- 1 year ago
WRIF Virtual Rock Room with Slaughter's Mark Slaughter
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00:00Thank you so much for watching Riff TV. Now, this interview is obviously with video, but I don't interview everybody on Zoom.
00:07That's why I put it on my Talkin' Rock with Meltdown podcast. We talk to rock artists from all over the genre.
00:13So check out Talkin' Rock with Meltdown wherever you get your podcasts. And now, to today's video interview.
00:20Well, we've made contact with Mark. Now, Mark, the first thing I wanted to tell you is that old guys like us,
00:26or whenever we have computer issues, we have to look for the youngest person in the room. That's how this works.
00:32Yeah, but if there's not somebody young, then you're just walking around like with your ass crack hanging out, you know.
00:38It's a little inside baseball. We've been trying to get this Zoom figured out for about five or ten minutes or so,
00:43but we've kind of, we got it figured out in our own old man way. So how you doing, Mark?
00:48I'm doing good, man. Doing real good. I had a computer issue.
00:51My recording computer took a dump on me today, a blue screen.
00:58So I've been running around all day.
01:00So we're actually communicating through my laptop, which is not, I had to wipe the dust off it to do this.
01:06So here we are.
01:07That's a pretty cool microphone, dude. You got a pretty cool setup there.
01:10Yeah, you know, I have a lot of great, here in the studio, I, you know, during the whole COVID time,
01:15I, you know, spent a lot of time here.
01:18So I got my recording set up pretty, pretty cool.
01:22Yeah, I was going to say, so during COVID, I'm trying to remember if we've actually talked officially since then.
01:26I mean, I've seen you guys and stuff after that, but I don't know if we've done an interview,
01:28but were you doing, were you recording stuff, dicking around in the, in the, in the studio and that kind of thing throughout all of COVID?
01:35Yeah, I mean, I did.
01:36It's funny.
01:37We even, you know, a lot of my musician friends, we'd say, hey, let's do that song.
01:41And we'd, you know, we did a, I know this is really outside, but Gino Vanelli had a song called Brother to Brother that was probably one of the most technical songs that I've played on.
01:53And Joe Vanelli, his brother, who produced the Gino Vanelli records, we got some of the original players on it.
02:01And we redid the track as a tribute to Mark Craney, who was also the drummer of Jethro Tull.
02:08And, and it was just, it's a tribute to Mark Craney as Brother to Brother, if you type it in.
02:14And we, and I did all the guitar work and the, and the voice on it.
02:19And it was, it was a blast to do.
02:21Yeah, that's cool.
02:22So I did the last time I saw you guys, if I'm not mistaken.
02:25I probably saw you since, but I saw you down there in Destin, Florida the one time.
02:28And what was it like to get back on stage after being locked up and not being able to see your fans?
02:32You know, it's, it's really difficult for everybody in the, in the side that you're just kind of wondering, when are we going to get out and when are we going to get back to normal?
02:41And our music is, as, as we all remember back in the day was all about getting out and very social and, and hanging out and, you know, tailgating and all that stuff.
02:53And, and it just changed the whole dynamic and, you know, we've been touring like crazy.
02:59We do fly dates, we fly into a show, do a show and then fly back home.
03:03So we haven't stopped since, since the gate opened up, but it's great to be back for sure.
03:10Now you're going to be here in Detroit in the, in the Wyandotte area, Smuggler's Run.
03:14It's going to be the first time to be able to see this venue.
03:16And it looks like it's selling really well.
03:19All the VIPs look like they're pretty much sold out.
03:21So what band are you bringing with you?
03:23I know it's always you and sometimes it's Dan, Dana, you know, who are you bringing with you to the show?
03:28It's Dana.
03:29It's going to be Dana and Blando.
03:31And we have a gentleman named Jordan Kanata, who is a, in Adrenaline Mob and he's a fantastic drummer.
03:40Will, who's been playing with us as well as, uh, out doing Evanescence stuff.
03:45And, uh, Jordan has been kind of our, uh, go-to guy at the moment.
03:49And, uh, what a great player, young kid.
03:52He was born.
03:53I mean, the crazy thing is, is when we got his passport, when we said, Hey, let's, let's, you know, get you in there in case we're doing stuff overseas.
04:00And, and, uh, we look at the passport and we realized this, this kid was born on the day that our first record was put out.
04:08Is that right?
04:10Yeah.
04:10So, I mean, so he's like, you know, he, he's, uh, he's dating us pretty good, but he, uh, he is a fantastic drummer and we're really looking forward to, uh, bringing him up there.
