When you're born the first child of music educators, music is much less a refreshing escape than altogther inescapable. Graduating from the pots and pans to the piano, Mark Luongo was enrolled at the Langley Community Music School for private lessons and "Orff" classes at the age of four.

While Mozart, Bach and Beethoven soon became household names, exposure to popular music by means of his father's work with the Langley Ukulele Ensemble immediately piqued his interest. Serious studies in the 'ukulele ensued and by age nine Mark was accepted into the junior ensemble. Through this first exposure to group performance a better understanding of chord, improvisation, playing by ear and song structure emerged that empowered him to begin "jamming" out original ideas with the help of a trusty tape recorder.

By age twelve, Mark's prowess with the ukulele earned him a place in the Senior Ensemble - playing the acoustic bass. As the youngest member by years, the responsibility and challenge of learning a new instrument "on-the-job" pushed him into a serious self-directed study of jazz and blues music that would ultimately help to shape a life-long passion for funk and groove.

Quickly becoming a featured member of the group, Mark would dedicate much of the next 8 years to live shows, recording, radio and television appearances and tours ranging from San Antonio to Daytona Beach, Tokyo and of course Hawaii. In the midst of this activity he earned a scholarship to the Berklee School of Music in Boston (through participation in the local high school "Stage Band" program) and managed to achieve Grade 10 "Toronto Conservatory of Music" certification via his classical piano studies.

Now in his 20's, Mark has continued to expand his musical horizons by taking up the guitar, drums and saxaphone as well as pursuing studies in Audio Engineering and high-level music theory. With the founding of his own "soundEscape studios", he looks forward to an inevitable future in the"inescapable" music industry as both a performer and producer.