Marcus Devine, you may not know the name but nine times out of ten you have witnessed his brilliant work. He is the music director for several headlining recording artists, as well as the award winning Millennium Tour.
The Fleet Mag had the opportunity to sit down with Devine to learn about his career in the music industry as a successful director, producer, engineer, songwriter, and now recording artist.
Marcus Devine was born and raised in The Motor City, Detroit, Michigan. Growing up music was always a part of his life and he credits his mother for his passion for music. Devine’s mother raised him as an avid church goer which laid the foundation of his music career. He acknowledged that spending an abundance of time in church led him to learn to play numerous instruments including the drums, guitar, and piano. After mastering the art of musicianship, he began to play for several groups and bands.
Fast forward to the present, and Marcus Devine has acquired over three decades of success in the music industry. He attributes his success to being able to change with the times. He stated that as the industry evolves you have to be knowledgeable of how to adapt, if not, your career will be short lived. One advantage he spoke about in today’s music business is a record label is no longer needed to break records, as opposed to how it was decades ago. Recording artist can now get their music to the world by using one of the hundreds of online music distributors.
Marcus Devine’s career has been nothing short of amazing. He has worked with numerous big name artists including Ashanti, Bobby Valentino, Silk, Kelly Price, Charlie Wilson, Mario, Destiny’s Child, Monica, Shirley Murdock, Teddy Pendergrass, 112, Xscape, and many more. He’s spent decades helping artist share their music to the world even though he’s a talented vocalist himself. One day he received a phone call from Dave Hollister that put him on another career path. During their conversation, Hollister told him it was time to come to the forefront and release his own music as a recording artist. Devine took the advice of his fellow friend and the next week he began recording his debut album “The Matinee.”
There is more to Marcus Devine than just music, he is also a successful entrepreneur. As the owner of over 1,000 pairs of sunglasses, he thought instead of spending so much money continuously purchasing sunglasses, he should start his own company, and that’s when “Marcus Devine Signature Shades” was born. He started the company in 2019 right before the pandemic hit and the timing was perfect. As the world was forced to shelter in place, the music industry took a big hit economically. Fortunately, Devine was able to rely on his sunglasses company as a steady source of income, which even paid for his wedding. Now thriving as a business owner Devine had yet another accomplishment under his belt.
Devine attributes his success to staying focused. He does not indulge in drinking or smoking like many others, and the days of spending long nights at the studio are long gone. What he enjoys most is sitting at home on the couch with his family watching a movie.
Check out Marcus Devine’s latest album “Greatest Show,” and follow him on social media at the links below.
Interview by: Moochie Merchant
Written by: JP