|
Mad Margritt was formed in 1990! Think of everything that has happened since 1990, and these guys are still playing together! Motley Crue was still on their “Dr. Feelgood” tour. Metallica were still cool and they hadn’t released the “Black” album yet. Jani Lane weighed under 200 pounds. Britney Spears was 9! That’s a long ass time ago.
Mad Margritt even won Best New Band in the South Florida Rock Awards in like 1991 or something, and were once featured in Rock On The Rise in Metal Edge! You’d think that all the bands from that time would be long gone, but not these guys. That means these guys are either totally stupid or they’re one of the most stubborn and persistence bands around. Eventually they moved to Atlanta where they now reside. Finally, after 13 years of playing together, they’ve gotten their huge chance at fame! 10 Questions with Metal Sludge!
Singer Eddie Smith answered our questions.
 1. Who are you and where can people find out shit about your band?
We are one of the few bands left in this country who have the balls to play 80?s style rock. The whole ?modern rock? thing just doesn?t appeal to us. We grew up listening to high energy in your face rock & roll and that?s the kind of music we play, regardless of the current trends or what the music industry thinks is hip. It?s hilarious that as soon as 80?s rock went out of style all these bands started changing their look and sound to fit into the modern rock scene. People call bands like us poseurs, I think it?s pretty obvious who the real poseurs are. We may never get rich or famous doing this style of music but we do make a decent living at it and we?re doing it on our own terms. I couldn?t even imagine being in one of those modern rock bands like Good Charlotte, I?d rather quit music then play that crap! I guess I?m starting to go on a little rant here so let me get back to the original question. We are a 4-piece band based out of Atlanta Georgia and we just released our 3rd cd entitled ?NEW SENSATION? on Perris Records. We?ve been touring across the country on and off for the past 4 years and we?ve gotten the opportunity to open up for a ton of cool bands from the 80?s, most recently White Snake, Warrant, Kip Winger, and Slaughter a few weeks ago here in Atlanta. Anyone who wants to find out more about the band or our new cd can go to our website at www.madmargritt.com
2. What exactly is the goal for your band?
We have the same dreams and goals as everyone else who picks up a guitar and starts a band. We?d love to have a bunch of multi-platinum cd?s and have our videos played on MTV, but for that to happen we?d have to sign with a major record label. As much as I?d love for that to happen, I know the realities of the music business. There came a point where we had to make a decision, do we change what we?re doing so we have a better chance at getting a major label deal or do we stick to our guns and play what?s in our hearts? Obviously we chose to keep doing the kind of music we love and we have no regrets about that decision. We?re gonna keep touring and putting out cd?s until we?re physically unable to do it anymore. There?s still an audience out there that wants to hear this kind of music and if the major label?s don?t see that then the hell with them! We?re doing just fine without them. We?re not getting rich by any means but I think people would be shocked if they knew how much money we were actually making. How many people can say they make a living doing what they love?
3. You guys are ?signed? to Perris Records. What?s the best piece of advice have you?ve ever gotten from the wise and sage-like Tom Mathers?
Tom is actually a really cool guy. I know you guys have some ?issues? with him but he?s always been totally cool to us. We?re just grateful that we work with a label who supports what we?re doing.
4. What hard rock/heavy metal band should be dropped so you guys can take their place?
Metallica! Their new cd is fucking horrible and their last two cd?s (Load & Reload) weren?t much better. Although my bands music is considered that of the ?Hair Metal? genre, I still love early Metallica. Their first 4 or 5 cd? s totally kicked ass, I can?t believe how bad they sound now. Maybe you guys could call up their label and convince them to drop Metallica and sign Mad
Margritt?!?!?!
5. Yes or no, have you ever:
Gotten drunk with Tom Mathers = I?ve never gotten drunk with him but we have shared needles
Signed an autograph = That?s the one drawback to being in a big famous band like Mad Margritt, the paparazzi and autograph seekers are everywhere! There?s probably people camped out in my front yard right now!!
