MICK MARS Says His Upcoming Solo Album Will Be 'A Bit Harder' Than MÖTLEY CRÜE

MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist Mick Mars has confirmed to "Talking Metal" that he is still working on his much-anticipated solo album. "I've been working on this for years, trying to get it right in my way of thinking," he said in a brand-new interview (hear audio below). "I just don't want to put out a record to put out a record. It has to be right — for me. I mean, people wanna hear my music — it needs to be right. I'm not cutting corners to just, like I said, put out a record to put out a record. I just can't do it. So it's taking me a while."

Asked if his upcoming album will still feature guest appearances by Andy Biersack (BLACK VEIL BRIDES) and John Corabi (MÖTLEY CRÜE),both of whom have collaborated with Mars in recent years, Mick said: "Those [collaborations] went away. I'm looking for a singer that's gonna be with me in the recording studio, and if it blows up, by any chance — which I hope it does — to be on tour. 'Cause how many times have you gone, say, to a concert and it's, like, not the same singer [as on the record]? So it's one of those kind of things. I would like to have a few different singers — different sounds, but musician singers. This is gonna sound crazy — like with THE BEATLES. The three guys sang all these harmonies, and you could have John [Lennon] sing on a song, or Ringo [Starr], or whoever. But that kind of a thing is kind of what I'm going for. I'd like to do it. If it happens, cool, and if it doesn't, that's cool too. Because no matter what, this record ain't going out until I'm really satisfied with it."

According to Mars, he is still in the early stages of the recording process for his solo effort. "I have drum tracks laid down, some bass tracks," he explained. "My guitar tracks all scratch tracks. No singers yet. I'm searching. [Laughs] It's just got to be this certain element that he has, or she has, that I'm hearing in my head. It has to be that, 'cause, like I said, I just don't wanna put out a mediocre thing, even though people might think it might be. [Laughs] I don't know. I set my goals high, and if it works, cool, and if it doesn't, that's okay too."

Asked about the musical direction of his solo material, Mars said: "Well, I guess it's my own style. It isn't really blues. My playing has a blues element to it, of course, but it isn't what you would call a blues record. It's more of a heavier rock thing, but I don't wanna even try to 'outheavy' the heavies, you know what I mean? It's just something hopefully just a little different than what's going on now. You're not gonna hear a MÖTLEY-flavored song, except for the guitar, [because] that's me. They're gonna be a bit harder than that, but not as hard as the heavies, like MINISTRY and some of those guys."

Back in 2016, Mars released snippets of two solo songs, apparently called "Gimme Blood" and "Shake The Cage". The tracks, which were recorded at Blackbird Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, also featured Corabi, who appeared on CRÜE's 1994 self-titled album. Corabi later said that he didn't contribute to the writing process for the two songs, but that he was open to collaborating with Mars on some brand new material.

MÖTLEY CRÜE recently completed four songs for "The Dirt Soundtrack" that accompanies the upcoming Netflix film "The Dirt", based on The New York Times best-selling 2001 autobiography by CRÜE and Neil Strauss.

Exclusive to the film's soundtrack, MÖTLEY CRÜE recorded "The Dirt (Est. 1981) (feat. Machine Gun Kelly)", "Ride With The Devil", "Crash And Burn" and a cover of Madonna's "Like A Virgin".