After breaking out on TikTok in 2022, Mark Ambor has his first big hit with "Belong Together" from his debut album, Rockwood. While he couldn't have predicted how big the song would become, he says he wasn't entirely surprised.
"When I sent it to the immediate team I have around me ... they usually like one [song], or two of them like one," Mark tells ABC Audio. "And one would be like, 'I like this one more.' With 'Belong Together' ... everyone liked it."
"So, I don't want to say I thought it was going to happen. You always kind of dream that it resonates around the world the way it has," he adds. "But [I] definitely had high hopes for it."
What did surprise Mark was hearing from fans how deeply his songs have affected people.
"It's been insane, just looking at fans' eyes and ... hearing their stories about the songs and what they mean to them," he says, noting that he writes his songs "alone in my room ... based on what I'm feeling in that moment."
"It's crazy for me to think of how a song can take a whole different meaning and life of its own. ... I think that's one of the really big eye-opening things for me."
It's also been eye-opening for Mark to see how fans have used "Belong Together" on TikTok.
"There was a period of time where people were kind of putting, like, destinations ... and it'd be like 'you and me belong together ... Italy?' And was all these like picturesque, beautiful scenes in Italy. Those are kind of fun to watch," he says.
"There are obviously these couples videos that are cool," he adds. "Honestly, seeing anyone find their own context for the song and put it in their life in any way, I think's cool."