04:21I think people really enjoy the show.
04:23And of course, Detroit has a lot of great memories for us.
04:27You know, we've been, you know, that basically Detroit kept all these rock bands alive through, through all the most difficult times period.
04:35Yeah.
04:35I just went up on stage the other day and introduced a pop evil and it's so cool.
04:39You know, um, I grew up in Buffalo, but I've been here for, you know, 27 years and it, you know, and it's like all the bands that were out before you guys came around with the, you know, with the, with the Nugents, Nails, Coopers and the Bob Segers.
04:50But since I've been here too, with, uh, all the great musical heritage, talk about maybe some of your favorites from the Motor City growing up.
04:58You know, uh, first of all, first of all, my very first shows that I did, uh, dating back to our prior band, the Vinnie Vincent invasion, where I literally was a guitar teacher and put my guitar down in a stand.
05:12Uh, was in, uh, the Michigan area.
05:16We did Lansing, Michigan, then we did another show.
05:18And then we did two nights, uh, with Alice Cooper.
05:22This is in 1986 where we opened up and we played hell night.
05:27And then we played on Halloween with Alice Cooper.
05:29And it was the coolest thing ever because, you know, first of all, I'm a fan of Alice Cooper.
05:34And second of all, you know, I was never in Detroit before.
05:38And all of a sudden, you know, that became kind of like my home sweet home, because that's where I really started professionally, in my opinion.
05:47Now, I was just talking with the William Duvall from Alice in Chains the other day.
05:50And of course, uh, uh, even the guys from, uh, Skid Row just last week.
05:53And they all talked about the impact that Kiss had on their life growing up as, as early kids, as kids and stuff.
05:58And I, I'm assuming that those shows were played at Kobo.
06:01Is that correct?
06:02Um, yes, that was at Kobo.
06:04And as well as the, you know, the Kiss shows, you know, were there.
06:09And, uh, you know, look, we, and also, uh, uh, Pine Knob as well, you know, up there in, in the Pine Knob area, that was the other staple for, for all the, the rock shows up there.
06:21But, uh, you know, it's, you know, then we ended up doing the Palace as well.
06:27And, um, you know, so all that whole area, I mean, that's just kind of where we kind of came in and out of, in and out of.
06:34And, uh, um, you know, again, it's the, the rock in this Detroit rock city for a reason, you know, and that's just because Kiss said it because it is, I mean, it's a rock and roll staple.
06:45Yeah.
06:45And, of course, you're bringing your show, like we said, Saturday to a smuggler's run in, uh, Wyandotte.
06:50Uh, do you still, uh, chomp at the bit to get on stage and tour and stuff?
06:54I love to get out and tour.
06:56I mean, it's, it's great, especially when you're coming back to old home week.
06:59We get to see a lot of friends that we haven't seen in a long time and, and, uh, you know, what a blast to, to, you know, go out there and hang.
07:07I mean, uh, a gentleman named Mark Farner, who, uh, I'm recording his record from Grand Funk.
07:14Uh, he lives up in, uh, the upper, you know, in Michigan as well.
07:19And, uh, that's another staple in Detroit.
07:21Blando, our guitar player, he's from Flint, Michigan.
07:24So, I mean, the ties to Detroit is definitely like an old home week for us.
07:29Tell me about this, uh, Mark Farner project that you're doing.
07:32What can you tell?
07:33He's, he's doing a solo record.
07:34We've done some re-records and we've done it here in my studio in Tennessee.
07:39He's come down here and we're also doing things, uh, through the old internet where you send files back and forth to each other.
07:46And, uh, what an incredible talent.
07:48And, uh, I'm truly blessed to know him as, as a human being and also as a musician.
07:54What a, what a cool dude, man.
07:56What, what have you known him for a while or are you just getting to know him or what?
08:00I've known him a while.
08:01I met him through the rock and roll fantasy camp in about 2007, 2008.
08:06And, uh, we, we've always, we were brothers right from the beginning.
08:10I mean, we're, you know, we, we have the same mindset.
08:12It's the, it's the Cherokee, you know, connection is blood.
08:16And, and, uh, he is just, I mean, what a great talent, man.
08:22And, you know, and again, if you go back into those grand funk railroad songs, those are the
08:27ones that they're really impacting me as a young kid, you know, and that was my, that
08:33was what I listened to when I was riding my bike around with my radio taped with duct tape
08:38to my handlebars, you know?
08:40Yeah, no doubt.
08:41I remember those days for sure.
08:43What other projects are you working on?
08:44Anything else?
08:45No, I'm just kind of focused on that stuff with Mark.
