Mark Ortega Entertainment
L.M.O.
L.M.O is Lorie Madison and Mark Ortega. The EDM duo met in 2002 when Mark Ortega was performing at Pasadena Pride with his group Digital Soldiers and Lorie was performing with (Steve) Bronski Beat at the same event and the friendship was born. Soon after, Lorie was asked to join Digital Soldiers and has been a member since.
How their musical careers began
Lorie “Madeve” Madison
Born in Chicago, Lorie got her musical talents from her parents. Her mother was an accomplished pianist and her father was a singer in several Doo-Wop groups in the 50’s and 60’s. At first, Lorie was shy about her musical abilities until she got enough courage to sing at a wedding. Someone attending the reception asked her to perform at a night club, and soon after she met Sean Niles of (L.A.) Exhibition fame.
Lorie performed and recorded with Exhibition where she was introduced to Steve Bronski of Bronski Beat. Writing and recording songs with Steve, she traveled Europe as Bronski Beat. Crystal Waters, among other LGBTQ friendly artists, opened for Lorie and Bronski beat.
Shortly after the tour, Lorie and Steve released a collection of club remixes of “Smalltown Boy” featuring Lorie’s vocals. The remixes reached the top of the dance charts throughout Europe and America.
Mark Ortega
Born and raised in Iowa, Mark is a jazz, classical and pop trained singer/songwriter.
Besides being the co-founder of synth-pop group Digital Soldiers, Mark also teamed up with Long Beach, CA rocker Danny MacArthur Kemp to form the group Hi-Teck. From 2004 to 2008, the duo performed at Prides in Long Beach, Palm Springs and Phoenix and preceded acts Sir Ari Gold, Brian Kent, and Jennifer Holliday.
From 2009-2014, Mark Ortega resided Chicago and founded a musical showcase series featuring talented local gay artists. The showcases provided exceptional live entertainment while raising funds and awareness for causes important to the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community. The showcases benefited The Trevor Project, Ride For AIDS Chicago, Test Positive Aware Network and Lambda Legal. Mark's showcases were held at various clubs in Chicago including Spin, Circuit, and The Glenwood.
In June 2012, Mark was honored to be the opening act for NBC's The Voice Finalist Beverly McClellan at Capital City Pride in his hometown of Des Moines, IA in front of an attentive crowd of 10,000. Mark was also the opening act for favorite 80's cover band Sixteen Candles at Pride North in Chicago in June 2013.
Also in 2013, Mark released “Boystown,” a song co-written with Danny MacArthur Kemp, about coming out and life within the LGBTQ community based on personal experiences. Available on iTunes, Spotify and Google Play, the song debuted at #3 on OutVoice.net's top 10 in April 2013. “Boystown” was also featured on the “Gaybourhood” podcast hosted by Hong Kong's DJ Stonedog in March 2014.
Mark left Chicago and moved to Phoenix in September of 2014 and was soon reunited with Digital Soldiers. In late 2016, the group released a Christmas album featuring 3 original holiday tunes. “A Very Digital Christmas,” by Digital Soldiers, is available on iTunes, Google Play and Amazon Digital worldwide. The group also hosted a very successful Album Release Party and Performance benefitting Toys For Tots Long Beach at historic Club Ripples.
With Digital Soldiers on hiatus in 2017, Lorie and Mark want to continue to write and perform and are currently applying for Pride events throughout the summer as L.M.O.
Look for the single “Follow My Dreams,” by L.M.O. to be released on iTunes in February 2017.
L.M.O.
Mark Ortega and Lorie Madison
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