The Other Side Of Guitarist Mick Mars

Mick Mars IS the sound of the 80's- AND so much more. 

In this Carr Stereo Classic interview, I chat with the legendary guitarist about his inspirations, distinct sound, 2024 solo record - "The Other Side Of Mars" the song he wanted to create with another legend, and what his musical future looks like as a solo artist. No drama, Motley gossip or BS.  Just music....with Mick. 

TC Out! Tune in next week! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hello everyone, BumbleFootFollow here, and you are watching the Car Stereo Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Hey friend, Steve Brown here, and you are in my home studio, which we're gonna be doing a grand tour with my good friend Terry Carr on the Car Stereo Podcast. Come on, let's go.

SPEAKER_01 0:17

Yo, yo, what's up, yo? This is DMC and the place to be, and the only place for you to ever be is right here rocking and rolling with the Car Stereo Podcast.

SPEAKER_05 0:28

It's Terry Carr, and this is the Car Stereo Podcast. Welcome back for another week. If you have subscribed to my YouTube channel, by the way, thank you very much. Oh wait, if you haven't subscribed yet, please subscribe, give me a like, make a comment. I promise I'll comment back. If I do have some subscription coming out for you to be subscribers, you can always check out my website, joycorr.com at 24. And this point for our story out. So let's check out the other side of Mars on the Car Stereo Podcast. So I want to begin in 2024 when you need the other side of Mars, a very visual, diverse, and really incredible record that highlights not only your playing, but your personality. A record that I understand took you a little while to put together, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:48

Well, you know, I've been working on it for quite a while. It's uh not really um I wasn't really thinking of a concept album, but it actually does well. I guess I wanted to show like a lot of different uh influences or styles or different uh flavors, colors that I'm able to do, aside from just like you know, staying in in one particular thing. And I can do that, luckily, because I'm just me now. I don't have to be writing about well, you know, strippers and drinking and all that stuff. It's like I'm free to do just about anything I want. And so I wanted this record to be diverse, uh which it is.

SPEAKER_05 2:43

Very diverse. And it showcases so much of you. I think you've come into such a str you know, you've hit such a stride here with the songwriting, again, with the storytelling. And let's talk a little bit about I I mean, I think there are really great guitar players, and then I think there are crafters of sound. And I think you are in the category of a crafter of sound. You come up with this sort of Mi'kmaq sound, nobody can duplicate it, nobody can imitate it, no band or record will ever sound the same without you on it. It's just it just is the way it is, it's a fact. So when when we're talking about crafting that Mi'kmaq sound, so how does that happen for you? Is that just the way it was from the beginning? Is that over time? Is that producers helping to craft that sound? How does that become your sound?

SPEAKER_02 3:38

Um uh uh a lot of work. Um listening to listening to sounds, especially uh guitar players like Jeff Beck. You know, when you hear Jeff Beck, you know it's Beck. If you hear Hendrix, you know it's Hendrix, you know, and I worked for a long time, years to get my sound. Uh nothing was good enough until you know. So I kept working and working and working until I was happy with it, you know, which is not, you know, the little uh the little tones. I wanted like the big things that jumped in your face. And um so it took me a while to develop that, but mostly it's like you know, learning and listening to lots of guitar players that had great tones.

SPEAKER_05 4:28

I heard that you were a surf guitar fan growing up in some interview with you uh probably a while ago, and you and Dick Dale kind of had a thing. And here's the funny part I hear that in your sound, and I know you're a horror fan, so I almost kind of hear that like surf guitar and horror. Like sometimes I listen to a Mick Mars guitar and it scares me in a good way. I want to be afraid, and I I hear that kind of melding. So you were a surf guitar fan growing up?

SPEAKER_02 4:53

Um, yeah, I listened to a lot of surf music growing up, yeah. Adventurers and dickdale and uh a lot a lot of them, you know. But it taught me how to, you know, to do, I don't know, I liked I didn't want to be discord, you know, to move my fingers and the and to watch these guys and to hear them play and and things that you know it it had a lot to do with you know my growing up and listening and uh everywhere from surf to blues to uh classic to progressive, like uh General Giant or Robert Fripp with King Crimson.

SPEAKER_04 5:33

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 5:34

Uh you know, a lot, you know, the blues guys, Michael Bloomfield and uh you know, those those kind of guys, you know. So I learned a lot of different things from a lot of different artists. Um I didn't want to take lessons either. I wanted to play it my way.