08:48And then, uh, you know, we're, we're talking about getting some new songs together, Dana
08:52and Blando and, you know, possibly even Bloss or kicking it all around, trying to figure
08:57out what our next step is.
08:59There's a, uh, wildlife, uh, uh, box set that is, uh, going to be released through kissmywaxrecords.com
09:07kissmywax.
09:09And it's pretty cool.
09:10It's a lot of vintage stuff for those vinyl enthusiasts.
09:12And, uh, we're, you know, we're just kind of doing little projects like that and just
09:17trying to figure out, uh, you know, what, what's fun for everybody.
09:21That's really where we're at.
09:23Uh, talk about the, uh, the new music, because I heard you guys might have some, uh, stuff,
09:27uh, kicking around is, is, do you have anything, any ideas demoed out or anything like that?
09:32No, but you know, Dana and I, when we wrote, uh, stick it to you, we wrote it in about two
09:37and a half weeks.
09:38So it's, it doesn't take us long to write the songs.
09:41It's more about getting us all in the same room and, and, uh, you know, just turning
09:46and, you know, making sure the computer works like I'm, like I'm dealing with right now,
09:50letting technology work as long as technology works, we can get things done pretty quick,
09:55but we don't have a set date.
09:57We're just kind of doing all these shows and we're all kind of earmarking the calendar
10:03when we have holes in the schedule where we can do that.
10:05Now you're going to bring, well, will Blas play on the record and, and, and like, what
10:09is his like position with the band?
10:11Is he like, obviously always a member of the band, but whenever he can join.
10:15When he can, when he can do that.
10:17And, and, you know, he has, uh, yes, family commitments and he has other things that he's,
10:22he's doing right now.
10:23And, and, you know, Blas is, and always will be, uh, uh, uh, a big part of the band.
10:29Um, you know, he was the original player, Jordan is a fantastic drummer.
10:34So I don't know, you know, when we get to the time of recording, it's kind of like who's
10:39available and what works, but I know that, uh, we're working on a biopic right now.
10:44And obviously Blas will be a part of that.
10:46I think that's probably once we get something like that out is when we'll release something
10:51where Blas comes back and we really go for it, uh, as, as, as close to original as we can.
10:57Um, yeah, that's cool.
10:59The biopic, huh?
11:00You dig up some old, uh, old footage, some old videos and stuff.
11:03Yeah.
11:03That all started during the COVID time.
11:05We started going through our drawers that, you know, you throw all your junk in a drawer
11:09and then you come back and you go, man, what's this?
11:11And then you start sending it back to each other.
11:14Hey dude, do you remember this?
11:15So we, we ended up finding, um, a 24 track tape, which we had, uh, uh, basically, uh, cooked.
11:26And then we took all the files off it.
11:28It was a show we did a universal, uh, and a Dick Clark production.
11:33And we did a whole show in between doing the tapings.
11:36So we have a full live show with Tim Kelly on it that, that, uh, I'm mixing.
11:42We're trying to pull together for a, uh, for a release probably through BMG.
11:48Oh, no kidding.
11:49That's cool.
11:49So, so yeah, we're, so we're pulling all that together right now.
11:53And there are a few of those songs that we threw on this wildlife compilation in this
11:57box set that that'll be in there.
11:59But, uh, that was a great find.
12:01It really was.
12:02Yeah.
12:03That's like a, yeah.
12:04Dusting off some of the classics right there.
12:05I can imagine just, uh, finding that and, you know, probably the shock of yourself, huh?
12:09Yeah.
12:10I mean, you know, and you realize, you know, you're 25, 26 years old at the time that you
12:14did it, you kind of go, wow, what a trip, you know, we were kids.
12:17And, but, uh, you know, we, we, we love what we do and we still continue to make the music
12:23and, and, you know, in the spirit of, uh, Detroit and in, uh, rock and roll and muscle
12:28cars, that's, uh, that's what we love and continue to, to embrace.
12:32It sounds like this, uh, this interview almost just took a turn to Ted Nugent for a second.
12:36That's a, well, that's, uh, you know, Derek St. Holmes, he's a buddy of mine and uncle
12:41Ted is uncle Ted.
12:42So you can't run, you can't run away, uh, from, from the roots where you came from.
12:47Yeah.
12:47Derek just celebrated his 70th birthday as did Billy Sheehan, one of your neighbors down
12:51there.
12:52Some.
12:52Yeah.
12:53Yeah.
12:54Yeah.
12:54And, and, uh, you know, both of them are, are fantastic and nothing has ever changed with
13:00way those guys rock.
