JACK RUSSELL On GREAT WHITE With New Singer TERRY ILOUS: 'It's Blasphemous'

Domonic Rini and Michael Strong of the "Maximum Threshold" show recently conducted an interview with JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE frontman Jack Russell. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below.

On where his lawsuit against his former GREAT WHITE bandmates over the rights to the band's name currently stands:

Jack: "I was the president of the corporation. On December 10 [of 2011], I told them I was taking the name and moving on. In other words, [I said to them], 'You're fired.' And so now we're just waiting for the court to go through the process and it'll be then. They can say whatever they want, as they have. They keep changing their story. One day [they say] I quit, the next they [they say] they fired me, the next day it's something else. The bottom line is they have nothing except, 'Jack's a bad guy, so they say.' The fact is that I'm the president of Great White Productions, I'm the president of Shark Touring, which is the last company the band toured under. And that's my company. And when I said I was taking the name and moving on, that means, 'You're not working for Shark Touring anymore. You're fired and I'm taking the name.' So they just don't like to be fired [laughs], you know what I mean?! And I get it — I understand why they're fighting for this thing. I'm sure if the shoe was on the other foot, I probably would, too. . . They keep saying, 'Oh, we're gonna make you look bad we're gonna embarrass you.' It's like, 'Go ahead. Give it your best shot. I've been embarrassed before — a lot. I'm sure I'll be embarrassed again."

On GREAT WHITE's recently released album, "Elation", featuring Jack's "replacement," Terry Ilous of XYZ fame:

Jack: "They don't sound bad. How could they? I mean, these are guys that I played with for 30 years. I didn't play with those guys because they were slouches. But the sound of the band is so completely changed with that singer. And it's not like it's a singer that's remotely in league with what I did as a vocalist for 30 years. It's blasphemous."

On how it feels like to still be performing GREAT WHITE songs after so many years:

Jack: "I'm enjoying this stuff more now than I have in years — just because I'm in a situation where it's not as toxic as it used to be. And I'm not saying it's… It's everybody's fault. There's a lot more people involved in that than just my ex-members. I [would] say it's everybody's fault; we all had a part in that, in that relationship. I wanna believe that at one point these guys were my real friends, but it's hard to look back now, with what happened, without questioning that — whether they really were and whether this just always was about money."

Interview (audio):

JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE will perform at the world-famous Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California tonight (Thursday, August 16) as part of the Sunset Strip Music Festival. This will mark Russell's first appearance at the legendary venue in over 30 years, and to celebrate the homecoming, the show will be recorded and given away to the fans as a free download. As part of this very special occasion, original GREAT WHITE drummer Gary Holland, and former GREAT WHITE bass player (from the "Twice Shy" era) Tony Montana, will each join the band on stage for a song. Other surprise guests are planned as well. Along with the performance, there will be backstage footage of the group, exclusive interviews, soundcheck footage, etc.

JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE's performance at Whisky A Go Go is part of the America Rocks tour, which featured JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE as the headliner, with special guest FASTER PUSSYCAT, BULLETBOYS, PRETTY BOY FLOYD and LILLIAN AXE. The trek crossed the country throughout June and July, and will wrap up on August 18 in Fresno, California. This final leg of the tour does not include PRETTY BOY FLOYD or LILLIAN AXE.

The free download of the Whisky show will be available through the band's web site later in the year.

JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE is:

Jack Russell - Vocals
Robby Lochner (FIGHT) - Guitar
Matthew Johnson (DOCTOR M, JACK RUSSELL) - Guitar
Dario Seixas (FIREHOUSE, STEPHEN PEARCY) - Bass
Derrick Pontier (GREAT WHITE, SAMANTHA 7) - Drums