Alumni Careers: “My car caught fire on the way to Guildhall!”

Mark Brown studied a postgraduate jazz course at Guildhall in 1999 and has since built a diverse and dynamic career as a saxophonist, composer and musical director. He is best known as a member of The Horne Section, the award-winning jazz-comedy ensemble, who continue their nation-wide tour in 2025. Mark’s impressive CV also includes session work with top artists like Liam Gallagher, performing with Robbie Williams’ band, and even starring in a recent Channel 4 sitcom. We caught up with Mark to hear about life after Guildhall and the advice he’d share with today’s graduates. 

What made you choose to study at Guildhall? 

It’s a bit of a journey! I came and did Summer Schools at Guildhall when I was a teenager so it was always on my radar. I also had a great saxophone teacher up north who had attended Guildhall, so when I was 18, I applied but didn’t get in. I decided to study at Durham University instead to do a classical music course. By the time I finished my undergraduate degree, I knew I wanted to focus on jazz and Guildhall seemed to be the best at the time. I’m actually glad I didn’t get in at 18 because I wasn’t ready. By the time I did go, I was definitely ready for it and soaked it up like a sponge! 

How would you describe the atmosphere and culture at Guildhall School during your time there? What did it feel like to walk into the building?   

It was like being in Fame! Walking into Guildhall you just hear great music straight away, pouring out of windows and doors. There’s a noise that is really specific to music college, you can tell it’s all to a high standard but it’s all getting mixed in, and I love that atmosphere. Everyone at the School was a fantastic player of their instrument so there was a serious commitment to being the best, which I really needed at the time.  

 
And are there any specific memories or performances that you had at Guildhall that stand out?  

So many! One highlight was performing Porgy and Bess by Miles Davis with Randy Brecker at the Barbican. It was an incredible experience to be in a rehearsal room with one of my heroes, which was probably more valuable to me than the actual performance. We also performed Duke Ellington’s Black and Tan Suite, where I got to channel my inner Johnny Hodges, and a Charles Mingus concert using original parts from his big band, which was surreal.  

You studied jazz when you were at Guildhall and you've gone on to work in comedy and television with The Horne Section. Was that something you always wanted to try? 

No, not at all! Acting and comedy weren’t even on my radar. I’d done school and university productions and things, but I usually ended up playing in the band or as the musical director.  

The way The Horne Section started was all quite random. I was living with Joe, a trumpet player who went to the Royal Academy of Music, and Ben, a drummer who went to Middlesex, after leaving Guildhall. They grew up with Alex Horne, who was already doing stand-up. The three of us would play jazz gigs together, and we’d all head to the Edinburgh Festival every year. Alex would be there performing his solo stand-up shows, and we’d watch him while he’d come to see our gigs. That went on for about five years. 

One night, over a few beers, we joked about collaborating on something. We kept saying it for another five years without doing anything! Eventually, Alex came down to one of my residencies at Ronnie Scott’s, where I’ve been running a show called Soul Family for 18 years now. He did a five-minute slot. He’d gone to Cambridge, where someone from the band Hot Chip made him a backing track for this sort of fake beatbox routine. He mimes along as if he’s doing it himself, and it’s hilarious. At Ronnie’s, the whole act worked brilliantly because it's a beautiful music venue with an amazing PA system, compared to upstairs at a pub with a rowdy crowd heckling.  

After that, we had three months to prepare for a slot at Edinburgh, but no material. We scrambled to put together about half an hour’s worth of content and improvised the rest. That first year in Edinburgh went really, really well. We had loads of special guests come down because it got a bit of a buzz going — Jimmy Carr, Tim Minchin and Tim Key — they all joined in, jamming with the band or doing bits of poetry and improv. 

It’s just gone on leaps and bounds from then, and as of this year it’s my main thing now. We just finished a 40-date tour, with another 25 dates planned for next year!  

 
You mention the tour, what’s your favourite and least favourite thing about it?  

Well, it totally depends on the tour. With this tour, it’s just brilliant because we’re in charge of everything ourselves, which is really rare. We decide when to soundcheck, whether we even want to soundcheck, where to eat – it’s all up to us. Whereas when you're touring with a pop artist, like I’ve done for 20 years, everything's done to a set timetable but that’s what the job is.  

So this tour has been incredibly freeing. We were saying last night that it’s the best tour we’ve ever done, which is an amazing thing to happen to you when you’re 48! 

I love the travel side of it too. Last night, we were in Oxford, and I got there about an hour early to wander around the town. It’s such a beautiful place. This time last year, I I was in Australia with Robbie [WIlliams]! 

The hardest part is being away from family. Organising that side of life can be tough, but as long as everyone understands, you make it work. 

 
You’ve done a lot of touring, but you’ve also worked extensively as a session musician. Could you talk about what you enjoy about each, the differences between them, and the skills you need for both? 

I think of it all as one big portfolio career. There are different strands to it, but ultimately, the same principles apply – like being on time, having the right equipment and being prepared. Things will go wrong, so you need to have spares. Once, I missed a gig because my saxophone got left on an EasyJet flight! That’s the only time it has ever happened, but now I carry backups just in case. 

A lot of musicians think that if they can play perfectly, that’s all they need. But honestly, that’s only about 25% of it. The people you’re working with – especially in studio sessions – aren’t always musicians. You have to think of it like an office job in some ways. For example, studio time is expensive, and producers are spending a lot to hire the space for a day. You need to be quick, efficient and helpful. You don't want to be the one that’s wasting someone’s time because time is money! 

That mindset applies to everything, whether it’s teaching, rehearsals or live tours. My motto is: “I’ve never been late, and I’ve never been ill.” Of course, that’s not completely true, but I do my absolute best to be an hour early for everything. My advice? Just plan to start an hour earlier than needed. 

