MARK SLAUGHTER Explains Why SLAUGHTER Hasn't Released New Album In More Than 25 Years

In a new interview with Rock 100.5 KATT FM's Cameron Buchholtz, SLAUGHTER frontman Mark Slaughter was asked about the possibility of a follow-up to the band's fifth album, "Back To Reality", which came out in 1999. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, that's like herding cats; that's the problem. These guys are all over. Jeff 'Blando' [Bland, SLAUGHTER guitarist] is over in Florida. Dana [Strum, SLAUGHTER bassist], he's over in [Las] Vegas and other parts of the country, and Jordan [Cannata, SLAUGHTER drummer] is over in Long Island [New York]. So it's really one of those things of getting everybody together to do that. And it's one of those things of, yes, I would love to do a SLAUGHTER record, but it's herding cats. That's the best way I can put it."

After Buchholtz noted that there isn't much support from the fans and the media when classic rock bands like SLAUGHTER release new music nowadays, Mark concurred. "Well, rock radio, as we knew it, is very different," he explained. "It's a classic rock thing. So now we're on our way to the oldies here soon. And it is one of those things that, where is the market for them, for their advertisers? I mean, it's a business — it's the music business, and you have to look at it and not get emotional about it. It's just that's the way it is. So we take the music out to the streets and out to where people can hear what we do and experience it live and get the goosebumps from the bottom end of the P.A. That's, I think, the key point for us, is we're still living that. We still love that energy."

Asked if he and his SLAUGHTER bandmates pay attention to streaming numbers when deciding on which songs to perform live, Mark said: "Yeah. When we do our setlist, we really look at what is the songs that they download the most. And so what we do is we do play those songs that people download the most. And usually when you're playing a casino, at the most you're gonna have an hour performance that you're able to do, because that's what they're contracted for. So you figure you start adding five minutes a song and you look at the set and it goes pretty quick. So we have to do the hits that people know. We really focus on what it is that people wanna hear."

He continued: "I learned a long time ago when I went to a Paul McCartney concert — he was playing [songs from] THE BEATLES and he was playing [material from] WINGS, and people are crying and clapping their hands and enjoying it. And he goes, 'I'd like to play a new number for you.' And then the whole place sat down or went out and bought a t-shirt. And I just realized, 'Wow. Okay. So if Paul McCartney, the king of all that, if people are treating him that way…' It's not that they treat him that way; it's just that that time, it's part of their life. They're really emotionally timestamped to what that was, and we don't run away from that timestamp."

SLAUGHTER formed in 1988 from the ashes of Slaughter and Strum's previous band, VINNIE VINCENT INVASION, which featured former KISS guitarist Vinnie Vincent. The group's double-platinum debut, "Stick It To Ya", featured the hit singles "Fly To The Angels", "Up All Night", "Mad About You" and "Spend My Life". The band issued four additional full-length albums over the course of the rest of the decade, but it has not released any new music since 1999's "Back To Reality".

Original SLAUGHTER guitarist Tim Kelly was killed in a car accident in 1998.

In a 2023 interview, Mark credited SLAUGHTER's uplifting lyrics with contributing to the band's longevity.

"[During] the grunge era, there was some depressing stuff in there, and our music is a light and love and of a different mindset," he told the San Bernardino Sun. "I don't slag any of the alternative bands that came forward because they have their place and sound, and quite honestly, I enjoy them just like the next person. But I think that life should be celebrated, which is the key point with the span of SLAUGHTER. We're all about the celebration, more than getting caught up with what's wrong with the world."