13:01I mean, they're both fantastic.
13:03Now I just talked to Billy a couple of weeks ago and it's funny cause like, you know, there's
13:06a lot of musicians down by where you live.
13:08Do you ever venture down into the city or are you just one of these guys that kind of hangs
13:12out in the suburbs and stuff and just kind of does your own thing?
13:14Um, I'm beyond the suburbs.
13:17I'm out in farmland here.
13:19I have like 12 acres with a little mini farm where we got cats and dogs and chickens and,
13:26and, uh, I don't know, a hundred plus guitars floating around here.
13:31So, you know, it's, it's inspiring.
13:33There's enough time for you to figure things out in your own head to where you can, you
13:36know, make some music.
13:37But I, I just don't go downtown much.
13:40It seems like it's more bachelorette, bachelorette parties, you know, than there is anything that's,
13:45uh, that's, uh, tying me into the rock and roll side of it.
13:49But I, I have done a few things in the past.
13:51I did a couple of jams with Rudy Sarzo and Vinny Apicey and, and, uh, you know, I've had
13:58some, some great jams out here.
13:59I mean, the musicianship is just fantastic.
14:01And yeah, it's funny on the last 20 years, how everyone's kind of just moved there.
14:07Well, because it's a little bit, this is kind of, if you look at the map of America,
14:11you see, you know, basically Nashville is the heart of the nation.
14:16It's right there.
14:17It's easy to get in and out.
14:19You can drive up to Detroit.
14:20You can drive down to Florida.
14:22You can, so it's, it's easy to, to fly in and out of, or drive around and, and, uh, do
14:28your thing.
14:28So, you know, again, the Midwest and, and, uh, Detroit and Chicago and all those areas
14:35are the place where this kept rock and roll alive all these years.
14:39And, and I mean, looking back on your career and stuff, you probably spent a lot of time
14:43on the West coast as well, but do you think that that was good for you when you're in the
14:46early days of your career, maybe just the wild part of your career?
14:50I think that, you know, look, California is California, New York's New York, but the truth
14:55is, is the Midwest, when you get into Detroit and Chicago, we spent more time.
15:00I'll never forget when we were going through the rough time when, you know, the music was
15:04down and, and, and people tried to forget that they were having a good time and wanted
15:09to be depressed.
15:09And, and, uh, you know, women were looking like dudes.
15:14Uh, it's at that point in time, it was like, uh, we were, we only place we played probably
15:20more than anywhere was in Michigan.
15:22We just, it seemed like that was like the magnet that always pulled us back to that area.
15:28Yeah.
15:28Yeah.
15:29There's a lot of people here.
15:30They work hard and they play hard and they definitely want to have a good time when they
15:32go out for sure.
15:33Um, so, um, I was talking with, uh, I was talking with somebody in a, I think I was talking
15:39with, uh, with Jeff, I've got to hear this story when you guys were in Lima, Peru during
15:43a coup attempt.
15:45Oh yeah.
15:46Yeah.
15:46Yeah.
15:46It's crazy.
15:47We, so, so I fly down to do this show, uh, in Peru and when we get there, this, this
15:54was this year.
15:55Okay.
15:56Yeah.
15:56This year.
15:57And so, so we fly down, fly down there and, you know, and the promoters like, you know,
16:02this is it and do a rehearsal.
16:03So I go jam with this band and we do our thing.
16:06And then the next morning I go down to the lobby and you can see the promoter and all his
16:11buddies like have this look on their face, like a, you know, a train hit the hotel.
16:16And I'm like, Hey, what's going on?
16:18And they're like, uh, we don't think the show is going to play.
16:20And I go, why?
16:21And they said, well, our president is, is there's a whole coup going on and this is happening.
16:27And it was all unfolding and they're running off with cell phones and one minute, the show's
16:31on the next minute it's off.
16:32So anyway, the, the, uh, so we go in, go down, go down.
16:36And they said, basically they go, you know what?
16:39They said, um, you know, the, the, the president is trying to flee to the Mexican embassy.
16:46And we're like, what?
16:47And I guess he was trying to leave, uh, the government building there and all the, the
16:54locals in, in Peru, basically they, they parked their cars and took the keys out of their car.
17:00So his car couldn't get over to the embassy and they arrested the guy.
17:05And then the vice president gets thrown in as the, uh, uh, as the new president and the
17:12show went on, but it, you know, as soon as we left off, of course, all hell broke loose
17:16and people weren't able to fly out.