Owned a Cherry St. CD = I own the whole catalog!!
Seen the inside of a tour bus = I have seen the inside of a tour bus and all I have to say is this?. Anyone who tours the country in a tour bus and then complains about how tough it is being on the road is a fucking pussy!!! Try driving 12 to 15 hrs a day crammed in a van with 3 other guys, luggage, and all your equipment!
Told a club owner to fuck off = Not that I can recall but there was this one club owner who shorted us $500.00 so when we were loading our equipment into the van, his karaoke machine ?accidentally? got loaded into the van too
Fucked a fat chick to get a free meal or some clothes = Only if she had beer
Slept in your rehearsal space = No, but I?ve slept in the van quite a few times. If you really want to hear a story about us paying our dues, click on this link to read an article I wrote a few months ago about an incident that happened to us in Orlando, Florida. www.aor-europe.com/bbsmad.htm
Been kicked out of a club = Got kicked out once for passing out flyers to a show that we were doing at another venue
Hung out with Butch Walker = I plead the 5th
Thought about getting a real job = You mean this isn?t a real job?!!?!?!
 6. What?s the smallest and largest crowd you?ve ever played in front of?
The smallest would have to be at a place called the Silverado Saloon in Manhattan Kansas. Manhattan is a college town and the first time we played there was in the spring and it was packed!! We went back later in the year and the night we were booked to play was the night before some big test they were having, I think it was finals or something. There were maybe 5 people not including the sound crew and the staff that worked at the club. My guitar player still ended up getting laid so I guess it wasn?t a total loss. The largest crowd was probably at a show we did this summer. We played at the Grand Prix Festival in Sarasota Florida and there was somewhere around 5,000 people in the audience. It was a total fucking blast!! During the show, Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys came up on stage and sang a few songs with us. Believe it or not the guy is a closet headbanger!! He sang “Man in the Box” by Alice In Chains and sang with me on “Anyway You Want It” by Journey. For the last song he got behind the drums and jammed with us on some Van Halen. Tommy Lee was also gonna jam with us on a few songs (he’s helping Nick on his next solo cd) but unfortunately he wasn’t able to make it out to the show. It would have been really cool to jam with Tommy so we were a little bummed that it didn?t happen, but all in all it was still an awesome night!
7. What national bands have you guys played with and who was the coolest and who were the biggest dicks?
The coolest was definitely Quiet Riot. They let us come up on stage after their sound check and try out some of their gear. They also gave us a lot of nice compliments. Believe it or not Jani Lane was really cool to us and the guys from Cinderella were real cool as well. The only band we?ve ever had a problem with is Ratt. Since we tour all over the country we’ve ended up crossing paths several times with a lot of these bands. Most of the time they recognize us and ask how we?ve been, sometimes hang with us a little or at the very least say hi. For some reason, every time we?ve played with Ratt its been a nightmare. In all fairness it?s mostly their crew. One of the guys in particular is always a total asshole to us. The first time we played with them we started into our intro song, it?s not even a song it?s a little 30-second intro. The guy came up to me (I was on the side of the stage getting ready to run out), he was screaming at the top of his lungs ?You can?t play that song!!?, ?Stop playing that song or we?re pulling the plug!? I don?t know what fucking song he thought we were playing but the dude was loosing it. I was about to tell him to fuck off but it was my que to hit the stage so I ran out on stage and left him standing there like a dumbfuck. At another show my guitar player was looking at Warren D. Martini?s guitar rack, keep in mind he wasn?t touching the guitars in fact, he was standing about 10 ft away from the rack. The same asshole told him ?Get the fuck away from the guitars, don?t even look at em!!? Speaking of Warren, I always assumed that he was the coolest guy in Ratt but at one show we did with them, after their sound check he came walking off the stage and I asked ?Hey
