GREAT WHITE's MITCH MALLOY Responds To Haters: 'My Job Isn't To Copy What Came Before Me'

In a brand new interview with the 99.5 KRFF radio station, GREAT WHITE singer Mitch Malloy was asked what he would say to those fans of the band who are not sold on him as a suitable replacement for original GW vocalist Jack Russell.

"Well, there's really only one thing I can say, and that is, 'Come to a show,'" he responded (hear audio below). "Because we are not trying to recreate what has come before. I came into it, like, 'Okay, my job is to remind people of how they felt when they heard this music. But my job isn't to copy what came before me, 'cause that I can't do.' There are guys out there who are doing that, and they do it amazingly well, but that is not my gig. I'm too far established as my own singer to be somebody else as a singer. So, I'm doing my thing.

"It's so funny, because Jack Blades from NIGHT RANGER — we played with them the other night," Mitch continued. "And I came offstage, and he was backstage, put out his hand, shook my hand and said, 'Wow, that was a rock and roll show.' He said, 'And you know what? You are doing it your way, and it works.' I was blown away. I was so happy, because, yeah, I am doing it my way, 'cause it's the only way I can do it. And yeah, it seems to be working — the crowds are screaming and going nuts and we're having a blast and the band's happy. Now, Jack even produced one of the records — he produced a GREAT WHITE record. Jack is a phenomenal songwriter, great producer, has great ears, knows when something's working and when something's not working. And for him to say that to me… He walked away and I yelled at him, I said, 'I will never forget those words you just said to me.' And he just cracked up and waved."

Asked if there are any plans for GREAT WHITE to release a new album with him on vocals, Malloy said: "When I first got in the band, I said, 'Listen, you guys, I have the means and wherewithal for us to make a live DVD, so let's do that. I think it was my eighth show. We filmed it. I took all the tracks and the video — we had, I think, seven cameras and recorded it multi-track and mixed it and video edited it, and it's been done, sitting in the can now for months and months. So we have a live concert DVD that we will be putting out. And we have been writing songs as a band. So, yeah, we fully plan on making a new CD, absolutely."

Malloy joined GREAT WHITE as the replacement for Terry Ilous, who was fired from the group in July 2018.

Ilous, formerly of '80s L.A. hard rockers XYZ, connected with GREAT WHITE in 2010 after stepping in for touring vocalist Jani Lane (WARRANT).

The Ilous-led GREAT WHITE released two albums, 2012's "Elation" and 2017's "Full Circle", before Terry was shown the door.

This version of GREAT WHITE is not to be confused with JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE, which features original GREAT WHITE singer Jack Russell alongside Robby Lochner (FIGHT) on guitar, Dan McNay on bass, Tony Montana on guitar and Dicki Fliszar on drums.