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Great White - "Making Music Is a Perpetual Fountain Of Youth" |
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Monday, 12 May 2008 |
 Mick Burgess at Metal Express Radio recently spoke to Great White's
Jack Russell and Michael Lardie. The following is an excerpt from the
interview:
Q: Great White has its origins way back in 1981. Did you ever think back then that you would still be out there in 2008?
Jack: "You know, I honestly didn’t think much
about it and looking back on it is kind of mind blowing. It seems like
we’re just starting this thing. I’ve been playing with Mark (Kendall)
since 1978 and my drummer since 1977, and I’m 47 years old now so it’s
been a long, long time. As I look back on my career, the unfortunate
thing is that it’s gone by so fast. It feels like I was 25 the other
day and now I’m 47 and I just think, man what happened! I still love
playing and seeing the world, it never gets old to me, and it never
will. You see, there is this thing about Rock 'n' Roll, it keeps you
perpetually young. Making music is a perpetual fountain of youth;
that’s my mental outlook."
Q: So looking back, what’s your earliest recollection of the band?
Jack: "Well my first memory is of Mark. We were both in crosstown
rival bands. I’d quit my band and Mark kept calling me asking me to
come down and sing for his band, and so one day I went down. They were
okay, but Mark took me to one side and I mentioned my original stuff
and he thought it was amazing. I just said, 'Tell you what, you quit
these guys and we’ll start something.' The next day we drove over to my
parents' house in a topless car, got together with these guys, and
started a band. That was November of 1978."
Q: How do think you’ve managed to keep going so long while a lot of your contemporaries have fallen by the waistside?
Jack: "You know I don’t really know. I guess it’s because we’ve
always been honest with the music. There’s still a passion there. We’ve
had our ups and downs, the band split and we’ve had different versions.
I did solo stuff for a while, which turned back into Great White and
then we had the Rhode Island tragedy. All I can say is it’s really neat
to be back with an audience out there and to be playing with the guys
that have been around me for twenty seven years. The magic is still
there and when we did the last record it felt like we’d never stopped.
There had been a gap of eight or nine years between the last record and
the new one, and yet everything was cool and the chemistry was still
there."
Michael: "One guy once pointed out to us that bands with dynamics
will always last and that by playing from 'Save Your Love' to 'Step On
You' with all points in-between, we would last. He was citing bands
like THE WHO and I was like 'Wow!' He was a top sound guy and he said,
'You guys will last because you have that X – factor that other bands
haven’t got. You guys play in and out rather than just the one thing.'"
Go to this location for the complete interview.
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