Warren, would you mind if I get a picture with you?? He looked at me and said ?Not now? and kept walking. I mean come on dude, how long would that have taken? It wasn?t like there was a mob of people around and he would have gotten stuck signing stuff and taking pictures, we were the only ones there! There are a few other things I could mention but I?ll just say this one last thing because this is what really pissed me off the most. A friend of mine was trying to get into concert promotions. He was working on his first big show and since I knew a lot of the agents that these bands work with he asked me if I could help him out on the show. This was a few years
ago when Ratt was touring with Warrant and Bar 7. I got him (the promoter) in touch with who he needed to talk to and helped him prepare for the show. The day of the show comes along, we did our set and we?re having a great time hanging out backstage. I got to talk to John Corabi (totally cool guy), I met Jeff Keith , we were having a total blast. All of a sudden someone comes up and says ?Ratt is about to take the stage, everyone must clear out of the backstage area?. I assumed I would be able to stay since I helped put the show together but I was told that I had to leave. WHAT?!?!? I busted my ass on this show, they wouldn?t even be playing the show if it wasn?t for me! It didn?t seem to matter to anyone so I was escorted out along with everyone else. In Ratts defense, they probably didn?t know what the situation was and their crew was probably once again the culprit. Oh, I just rememberd one more thing. Is it just a coincidence that every time we play with them they keep sound checking the bass drum right up until the doors open, leaving us no time for our sound check and barely enough time to get our gear on stage before we?re schedule to perform??
8. List all the band you?ve opened up for. Ready, go:
Warrant
Slaughter
Cinderella
The Bullet Boys
Quiet Riot
Ratt
Skid Row
Tesla
Great White
White Snake
Mr. Big
Saigon Kick
Pretty Boy Floyd
Every Mothers Nightmare
Here?s a few that may surprise you?..
Pantera
Marilyn Manson
Fear Factor
Believe it or not we went over really good in front of Pantera and Manson?s crowd but the Fear Factory crowd looked like they wanted to kick the shit out of us!
9. Gerri Miller once featured you guys in Metal Edge?s ?Rock On The Rise.? That was eons ago though. If you haven?t made it by now, isn?t it time to put it to bed?
You?d think we?d get the message by now but I guess we?re just stubborn. In all honesty, we love doing this and I couldn?t even imagine quitting. That?s the difference between a musician and a poseur. A poseur is all about fame and glory, they?ll sell themselves out anyway they can to make it big. If they don?t become rich and famous in a few years they quit and move onto something else. A real musician never gives up, music is in their blood. If Mad Margritt never becomes successful then so be it. I?m gonna still keep playing music till the day I die without any regrets. When someone tells me that I should quit or change our sound so we are more current or modern, it just adds fuel to the fire. In fact, someone telling me that we need to change our sound inspired me to write one of my favorite songs. The song is called ?In The Name Of Rock? and it was my way of holding up a middle finger to the music industry and telling everyone who thinks that we?re dated or wasting our time to fuck off!! Do I sound a little angry to you?
 10. Time for our Word Association:
Nikki Sixx = Inspired a generation of rockers
Ted Nugent = Bad ass guitar player! I got my first guitar after hearing Double Live Gonzo
Jesse James Dupree = I?ve got some yard work that needs to be done
Ozzy Osbourne = The godfather of metal (my drummers twin brother)
Jani Lane = Great singer, underrated
Rich Ward = Another bad ass guitar player, Stuck Mojo should have been huge (brings home my point once again that the music industry sucks)
Kid Rock = I?m not a big fan but he?s better then 90% of the crap that?s out these days
Andi Sue Irwin = My drummer Danny?s girlfriend until she became Penthouse Pet Of The Year. Broke his heart and his bank account
Sevendust = Atlanta Boys!
Gene Simmons = If we ever go platinum, I?m hiring Gene as my finical consultant
Maybe now Mad Margritt can finally get a real record deal and be able to tour for their 15th Anniversary Tour!
For more info on Mad Margritt, you can visit their website at www.madmargritt.com.
|
Metal Sludge The Power and the Glory