SPEAKER_05 5:51

Yeah, of course. And and you didn't have to, and you didn't have to. You you have this amazing, incredible, distinct sound and tone and feel. Again, that cannot be cannot be duplicated. And you know what I love? Everybody everybody sees that now. Like I just love that, you know. I was gonna say this for the end of the for the end of the interview and ask you about this fan base, but let's do it now because we're kind of going through this. There's a whole Mick Mars fan base, very separate from the Motley fan base. And you are so appreciated as the artist that you are. And you've got to see this because you know, on social media, everybody's on social media, everybody's a keyboard warrior, everybody's got trolls here and there and stuff. But you seem to have this fan base that is so loyal and supportive of you, and that has got to mean something, especially now at this point in your career.

SPEAKER_02 6:40

Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, it means a lot. I mean I mean, uh what what can you really say, you know, except for you know, thank you to to all of you know fans that are sticking with me and and and hanging in there and and like digging my new songs that are coming out and and all that is like you know, it's it's it's a really you know it it's it's hard to describe. I don't want to sound like a weirdo, but it's like the that warmth that that support gives me the security of acknowledging my playing, the way that I play, the way that I write, the way that uh, you know, just me, what what I am, even when I'm this old.

SPEAKER_05 7:26

None of us are getting any younger, none of us feel any younger. And look, you and it's so funny too, because you've been giving us so much for such a long time that my friend, you have earned the number one, you've earned those rewards. And number two, you have earned the right to make any kind of record that you want to, my friend. Because I don't think that sometimes fans also don't realize when an artist gives us so much, so much of their life and so much of their time with touring and flying and being around people that maybe sometimes you don't want to be around or you don't want to be around. That's a lot of that's a it's a great life, don't get me wrong. But but you give a you give a lot, you give a lot with a life like that.

SPEAKER_02 8:07

Well, thank you. But yeah, I I I think that I um extracted a lot of people, you know, out of my life.

SPEAKER_05 8:17

Yeah.

unknown 8:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 8:18

And it's your time. It's your time, it's your time to shine. It's your time to shine on this record. So let's talk about a couple of tracks, Loyal to the Lie, which blew me away. Bang, bang, bang, man, in your face. Crazy, bombastic, wild song. So I want to talk about vocalization mixed with guitar, actually, because I think great guitar players know how to find singers who are able to, and especially when you're coming out of a band, Slash did it with Miles Kennedy so well, who are able to complement you so well. And I think that you have done it with Jacob. So talk a little bit about Jacob. You also have uh Jacob Button and you also have Brian Gamboa on this record. So talk to me about finding these vocalists and how they fit your style so well.

SPEAKER_02 9:01

With with Jacob, I met Jacob through Paul Taylor, um, who's also on the record on keyboards, right? Yeah. Um, and he introduced me to both of those guys. And uh, so when I heard Jacob first singing, I mean I I went through a lot of singers, right? And uh when Paul introduced me to Jacob, of course, um, he sang, what was it he first sang? I I don't recall which was the very first song that he sang on, uh, because it's been a few years, but I want the perfect. He's he's right, he's right, but you know, these songs when uh loyal, not loyal to the but um undone.

SPEAKER_05 9:44

Okay, undone, right.

SPEAKER_02 9:45

Yeah, um, and Killingbridge came up. That's where Brian came in, which Paul also introduced me to. Because I I was talking to Paul and going, like, you know, I need a little more angst to this. I mean, Jacob's voice is really powerful and clear and clean, and you know that you can understand the words and and this other, but I wanted something a little more gritty, a little more desperate. And uh Paul introduced me to Brian. Perfect, you know, and uh he did killing Breed one day. Wow, okay, and the reason I mean he had some like little little tweaks and here and there that you can fix very easily, but uh he goes, let me do it again. Let me know. No, no, no, no, no, dude. No, you won't be able to have this feel. Yes, yes, because they always do that, you know, players. Uh I mean if you're a drummer and drop a beat, yes, I can say that.

SPEAKER_03 10:52

Yes, right, right. But you want that feel. That's what makes the song. That's what makes the that's what you that's what makes the song.

SPEAKER_02 10:59

Exactly right, exactly right. And people try to uh uh fix what isn't broken, you know. I can do a better. No, you can't listen, and then you might listen to 10 takes and go, like, listen to the first one. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_05 11:14

That's no one's gonna, I wouldn't argue with Mick Mars. I'd be like, Mick, you we're in, we're in. Let's let's keep this, let's keep this the same. Let's do this. But yeah, you manage to get these guys who are so in the pocket with your playing, where I think there's a melding sometimes. And I think sometimes a guitar, uh a guitarist who's making a guitar record and looking for vocalists forgets that. And I think that you just had this great, I love that you used multiple vocalists because you wanted what you wanted on these songs, exactly right, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 11:45

And uh, I guess that's the bit of the the old school from me is uh what what happened to multiple singers in bands, they're they're pretty pretty much the same, you know. One one guy, yeah. Um, as opposed to, you know, it I'm really dating myself now, but like Beatles had three.