This is especially important on big tours, like with Robbie Williams. You’re part of a massive operation so 300 people are depending on you. If you’re 15 minutes late, you’re holding up the entire production. 

I’ve only been properly late once, my car caught fire on the way to a class at Guildhall. It sounds like the best excuse ever, but my teacher didn’t believe me! He just wouldn’t have it. At the end-of-term party, he even joked, “Best excuse of the year goes to Mark’s car setting on fire!” And I said, “It did!”.  

 
You’ve used the term portfolio career, can you describe what a typical day might be like for you? 

It’s hard to define a ‘typical’ day because it all depends on what’s in the diary. What I tend to do is schedule my gigs first. Then, if I see an afternoon free, I’ll try to fit in some teaching. I don’t have many students – five or six at the moment – and they all understand that it’s not going to be a regular thing.  

Of course, sessions can pop up last minute and then I have to move things around. You end up making decisions based on what’s worth more in the long run: whether the session might lead to something bigger or whether it’s better to push back and try to reschedule. 

Recording from home has made things a bit easier. If I can’t make it to a session in person, I sometimes offer to record remotely, and hopefully it sounds just as good! 

Basically, I can't really say what a ‘typical’ day is! I'll try and play every day, I'll sing a song or do some scales, so I've done something musical at least.  

 
And could you pick out maybe the thing that you're most proud of in your career? 

It’s definitely The Horne Section. It’s been an ongoing project that’s just grown from strength to strength, which is amazing. A lot of it’s tied to Alex Horne’s success with Taskmaster, but everything sort of happened at the same time. And we like to think we played a small part in helping Taskmaster get off the ground too! 

It’s all connected. That success eventually led to us getting a sitcom on Channel 4. I’ve always been as much of a comedy fan as I am a jazz and music fan, so landing a sitcom on Channel 4 which was home to some of my favourite shows like Father Ted, and Vic and Bob's Big Night Out – especially with them being from the North East too – it always felt the ‘coolest’ channel to be on.  

I think it’s a bit different now with YouTube because TV means less for people but for my generation being on TV was the be all and end all, so it’s definitely something I’m proud of.  

I also love playing in Robbie’s Band and we’ve done Wembley, then I played the Hollywood Bowl with Basement Jaxx, which was amazing. I’ve played some crazy gigs!  

One good thing about having an iPhone is that your diary is always there, so I’ve been inadvertently keeping a journal. I can see all my gigs back to 2008 which is really valuable to look back and think I forgot I did that!  

 
Do you have any big hopes for the future? Is there something you’d still like to tick off your list? 

I wouldn’t mind getting The Horne Section over to America, that’s a bit of an ambition. We get loads of messages from fans in the States and Australia, so touring there would be brilliant. We’re a pretty niche act, but being niche in America still means you’re reaching a lot of people because it’s such a massive audience. Expanding to those places would be wicked over the next five years. 

We’ve done the Melbourne Comedy Festival a couple of times, but that was right at the start, before any of us had kids. It’s so far away that you can’t just go for a week so then you're ask, am I going to make enough money to cover three weeks? Hopefully, one day we’ll reach the point where we can do things like that. 

Would you say the industry has evolved significantly since you graduated? What are some of the big changes you’ve noticed, and how have you kept up with them? 

Absolutely, there have been massive changes. When I was at Guildhall we were all told, “Write and compose your own stuff because then you’ll always get paid” but that’s died off because of streaming so I don’t think it’s necessarily true anymore, but you never know, it might come back.   

For example, one of my main income streams is the Taskmaster theme tune which we wrote. I get paid every time it airs on TV, so in that sense, the advice still holds true. But that’s a pretty rare situation because we were so lucky that fell into place.  

I know people who made a fortune in the 2000s when adverts would pay £50,000 for one tune and you’d then get paid every time it was on. That just doesn’t happen anymore with the rise of AI compositions.  

You can’t rely on just one thing so my advice would be to keep everything going, keep all the pots on the hob bubbling away, including writing, because you never know what’s going to happen. I’m obsessed by the portfolio idea.  

But also, do keep playing, do keep performing, don’t let your playing abilities drop off to compose because you might end up doing some nice theatre thing for no money in Bristol that ends up going to Broadway – you just never know!  

Ultimately, you just don’t know what’s going to work but if you keep doing everything, something will come off. I’ve seen a lot of people just pursue one thing and when it doesn’t work after three years they change course entirely and do something different, and I don’t think that’s the way to do it.  

For example, just last night, I ran into a mate from Guildhall I hadn’t seen in years, and he offered me a spot on his show. All these relationships and pieces of work are worth tending to because then something will pay off eventually.  
 

And finally, if you met a graduate of the class of 2024, what piece of advice would you give them?  

Be professional and be ready, but also say yes to everything, to an extent! There’s a tricky balance to strike between saying yes to everything, because you never know where opportunities might lead, and knowing your worth so you’re not constantly working for free. That’s really hard to navigate but I think instinctively you’ll know. If you feel like you’re being taken advantage of, you probably are.  

It can be hard to know when someone’s taking the mick and when you do feel like that, it can be horrible going home after doing a day’s work. Do voice those feelings as well, because if they want you, they will pay for you.  

You also have to be prepared to walk away. If you’re not enjoying a project or you feel undervalued, it’s OK to step back and let someone else take it on. It might just not be the right fit for you at that time, and that’s OK too. 

 
Where can people find out more about your work? 

You can visit my website markbrownmusic.uk  

Find out more about The Horne Section and our upcoming tour dates here thehornesection.com   

I’m also part of an acid jazz soul combo called The Filthy Six, and perform regularly with Soul Family at Ronnie Scott’s.