BIOGRAPHY

A timeline of Marc’s Musical History

Marc Hendricks is a singer/songwriter who took his first run at songwriting as a teenager encouraged by a musical family. From school he continued in amateur performance on to university where he was to meet many of the people who were to become his musical collaborators over the next 20 years.

An early collaboration with friend and musician, Gavin Goldberg, in the late nineties gave rise to Dreamshop (BMG Africa). The duo recorded two singles, Danger (1999) and Satisfy (2000), the latter earning them recognition as newcomers with a SAMA nomination in the ‘Best Pop-Rock Single’ category in 2001. The full album, Clear, followed later that same year.

Apart from writing music and lyrics for the Dreamshop project, Marc’s most notable writing exploits includes ‘ARE YOU STILL THERE’ [Judith Sephuma, A Cry, a Song and a Dance, 2001] and ‘PLACE FOR YOU’ [Judith Sephuma, New Beginnings, 2005].

Writing collaborations with production duo, Goldberg and Grammy Award winning producer, Andy Wright, brought about  ‘HUNDREDS’ [Peter Grant, Debut Solo Album by the same name, 2012] and ‘OUR SONG’ [Naomi Suzuki, Our Song, 2012], the latter released to raise funds for the Japanese Tsunami Relief Fund.

In 2017 Hendricks released his first solo album ‘Upright Citizen’, produced by Amanda Tiffin, launched at Artscape Theatre in Cape Town city centre.

The show went on to raise R30 000 for a transformation project at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital.

This was followed by his first solo single release in 2019, ‘TIME’, again produced by Gavin Goldberg and a remix of the same track, ‘TIME, THE MR. MALLUM REMIX’, followed in January 2021, produced by Ebrahim Mallum.

In March 2021 he wrote his first title track for film for the South African cinematic debut of ‘SWIRL’ (‘She’s A Girl’ – available on ShowmaxTM), directed by Quanita Adams, who also sang the title track.
In August 2021 he released his first animated music video for ‘Storybook’ https://youtu.be/WWQzfGbRKSc from UPRIGHT CITIZEN, a collaboration with artist and essayist, Tracy Brown (Melbourne, Australia).

Later in September 2021 he released his next single ‘YOUR LIGHT’ along with his first live online video release, a song originally written for Candlelight Memorial Day, (1 December, World AIDS Day), commemorating the lives of those who died during the AIDS pandemic, as a response to COVID.

In May 2023 he completed a commissioned work by the Faculty of Health Sciences, for the University of Cape Town, this time to compose an inaugural anthem for its 110^th birthday. The track entitled, ‘PLACE OF THE STARS’ (Ezinkanyezini, iGamirodi !Khaes)  was a collaboration again with Amanda Tiffin, Amy Campbell and the UCT Jazz Voices.

 Click to listen to ‘Place of the Stars’

Marc’s next release ‘SAY’ (June 2023), also an original work, was the result of a second collaboration with long-time friend, musician and producer, Gavin Goldberg. In its second week of release, ‘SAY ’ debuted at No.9 on the HEARTFM SA Top 10. The next week it took the No.1 position. After being knocked back to the No.2 spot by Mark Wayne’s ‘Just Hit Replay’, the following week, ‘SAY’ returned to the No. 1 spot on 22 June. On 24 June it debuted at No. 6 on the CTM Top 40 and took the No.1 spot the following week. It remained on the Top 10 and Top 40 for 26 weeks (at No. 1 for three weeks) and was No. 7 on the Top 10 songs to be featured on the SA TOP chart for 2023.

His next single release, ‘LEAVE’ ascended to No. 4 on the SA top 10 and CTM Top 40 and remained on the charts for 13 weeks.

Now Marc’s second solo album, ‘LIGHT REFLECTED BACK’ has been released 8 July 2025 on all digital platforms and features ten original tracks. Two of these are new reworkings of previous releases, Time (Is On Fire) and Leave 2.0, both new arrangements for live band recording/performance with new vocal and instrumental twists. The eight remaining tracks are all previously unrecorded original songs showcasing Hendricks vocal range with a vocal performance which is far more exposed and vulnerable than earlier recordings. This album crossed the international divide being mixed in Amsterdam by Chris Weeda, and mastered in New York by eleven-time Grammy nominee and four-time winner, Darcy Proper, who also mastered the full works of Billy Holiday for which she received a Grammy Award.

When Marc is not writing or recording music he works at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.

All the royalties of this current album will be donated to SEARCH, the South African National Research Platform for children and adolescents with cancer and blood disorders to raise funds for cancer research.

Marc’s recorded discography (2017 onwards) is available on all online digital platforms.
His ‘Dreamshop’ recordings are available online at Sound Cloud.
He has an online presence at www.marchendricks.co.za.

His work can also be accessed on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter on the handle @docmh11.