SPEAKER_05 12:10

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely amazing point, amazing point. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 12:15

Well, you know, it's like say Paul's voice would get like a little scratchy. Hey, John, can you sing this? Yeah, of course. Or George, can you you know what I mean? It's like let this guy, you know.

SPEAKER_05 12:26

Yeah, look at the Eagles. You got Fry, you got Henley, you got Walsh, you got these great vocalists, and every, you know, fell, you know, you know, you got Felder.

SPEAKER_02 12:36

That's what I'm looking for. That that kind of like, I guess uh in my music with the version, but also vocalist. It's like, I mean, uh you can tell it's me playing, right? But the no doubt, no doubt. And when you put in a different singer, it's like, oh, okay. You know, and and I and I'm digging it, you know. It's like you know, I I don't know, I may on this next record. I mean, I got some written because there was so much time in in between the releasing this record, and but um I mean I I may dip like a little back and do like a weird blue song. And or a or a funk or a soul song or something like that. The old Motown stuff.

SPEAKER_03 13:24

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 13:25

Um I I may just like find a uh uh like a female artist that would be on there and and you know um you know distinction and go like I'm going to be different. Yeah, I don't want to be stuck in this little pocket when I know there's a lot. I'm I'm you know, I'm not exactly a young guy, but well, you sound very inspired.

SPEAKER_05 13:57

You know, this is inspiring you. You sound like such an inspired artist now, and I think that that's what making music is about. It's about feeling inspired, and you sound like you're very inspired.

SPEAKER_02 14:05

Yes, well, I I I I've always been this way to think differently or out of the box, and and now that I'm on my own, I can expound on that and go different places. I mean, I I I actually wrote a song, a SERP song for Dick Dale to play on with me in harmonies, but unfortunately he passed. Yeah, before I could get to him.

SPEAKER_05 14:31

Oh, and you guys were friends. I I I heard you guys were buddies too, right? So it wouldn't have been that hard to get that done because you guys were buddies.

SPEAKER_03 14:38

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 14:39

We'll talk a little bit too about Michael Wagner, has produced this record. You know, Michael's done stuff. I mean, his resume between producing and engineering and mixing, I mean, if you think of a record, he's done something on it. Like he just has such a long resume. But it's got to be super cool because it's full circle. He worked on Too Fast for Love. Now he's working on this. I also remember, stop me if I'm wrong. Has he retired since making your record?

SPEAKER_02 15:05

Yes. I'm I'm the last record that he made.

SPEAKER_05 15:08

It's the last one.

SPEAKER_02 15:09

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 15:10

Wow. I didn't realize it was the last one, but I remember reading that he was retiring from producing and engineering and being like, wow, wow. And then I remember reading that he was he did your record. So I was like, I wonder if Nick's record was the last one that Michael Wagner did.

SPEAKER_02 15:23

Yes. And also the first with Motley.

SPEAKER_05 15:28

Crazy. Wow. And you but you guys predated knowing each other. You guys knew each other. So that has to be, see, this record is special in so many ways, I think, too, because you guys knew each other pre-Motley, pre-too fast for love. So he does that. That's his first. You're, you know, a young buck coming out of the stall on the record. Then you guys come full circle. He makes this dynamite sort of Mick Mars solo coming back into the stall record. It's his last record. That's some special, that's some special shit going on here.

SPEAKER_02 15:58

Oh, yeah. We've we've been together. I mean, together. We've been uh friends for way, way along 40, 45 years or so.

unknown 16:10

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 16:11

Um, back back in the days of I met him and Udo, Dirk Schneider.

SPEAKER_03 16:16

Um except, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:18

Yeah, when I was playing in a a club band. And uh yeah, so it it it was cool. I mean, you know, uh except was looking for another guitar player and they considered me, right? But then there was this other thing of of the possible like the motley thing happening. We hadn't had like uh in other words, I wasn't I was in the middle of two decisions, you know. So I was like, I I I better do this. I don't know if I'm ready to live in Germany or not. So yeah, right. But not not to not to be a mean guy or anything, right?

SPEAKER_04 16:59

Right, no, you're you wanted to go to be in California if you could, why not?

SPEAKER_02 17:03

Yeah, well, um, so yeah, I I I chose, you know, the way I did. So yeah, but we go we go way, way, way back, you know, um good memories.

SPEAKER_05 17:15

Yeah, and I would imagine for him too. It's funny because when I was reading a little bit, you know, the bio of the of the record, and it said, you know, you want to make a mean, aggressive, you know, aggressive sounding, you know, and I thought, well, yeah, Michael Wagner's the guy to do it because I think he's so in the pocket with that, you know, with that sound for you and for and for your guitar playing. So you've got so you're telling me that you've got a lot of music in the uh in the Mick Mars Arsenal. There's more music coming.

