Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man

Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man is Mauri Dark’s autobiographical debut solo album. This Finland singer/songwriter’s deep baritone voice makes his music even more mysterious. A big fan of Johnny Cash, Dark has, on occasion, even played cover sets as a tribute to his inspiration.

Mauri started playing drums in his pre-teen years, and was quickly inspired by the American rock band, KISS. “I started playing seriously when I was 16,” he said, and recalled playing drums for several teenage rock bands. “At 18, I got a guitar and started writing songs.”

Mauri played all kinds of music in different bands throughout his adult years, but his most noted stint was as founder, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter of the popular European metal duo, Mystons. Mauri’s 25 year music career found him recording eight albums and performing at over 500 shows before life nudged him to into a more reflective solo career.

“There were a lot of events in my life that contributed to me changing directions musically,” Dark said. He had a long term relationship of seven years end, and then his mother died of cancer. Then he found new love, got married, and they had their first daughter. “It made me think about a lot of things in different ways,” he said. “I’ve been writing songs for 25 years, and these events made me see how my life had been writing itself into my songs all along.”

“Now it’s just me and my guitar; just the bones of the songs,” Mauri said. Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man is not only the title of the album, but it’s also one of the single releases. The album and that song specifically, invite you into a dark, folky, timeless, intimate, and acoustic songscape. “There’s definitely a story behind the record,” Mauri said. “And I really like the vulnerability that this album brings out in me.”

Mauri also got to work with his “dream audio team” on this record, including Vlado Meller who has previously mastered albums for Johnny Cash, Metallica, and Michael Jackson, to name a few. “It’s the record I have always wanted to make,” Mauri said. “It is an emotional, honest, and sincere acoustic album full of moods and stories in the spirit of Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen and Nick Drake, and polished by the finest audio professionals and equipment in the spirit of the old times when albums were made to last.”

Check out Mauri’s page here! Listen to the full interview here!