Mick Mars Plans New Music: ‘I Do Have Another Album in the Fire’

Mick
Mars’
debut
solo
album,

The
Other
Side
of
Mars, arrived
on
Feb.
23
after
being
in
the
works
for
years.
But
it
appears
that
fans
won’t
have
to
wait
nearly
as
long
to
hear
the
next
chapter
from
the
former

Motley
Crue
guitarist.

“I
have
a
ton
of
ideas.
[There’s]
years
and
years
of
stuff,”
he

told
UCR
in
late
December. He
expanded
on
that
thought
during
a
new
interview
with
Ultimate
Classic
Rock
Nights’
program
host
Matt
Wardlaw. “I
know
that
I
have
the
right
formula
and
the
right
people,”
he
explained,
adding
that
the
process
should
move
faster
this
time
around.

Still,
as
he
details
in
the
below
conversation,
he
wants
to
give
The
Other
Side
of
Mars
“a
little
bit
of
room
to
breathe
and
grow,” predicting
that
the
follow-up
won’t
arrive
until
2025
at
the
earliest.

Checking
in
briefly
via
phone
from
his
Nashville
home,
the
guitar
legend
shares
his
thoughts
on
the
initial
reception
to
The
Other
Side
of
Mars

and
where
his
head
is
at
when
it
comes
to
the
new
music
he
wants
to
record.
He
also
looks
back
at
a
couple
of
key
Motley
milestones,
including
the
30th
anniversary
of

Motley
Crue,
the
band’s
lone
album
with
vocalist

John
Corabi.

It’s
been
about
a
month
since

The
Other
Side
of
Mars
was
released.
You
must
feel
pretty
good
about
how
it’s
been
received
so
far.
I
think
both
of
my
eyeballs
rolled
around
on
the
floor
for
a
while.
I
was
pretty
knocked
out
by
it.
[Laughs]

What’s
been
the
most
surprising
thing
about
the
reception?
You
know
it’s
my
record
company,
right?

Absolutely.
I
only
wanted
to
put
out
maybe
a
couple
thousand
copies,
but
it
blew
up
and
I
went,
whoa!
Because
I
didn’t
know
how
it
would
do
or
anything,

just
being
by
myself.
But
as
I
say,
I
was
floored
when
it
came
to
how
much
it
blew
up.
Floored.
I’m
beyond
happy.
I’m
at
a
loss,
because
I
don’t
even
have
the
correct
words
to
say.

READ
MORE:

Listen
to
Mick
Mars’ ‘Loyal
to
the
Lie’

You’re
already
looking
at
doing
another
album,
right?
Oh
yeah.
I’ve
already
got
some
solid
ideas
too.
So
yeah,
of
course.
I
want
to
do
it
until
I
can’t,
you
know?

When
we
first
spoke
last
year,
you
told
me
there
are
still
moments
of “mean
old
Mick”
on
this
album.
I
can
hear
that
on “Ain’t
Going
Back,”
which
I
hadn’t
heard
when
we
talked.
Oh
yeah!
That’s
a
mean
one,
huh?

That’s
mean
old
Mick,
man!
[Laughs]
That’s
mean
old
Mick,
that’s
right.
You
know,
sometimes
I
just
sit
down
and
start
playing
around
with
different
things.
I’ll
hear
something
in
what
I
did.
So
I’ll
take
it
out
and
see
where
I
can
take
that
particular
part.
That’s
how
I
actually
work.
I
just
sit
down
and
whatever
comes
out
of
my
guitar,
from
my
brain
to
my
hands,
that’s
what
I
look
at.
There’s
different
sounds,
different
toys,
you
know,
it’s
just
playing
around
and
searching
for
stuff.

You’ve
always
done
a
lot
of
that.
Oh,
always,
yes.
Maybe
I’m
weird,
but
that’s
just
the
way
I
work.

Listen
to
Mick
Mars’ ‘Ain’t
Going
Back’

“Killing
Breed”
has
a

grunge
feel
to
the
guitar
tone
in
spots.
How
much
were
you
into
grunge
at
the
time?
Hardly
none.
[Laughs]
Mostly,
because
I
was
with
Motley,
touring
and
doing
all
of
this
stuff.
It’s
really
hard
to
discover,
hear
or
listen
to
the
radio.
You
get
lost
in
the
tour.
It’s
lost
time,
I
guess.
But
not
really
any
of
it.
I’ll
take
that
as
a
compliment
though,
my
friend.

