Mark Kassa

  • Born at Detroit Memorial Hospital
  • Family business burned down during the 1967 riots.  Rebuilt the business despite being advised not to, because we believed in the city. Father worked on the assembly line at Chrysler during the rebuild.
  • Worked for over 30 years in the family business at the corner of Linwood and Davison on the west side of Detroit.  Family has been doing business in Detroit since the 1930’s.
  • Attended Wayne State University in Detroit
  • Graduated from Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA  
  • Volunteer  at the St Dominic’s soup kitchen in Detroit with the Dominican Nuns feeding hundreds of homeless people weekly.
  • Funded/worked with Michigan Sports Hall Of Fame Coach Robert Brown for the United Youth 2000 mentoring program at Detroit Loyola High School.  
  • Entertainment/Music director for the Associated Food and Petroleum Dealers of MI 2011-current
  • Co-founder of Axis Music Academy
  • Co-chair of the Chaldean Festival,  Southfield, MI
  • Board member of the Chaldean Chamber of Commerce
  • Volunteer music/band director for the DMAN Foundation (Danny’s Miracle Angel Network)
  • Volunteer/donate band sets for The Relay For Life cancer walk
  • Writer/Guitar/Vocals/Executive Producer on all Slight Return music releases
  • Owner of “Slight Return” established in 1996
  • Owner of multiple International trademarks on “The D” and “Welcome To The D”
  • Owner of International trademarks on “It’s a Detroit Thing”, “It’s a Detroit Thang”, “It’s a D Thing”, “It’s a D Thang”, “Shake Your Detroit Right”, “Hail The Heroes” and “Slight Return”
  • Worked/produced with  George Clinton (Parliament/Funkadelic), Dennis Coffey (Funk Bros),  Tony “T Money” Green (Dramatics/Snoop Dogg/Dr Dre), Pat Lewis (Aretha Franklin/Isaac Hayes), Davey Pattison (Ronnie Montrose/Robin Trower),  and Andy Vargas (Santana)
  • Mixed/Edited/Produced with Jack Endino and Chris Hanzsek (Nirvana, Soundgarden, Foo Fighters),  Jim Diamond (White Stripes)
  • Writer/Owner/Founder/Co-producer and Host of the TV Show “Welcome To The D” that airs on International  Dish in several countries.
  • Owner/Creator of “The D” and “Welcome To The D” apparel