Connect with us

Mark Knopfler recalls his journey from being a journalist to a songwriter

Mark Knopfler

Classic Rock

Mark Knopfler recalls his journey from being a journalist to a songwriter

The legendary Dire Straits guitarist, singer and main songwriter Mark Knopfler first worked as a journalist before becoming a musician. In an interview with Guy Pratt (Transcribed by Ultimate Guitar), the musician recalled his journey from working for newspapers to becoming a songwriter.

Advertisement

Knopfler is currently promoting his new solo album “One Deep River”, which was released last April. Since Dire Straits came to an end in 1995, Mark Knopfler released 9 studio albums. He also made many soundtrack albums and collaborated with artists like Chet Atkins and Emmylou Harris.

Mark Knopfler recalls his journey from being a journalist to a songwriter

“I didn’t see myself as a songwriter at all. I was just a strummer. I remember some of the stories that I was doing for the paper. I’d see bits of them in my notebook afterwards, and they’d start creeping into the songs. So if I were sent to interview the city varieties in Leeds, go and talk to the cast of the pantomime. I’d be talking to the ugly sisters, you know, a couple of old dudes… And that became ‘One More Matinee.’ I started taking their lines and making them into lines of a song.”

“I think that’s when I transferred. I might have had bits of songs, but I was busy copying songs. I didn’t see myself as a songwriter at all. And so, I sort of eased into it that way, and ended up being the guy who writes the songs. Now, I think I’m a songwriter [first] and a musician second. [Being a musician is] very different from being a songwriter, to me.”

He continued:

“[When] I think about a musician, I think about, say, the guy who plays bass in my band, Glenn Wolf. There’s a man with a relationship with his instrument that is enviable. And also, he can play, which got me tied up with him in the first place.”

“What I mean is that if you take someone like Ianto [Ian Thomas, drummer] or someone like Jim Cox on the piano, the relationship with the instrument is absolute. And I can’t get that going with the guitar. No, I’ll be spending time looking at the songs, the songs, the songs,” Mark Knopfler said.

I'm a Brazilian journalist who always loved Classic Rock and Heavy Metal music. That passion inspired me to create Rock and Roll Garage over 6 years ago. Music has always been a part of my life, helping me through tough times and being a support to celebrate the good ones. When I became a journalist, I knew I wanted to write about my passions. After graduating in journalism from the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, I pursued a postgraduate degree in digital communication at the same institution. The studies and experience in the field helped me improve the website and always bring the best of classic rock to the world! MTB: 0021377/MG

To Top