Oh,
for
sure.
As
you
say,
Motley
was
making
music
in
that
time
period.
We’re
at
the
30-year
mark
for
the

Motley
Crue
album
with
John
Corabi.
Going
back
to
that
moment
when
you
were
working
on
the
album,
what
did
that
feel
like?
It
felt
to
me
like
Motley
was
going
in
a
different,
more
musical
kind
of
direction.
I
mean,
I
really
liked
it.
I
had
a
lot
of
fun
playing
on
that
album
and
writing
the
music
for
it,
all
of
that.
It
was
like
when
you
first
meet
your
new
girlfriend,
the
thrill
and
the
energy
and
all
of
that,
it
was
all
there.
I
thought
the
songs
were
all
very
strong.
That’s
kind
of
where
I
was
coming
from
then.

As
a
creative
person
and
guitar
player,
it
seems
like
that’s
a
record
that
really
would
have
pushed
you.
I
think
there
was
a
lot
of
that
happening
within
Motley
with
that
album.
Oh
yeah.
But,
you
know,
I
understand
why
fans
really
didn’t
like
it.
Because
it
wasn’t
the
way
they
were
used
to
hearing
the
band
with

Vince
Neil.
Probably,
if
we
would
have
gone
with
a
ghost
name
[and
not
called
it
Motley
Crue],
it
would
have
probably
done
really
well.
But
staying
with
the
name,
people
were
like,
“That’s
not
Motley
Crue!”
But
there
are
a
lot
of
people
that
really
like
the
album
too.

That’s
a
record
that
a
lot
of
people
love,
absolutely.
Yeah,
yeah.
There’s
a
lot
of
people
still
discovering
it
as
well.
It’s
all
good.
I’m
very
proud
of
that
record.

READ
MORE:

When
Motley
Crue
Struggled
to
Move
Ahead
With
a
New
Singer

Dr.
Feelgood
also
turns
35
later
this
year.
Your
guitar
sounds
so
huge
on
the
title
track.
How
did
that
song
take
shape?
You
know,
I’ve
always
been
about
tone,
of
course.
But
I
wrote
that
lick
on
a
little
eight-track
studio
that
I
had
in
my
condominium.

Nikki
[Sixx]
came
over
for
a
second
and
heard
it
—
“He’s
the
one
they
call
Dr.
Feelgood”
—
so
we
started
playing
around
at
rehearsal
with
it.
I
had
the
whole
song.
We
didn’t
have
the
lyrics,
of
course,
but
the
song
was
there.
But
my
guitar
tone
is
important
to
me.
I
didn’t
want
it
to
sound
like
a
transistor
radio.
It
needed
to
be
big.
Big
and
mean
and
in
your
face.
[Laughs]

Listen
to
Motley
Crue’s ‘Dr.
Feelgood’

“Kickstart
My
Heart”
has
prominent
use
of
the

talk
box.
How
did
you
get
into
that?
That
was
from
the

Joe
Walsh
days.
I
used
to
play
“Rocky
Mountain
Way.”
That’s
the
first
song
that
I
used
with
a
talk
box.
In
a
cover
band!
[Laughs].
But
it’s
from
him.
Listen
to
Joe.

You
were
working
on

The
Other
Side
of
Mars
for
a
long
time,
so
it
will
be
exciting
to
see
where
you
go
with
the
next
album.
I
know
that
I
have
the
right
formula
and
the
right
people.
So
it
should
go
a
little
faster
than
[The
Other
Side
of
Mars].
I’m
thinking
[it
will
be
out]
maybe
the
beginning
of
next
year.
You
know,
let’s
give
this
album
a
little
bit
of
room
to
breathe
and
grow.
But
I
do
have
another
album
in
the
fire.
It’s
coming.
There’s
four
really
killer
ideas
that
I
have.
I
listen
to
them
and
I
go, “Whoa,
this
is
really
cool.”