SPEAKER_02 17:45

Yes, I already have uh four very solid uh songs, you know, and they need to be tweaked a little bit, but they're really solid ideas, you know, that I gotta play and work with whoever it is that I'm gonna work with.

SPEAKER_05 17:59

I've always thought of you, I mentioned it earlier, as a visual, very visual artist. And the songs are very storytelling. You know, there are songs that definitely I listen, you know, you listen to growing up. You know, I could never listen to an Iron Maiden song without getting a visual, you know. And I get that with a lot of these songs from this record. And I think the videos are so incredible too. And I love that you're kind of the, you're like the star of a lot of these videos with this, with this cool Mick Mars persona, as you should be. They're your songs. So talk to me about putting these videos together and and why was it important for you to do them the way that you've done them. And for those of you who are listening or watching that have not seen them, please Google them on YouTube. The Loyal to the Lie video is awesome, and the right side of wrong video is great. I love kind of that like Mick character monster kind of character, you know, doing the the Mick Mars classic faces and stuff. I love it.

SPEAKER_02 18:52

Let's see, that that song, uh, well, I'll take them in order. Loyal to the lie is about, you know, cults, that kind of a thing to where here's this guy, whether it's Charlie Manson or or uh Jim Jones or all those people, is one guy telling thousands of people or hundreds of people what to do, and it's stupid. You know, it's like, why do you believe this? You give you give up all your money, you give up all your uh valuables, you give up all your everything, including your life at the end. You know, there's all those people are drink the Kool-Aid or whatever.

SPEAKER_05 19:36

So we're the sneakers and we're going off to the planet or whatever. Yeah, I get it. Yeah, crazy.

SPEAKER_02 19:42

Heaven's gate, yeah. That's the God, he's gonna help take us away, you know. And it's like, don't believe this guy, he's crazy, you know. But uh that's kind of uh, you know, uh based on that kind of a thing. Um, right side of wrong is uh one of one of the parts, and there is no right side of wrong. So I had the black and white, and a lot of people go like, oh, is spy the spy? Basically, maybe, but uh there's there was a part in the in the video I made that was never made, and I got a little bit upset about it because it's uh I wanted to take somehow, I I don't know why it was so difficult, but there was a part in it I wanted to the black guy and the white you know thing that exchanged hats or heads or something, so the way they think is now the way the other guy thinks. But now they both think and what the other guy thinks, but it's still wrong. But what happens is at the end of the video, I wanted to have just a where that big boom goes at the end, would be just and gray. Because there's a gray area, that's what that song is based on. Just the gray area of what is right and what is wrong. Is there any? We don't know the gray area.

SPEAKER_05 21:09

What is the right side of wrong? Yeah. I but like I said at the beginning of the interview, a lot of storytelling going on here. And um, I think you're a great story. I think you're a great storyteller, Nick.

SPEAKER_02 21:20

Oh, thank you. I got a lot of stories.

SPEAKER_05 21:23

You do, you do, man. And this is a great time to be telling them all because man, I think if anybody has lived it, it is you. Did you always know you were gonna call a solo record the other side of Mars, or did it just kind of come to you? Because it's just so perfect.

SPEAKER_02 21:40

Um no, I I I not really. I mean, I I I didn't I didn't know what I was gonna call it, and one day I guess you know that that just came to me because it's another side of of me.

SPEAKER_05 21:54

100.

SPEAKER_02 21:55

You know, yeah. So it was um Peter Frampton. Frampton comes. Alive, right?

SPEAKER_05 22:00

Yeah, right, right, right, right. But this is this is more perfect. This is even more perfect than that because it's just it's the timing, it's the other side of you, it's you, you know, kind of standing front and center there. And you know what, my friend? As I said, you've earned you've earned it, man. You have earned making a great solo record. And I love reading comments on your socials because I just love seeing the fans appreciate you for the guitar player and the artist that you are.

SPEAKER_02 22:29

Yes, I I I I do too. As well, as well, you know, with the fans and and but uh I don't know, maybe the other side of Mars. Maybe I'll call it. I don't know. Am I gonna call my own Mars part two?

SPEAKER_04 22:44

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 22:46

I don't know.

SPEAKER_05 22:47

The other other side of Mars. Oh my gosh. Mick, it has been such a pleasure. Thank you so much for the time and the great conversation and the amazing music. Again, like I said, a living legend, and it's such a thrill to have you on.

SPEAKER_02 22:59

Oh, thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_01 23:01

Don't forget to like this podcast and subscribe to the Car Stereo page on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Rob Moorhead, TC and I.

SPEAKER_05 23:12

We'll see you next time.