17:18So we got out just by the skin of our pants, but you know, those types of things, you can't
17:23write that, you know, it's just, it's crazy experiences in other countries.
17:27And you realize, you know, what it's like here in America, you know, it's a whole different
17:32thing, you know, there's gotta be some parts of the world.
17:35That you guys just won't go to.
17:36Right.
17:38Well, you know, there's every single time when it comes into Brazil that we're, we're
17:43slated to go out to Brazil, every time we're doing, you know, book to do something, they
17:49say it's not safe to go.
17:50And they, the promoters will cancel the show and just say, it's not safe now.
17:55It's a most bizarre thing, but, uh, you know, that, that happens in this business and,
18:01and, uh, you know, it is what it is.
18:03It's a Japan we go to often.
18:05We love Japan, you know, not as much as, uh, Billy Sheehan and Mr. Big goes over there,
18:10but we go over there a few times and, uh, you know, a great country to that, you know,
18:15that the loves the music as well.
18:17Speaking of keys, uh, Duke told me, he wanted me to ask you about the lock keys in the,
18:22uh, truck rental.
18:25Oh yeah.
18:25So, so we were out, I might've been coming up to, it might've been up in your area.
18:30Um, we were going to, we came by the station and, uh, Duke and, uh, Wes are two bodyguards
18:40at the time.
18:40They, we go to the, to the radio station, we get down, uh, into, uh, we get done the rate,
18:47the radio interview.
18:48We go down to the car and Wes goes to Duke where the keys and he goes, I don't have the
18:54keys.
18:54And he goes, well, I don't have the keys.
18:55And we're like, dude, we got to go shower.
18:57We got to show tonight.
18:58And they're like, and Wes says to Duke, go get the keys.
19:02And he literally tore the backseat out of the rental car, like a dog, like a pit bull,
19:07just like ripped it apart.
19:09I've never seen any type of demolition from a, from a human being, like what Duke did.
19:15It was pretty funny, but, uh, you know, I was a long story to the rental car company,
19:20but, uh, yeah, that's just part of the thing.
19:22You know, you just got whatever it takes to get to the show.
19:24So, you know, yeah.
19:26Duke is a pretty big guy, but for those that don't know, Wes was, uh, uh, God rest his
19:30soul was six foot 10, 400 pounds.
19:32And, uh, I, I know you saw him spring into action a few times.
19:35That must've been, Oh yeah, absolutely.
19:37Absolutely.
19:38He used to pick me up and just say, we're going.
19:40And he just literally carried me by my, by my ankles off to the bus.
19:44I mean, he was, he was a big guy.
19:46Yeah.
19:46I've, I've heard some of the stories from Duke.
19:48He walked me through a bar one time that you could not shoehorn another person into.
19:52Like there was nobody in there.
19:54Yeah.
19:55Yeah.
19:55I know.
19:56Isn't it funny?
19:56He's like coming through, coming through, coming through.
19:59He's just like, he's like doing this to people and people are just moving out of the way.
20:02So, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
20:05Absolutely.
20:05Well, you know, and you know, it's, it's funny.
20:08It's just like you.
20:09I mean, we've had, we've had so many great friends along the way that have just been a
20:14part of our life and, you know, go in and out.
20:16I mean, we all do what we do in life, but you know, we've been a part of this incredible
20:20ride of music and, and fun and, uh, and great memories and good times, you know?
20:27Yeah, no doubt.
20:28And it's a, it's a career, uh, well-lived and well-spent and, uh, man, I'll tell you
20:32what, it's, uh, just getting stronger.
20:33Maybe some new music, a biopic, like you were talking about, uh, coming up in the, in the
20:37near future somewhere, but we know for sure, uh, smugglers run at Wyandotte, uh, this coming
20:42weekend.
20:43So, Hey, Mark, want to thank you for taking the time out here on this, uh, beautiful, uh,
20:47spring day.
20:47Happy spring to you, uh, to, uh, spring to you too.
20:50Yeah, absolutely.
20:51It's a little chilly up there, isn't it?
20:53It's not too bad.
20:54It's actually like 51, which maybe.
20:56Oh, there you go.
20:57Yeah.
20:58There's no ice fishing.
20:59So yeah, I guess that's good.
21:00No.
21:01So maybe when you come up here this weekend, uh, who knows, maybe it'll be some bikinis.
21:04I'm, I don't know.
21:04Oh yeah.
21:05There you go.
21:05Well, we'll, we'll check the parking lot.
21:08Hey Mark, thanks so much for the time.
21:10Appreciate it.
21:11Thank you, my friend.
21:11We'll talk to you soon.
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