Mick Mars has opened up to Guitar World about the current situation surrounding his relationship with his former Mötley Crüe bandmates, seemingly suggesting that there is no hope for a future reconciliation.
The fallout from the Mick Mars/Mötley Crüe split is still being felt today. The saga, which was first set in motion back in 2022 when Mars announced his retirement from touring, soon took an ugly turn when Mars filed a lawsuit against his former band.
In his suit, the electric guitar player alleged his former bandmates had conspired to fire him and remove him as a significant stakeholder in Crüe’s business holdings. He also accused Cruë bass guitar player Nikki Sixx of gaslighting him, and claimed Sixx and some of his other bandmates had mimed their parts during Mötley Crüe’s 2022 North American tour.
These claims were denied by Mötley Crüe and their reps, who went on to say Mars’ move to retire from touring was equal to “resigning from the band”.
Now, in the new issue of Guitar World, Mars has discussed the situation surrounding his relationship with Mötley Crüe, and while he understandably remains coy on the specifics, he did imply that a future reunion – or a mere reconciliation, for that matter – was off the table.
When asked whether it would be possible for him to sit down with his former bandmates and “hash things out”, Mars flatly responds: “I would say it’s past… impossible”.
“I don’t have a gag order, but it’s like anything you say can and will be used against you,” Mars goes on when asked about the details of the case. “I have to be pretty cautious about what I say because it could be relevant to what’s going on.”
It’s not the first time Mars has suggested that his relationship with Mötley Crüe was broken beyond repair. Last summer, the guitarist revealed he hadn’t properly spoken to his bandmates since 2019, and stated that he never wanted to speak to them again.
In his new Guitar World interview, Mars did reflect on some aspects of the saga, and addressed one of the most contentious issues that sits at the center of the dispute: whether his retirement was tantamount to a resignation.
“Two different words, two different meanings. It was just retiring from the touring part,” he explains. “I’d actively be involved in every entity of Mötley Crüe. I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for them. I don’t regret anything we’ve ever done – good, bad or ugly, whatever. My body just couldn’t do it anymore.”
Read more at Guitar World.
Mick Mars will release his debut solo album, The Other Side Of Mars, on February 23 via his own label 1313, LLC, in partnership with MRI.
No matter what direction he’s going in on the album, what ties it all together is “that people are going to hear my tone – my sound,” Mars says. “I am what I am. Nobody else can do it. And like everyone, I’ve got a limited number of years. So, I'm gonna do all I can to do a lot of stuff.”
When Mick Mars stepped back from touring with Mötley Crüe – the band he co-founded more than 40 years ago – following their massive summer 2022 Stadium Tour, it seemed like the end of an era.
Really, it was the beginning of a new one.
The legendary guitarist, whose riffs, solos and overall devastatingly heavy sound powered the L.A. icons through four decades of world-conquering, multi-platinum sonic mayhem is, as he demonstrates on his debut solo effort, still a serious force to be reckoned with. