Today we’d like to introduce you to Mario Alexander.
Hi Mario, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Mario Alexander Pugh but I go by Mario Alexander. I’m from a small town in Florida by the name of Apalachicola but I was born in Panama City to two of the world’s most loving parents, Alma and the late James Pugh.
I discovered my passion for music at a very young age. I started out on the drums. My siblings, Micheal and Tanicia Pugh would often get annoyed with me because I would beat on EVERYTHING! Lol. My dad would even carve my drumsticks from twigs so that I could practice, lol. I honed my skills as a drummer by playing at my local church, Love Center Ministries. I also was assigned percussion leader in High School. With limited reading abilities at that time as it related to percussion, I would study, learn, memorize then teach college-level cadences to my high school percussion squad. Little did I know at that time that the skills I acquired as a drummer from doing so would aid my career as a music producer in a major way. As much as I enjoyed playing the drums, I would later discover that the piano was where my true passion lie.
Once I discovered my love for the piano, I practiced religiously, I never really abandoned the drums but I knew that the piano was it for me. I switched from playing drums at my local church to cultivating my craft as a keyboardist. For the most part, I was self-taught although there were people like Kenny Turner that contributed to my development along the way who I will always be grateful for.
After I graduated high school in 2006, I was accepted into Bethune Cookman University on nearly a full scholarship. I’ll never forget auditioning for the Late, Great Dr. Rebecca Steele who was the director of the concert chorale at that time. Extremely nervous to audition for Dr. Steele, I performed “Order My Steps” and I must’ve done ok because immediately after the audition she made one call to the financial aid department and said, “give Mario Pugh whatever he needs.’ So during my 4-year tenure there, I traveled all over central Florida and beyond as a pianist for the Concert Chorale which earned me a college education virtually free of student debt.
After I graduated from college in 2010, I moved back home to Apalach for about a year and a half only to move to Atlanta which is where I currently reside, ever pursuing my career in music.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
One of my struggles initially was moving out here alone. All of my family is back in Florida so that was an adjustment for me. Although, being that I am very much so an introvert, it wasn’t too difficult to make that adjustment. Another challenge for me then and now was and is to find and cultivate lasting relationships with genuinely good people that I can really trust, It can be cutthroat out here and sometimes it comes from people you’d least expect. Trusting without any reservations has become increasingly difficult for me so I tend to work alone and quietly in many cases. Sometimes being a good person gets you the short end of the stick. Lastly, as we all know in the music community, finding sufficient steady income to do this thing we call music can be hard if one is seeking to do it full-time. I’ve certainly faced a couple of layoffs by no fault of mine, but Thankfully, opportunity seems to always have a way of finding me and I’m grateful for that.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a seasoned professional in the world of music with over 25 years of experience as a pianist, 6+ years as a music director and 8+ years as a composer/music producer. The sum of my experiences in music is shared across a variety of genres including but not limited to Gospel, CCM, R&B, Pop and more. One of the things that I’m most known for is my ability to tastefully lay piano accompaniment into records in such a way that it deepens the emotion that may already be there.
My skill set and knowledge of music has afforded me opportunities to work with artist such as Montell Jordan, Kenny Lattimore, Stephanie Mills, Keke Wyatt, Shirley Murdock, Christopher Williams, After 7, Le’Andria Johnson, The CraigLewis Band, Stephanie Mills, Mr. Dalvin of Jodeci and more.
In addition to that, I’ve been privileged to provide live accompaniment for other well-known figures such as Ron Kenoly, James Goll, Dr. Cindy Trimm, Dr. Matthew Stevenson, John Eckhardt and more.
As it relates to the world of TV/Film, I was afforded the opportunity to work with Halle Berry for a brief but very specific role in her directorial debut movie, “Bruised” as I sang and played, “Just The Two Of Us” by Bill Withers. I also had a heavy hand in the music that accompanied the Christmas movie, “Throwback Holiday.” More specifically, I co-wrote “One Christmas Wish,” “What I See In You” and “That Ain’t Cool,” three songs that debuted in that particular movie.
My most recent endeavors include discovering, producing and presenting a brand new artist to the scene, Kristi Alyssa. I took a very special interest in Kristi Alyssa because she had a lot of raw talent and she naturally sang with emotion which is something that is very hard to teach. I later discovered that she had the substance of a good writer as well, it just needed to be cultivated and guided from a musical and structural standpoint. Once we found our Producer/Artist rhythm, the chemistry allowed us to birth her very first album titled, “Love, Kristi Alyssa,” which is available now on all platforms. Included in this body of work are two singles that I released on her earlier this year, “Enough” and “Love Is A Groove.” This project was particularly special to me because I had full autonomy to push the boundaries of our creativeness. I told myself as well as Kristi Alyssa that we weren’t going to try to fit a mold… we weren’t going to try to adhere to the parameters and stipulations of what the music industry deems “Acceptable” as it relates to success. We were on the same page about creating music that people could feel and relate to, music of substance. We didn’t want to perpetuate negativity via music so we decided to write about the phases of love and thus, “Love, Kristi Alyssa” was born.
I’m also proud to announce that I produced and released my own composition titled, Creation. It’s an instrumental piece that I wrote and arranged around the thought of how creation came to be, like, the actual process of it. I like this piece because it tells a story musically and if you can listen with imagination, you can actually see aspects of creation being formed in your mind. This piece is currently available on all platforms but I thought that it’d be dope to create a visual for it as well which is when I decided to reach out to Garrett Bell of Living Out Visions. He was able to bring my vision for this piece to life. Go check it out lol.
Also among my most recent accomplishments, I had the honor of co-writing and co-producing alongside the Multi-Grammy award winner, Daryl Simmons for his newly released Christmas album, “Christmas With You.” This project was special in that I was able to be a part of history being made as this is Mr. Simmons’s first Original Christmas Album. I’ve had the unique opportunity to work under and alongside this incredible and accomplished songwriter for several years now. Having first-hand experiences and insights into processes that directly contributed to the major successes of former LaFace Records has been an invaluable asset to me and my career.
Aside from co-writing songs and providing live accompaniments, I’ve also had the opportunity to compose and provide high-quality music for a few documentary trailers which is a skill that comes natural to me.
I’m currently looking to expand into the area of jingle writing for various commercials. Music is very broad and I never limit myself to only one sector of it.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
My definition of success is simple although not very easy to achieve:
I believe that true and complete success is mental, spiritual and emotional wholeness. Physical healthiness coupled with financial freedom certainly contributes to success in my opinion. And of course, love… I think it’s impossible to achieve true success without love.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mario._alexander/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArpeggiYo
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC5a6HGAPO3H_1P4f-pA9rIQ
