all joined in 2010. Following third album In Praise of More, Peters and <a href="spotify:artist:4znPt0HV6Ik0iR8sR4GAJE">Schnauss</a>, who had also worked on the score to Gregg Araki's film Kaboom, released two albums of downtempo electronic music on the German <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Bureau+B%22">Bureau B</a> label. Underrated Silence appeared in 2012, followed by Tomorrow Is Another Day in 2013. The fourth <a href="spotify:artist:3hY7jnks2m5g2JAUCw4avu">Engineers</a> album, created by a core lineup of Peters, <a href="spotify:artist:4znPt0HV6Ik0iR8sR4GAJE">Schnauss</a>, and Linley, was released in 2014. Peters then recorded the full-length Deep Blue with multi-instrumentalist Elliot Ireland, formerly of <a href="spotify:artist:3XToFwD4zzZA8fhjlkt5Qi">Shaft</a>, and the album was released by Pedigree Cuts in 2015. The label also released the self-titled debut by Salt Rush, a collaboration between Peters and Linley.

Peters' Innerland, a short album of instrumental soundscapes named after various locations throughout the U.K., was released as a limited cassette in late 2017. An expanded "large-scale version" of Innerland was issued on CD and vinyl in 2018. A drumless version of the album titled Ambient Innerland was given a limited release later in the year, and the remix collection New Routes Out of Innerland appeared in 2019. Peters' digital EP Home was issued by KPM Shorts in 2020, and he collaborated with <a href="spotify:artist:5FbBZ9ZLIoVdgbbnGmsKNk">Clem Leek</a> on the EP Thesis 19. Peters and <a href="spotify:artist:4znPt0HV6Ik0iR8sR4GAJE">Schnauss</a> resumed their duo, releasing Destiny Waiving in 2021. <a href="spotify:artist:69IZoi4l9e7KcUpbgP9K7e">Dot Allison</a> and pedal steel guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:2k0CTSpfHwzEfYnQwNIiHq">B.J. Cole</a> made appearances on Peters' second solo album, 2022's Red Sunset Dreams. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi