Mark Regula

Ivory Tower Project is a new breed of 'old school' rockers. Music for those who love the sound of Classic Pop/Rock inspired by the great artists of the 70s and 80s. Ivory Tower Project (also known as: ITP) was founded by NY veteran songwriters Johnny Jace and Mark Regula.  NYC veteran guitarist Tony Novarro was soon recruited, and Novarro and Regula formed the core of ITP. As original band members left they were replaced by the NY Metro area's finest studio musicians that transcended Ivory Tower from being a band into a studio Project.

ITP released Red Hot through Guerrilla Records, receiving rave reviews and airplay on over 375 radio stations in 28 countries worldwide.


How do you describe your music to people, Mark?
Classic Pop/Rock inspired by the great artists of the 70s and 80s...

Tell me about how you originally got into your craft.
I had a musical background in that my mother was in her school chorus, played the clarinet and loved to sing. My maternal grand-father was an opera singer. And my father could sing as well, and played the violin in school. So I think that music was primarily in my DNA. But it was when I listened to my first album from The Beatles (Abbey Road) I virtually was set "on fire" - I knew I wanted to make records and music and have it affect people in the way music affected me...

What is your favorite thing to do in the whole wide world?
Share a meal with my friends and family. Then play music with great musicians, and recording...

What is your biggest challenge when it comes to running your business?
Figuring out as to what should I research and follow up. There are so many "offers" on the internet, and it takes discernment to figure out what is a real opportunity for an an independent artist, and what is a dead end.

Most of the independent artist communities (where you post your music) are all about you bringing your fans to their web site. Instead of the web site attracting new fans for the artist.

When you were a kid, what did you think you were going to be when you grew up?
A baseball player for the New York Yankees...lol

In what way has your community impacted your development as a musician?
My parents had a few friends that were very involved with music. When I saw how good they were, it inspired me to learn more, to take the guitar and the piano lessons. Living near NY City also made it easy to network with other great musicians and that kind of exposure can only make you want to be better, to work harder on your craft, to write better songs...

What other artists out there do you love?
Queen, Bad Company, Foreigner, Genesis, INXS, Journey, Power Station, Rush, Supertramp, Sammy Hagar, Eddie Money, Styx, Asia, Survivor, Bryan Adams, Hall & Oates, The Beatles, Boston, The Cars, CCR, Eric Clapton, Gary Moore, Grand Funk Railroad, Heart, Elton John, Billy Joel, Kansas, Nickelback, Matchbox 20,  Meatloaf, John Mellancamp, Oasis, Robert Palmer, Tom Petty, The Police, Three Dog Night, Rick Derringer, Bob Seeger, The Rolling Stones, Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Steve Winwood, Yes, ZZ Top

What does your future hold?
Tony (Novarro) and I are working on a new CD and we plan on releasing that within the next year or so...

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