MTLEY CRE's MICK MARS: 'I Don't Want To Be On Tour When I'm 77'

Christa Titus of Reuters.com recently conducted an interview with MTLEY CRE bassist Nikki Sixx and guitarist Mick Mars. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow.

Q: What made MTLEY CRE different from the other bands coming out of Los Angeles at the time?

Mars: They were all cheesy. One-hit wonders. They tried to write songs like we wrote them. There were record labels signing anybody and everybody that had any kind of a look or anything that was (like) MTLEY CRE.

MTLEY CRE had just taken off like a rocket, and all the record labels just kind of wrecked everything. Luckily there are hardly any record labels left, but there's too much tease going on, because like I said, they were signing anybody and everybody, and they didn't have songs.

I'm not trying to sound egotistical or anything by any means, but it's the truth. It's how I feel and what I know, what I see from those bands. They're like nowhere. Either that or they're playing little tiny clubs.

Sixx: They were new wave. They were punk. They was just rock. We didn't give a f--k, and they all really cared. They all really wanted to s--k the corporate c--k, and we just didn't give a f--k. We just wanted to play what we wanted to play.

I did not believe anybody was going to sign MTLEY CRE, and I did not care. ... So we just did it ourselves. We did what we wanted, we played what we wanted, we looked how we wanted to look.

Q: Do you think MTLEY can go another 20 years?

Mars: No. (Laughs.) No. Only because in 20 years I'll be 77. I don't want to be on tour when I'm 77. That's a bit too geezed-out to me.

I'm always going to be playing. Always, always, always. I don't know how much I would be touring at that point, because I don't think I'm going to make a very pretty old man. (Laughs.)

But I'll always be writing and always be playing and writing for other bands or writing for MTLEY and just putting out records, if nothing else.

Sixx: I don't even want to think about that. Gives me a headache. (Laughs.) I just want to have my camera bag and be in some dangerous situation in some foreign country taking pictures. That's what I want to be doing in 20 years. ... (Laughs.) I'm just passionate about photography, passionate about art, the whole concept.

I can't even imagine the idea of musicians on a stage playing their music for people in 20 years. It just seems there's going to be another way to reach people. Look how much has happened in 10 years. Imagine 20 years. We might be able to dial up and have Nikki Sixx in your bedroom. Not that in 20 years I could do much damage. (Laughs.)

Read the entire interview at Reuters.com.