Mary Jo • Rock Musician • S1/E6
Words, photos and video by David LamThe lead singer of Walk on Mars shares her experience overcoming insecurity and finding her unique style on stage.
Mary Jo Swank, the front woman for the alternative rock band Walk on Mars, knows the pressure that comes with being an emerging artist in the music industry. "The biggest struggles in my music career is a lot to do with the pressure to being perfect. You have this constant feeling like it's not good enough," she says.
However, Swank has found a way to overcome this pressure and feel confident on stage. For her, what she wears, plays a significant role in how she feels while performing. "Fashion really helps me ground myself when I'm on stage," she shares. "The most important thing in music is expression, and fashion has a lot to do with that."
Swank believes that expression comes naturally in fashion and music. She disagrees with the notion that one should market oneself with one style, one thing. Instead, Swank wears what she feels captures who she is that day. "Whatever you're feeling that day, it shouldn't be like expressing exactly who you are, but who you are in your everyday life," she says.
Initially, Swank's fashion choices were not only a way to express herself but also a way to distract the audience from her insecurities. She shares, "I started wearing these bold looks because of insecurity. And I was like, well, if people look at me this way, then maybe they'll be distracted by my vocals."
However, over time, Swank fell in love with these bold looks and gained confidence while performing live. She says, "It's become a priority that I wear these bold looks on stage not because I'm insecure, but to show, hey, I used to be this way, but now you can look at me and see that I look cool, I look loud, but I also can sing the hell out of this song."
—
Walk on Mars’ debut album PHOBOS is out now on all streaming platforms.
More like this
Popular TikTok comedy influencer finds freedom in fashion.
Credits
Featuring
Mary Jo Swank (Instagram: @walkonmarsband)
Camera, sound, graphics, edit & production
David Lam
Music
“Drifter” by Redlands
“What’s it all about” by Space Camp
“Seventeen” by Valr
100% Clearance through Musicbed
“New York Beach” (acoustic version) by Walk on Mars
Listen on Spotify
Additional footage
Walk on Mars
Nic Orr Films
Additional photos
Walk on Mars
Jiuze Liu
Moya Media
Unsplash
JT Odd
Bogomil Mihaylov
Carlos Coronado
Sergio Capuzzimati
Caught in Joy
Odair Faleco
Grzegorz Rakowski
Valeria Diaz Gallegos
Marc Fanelli Isla
Special thanks
Ben Shead
Emily Barone
Kyle Reinhart
Rafi Waters
Boston Funk
Filmed in
Boston, MA, United States, October 2022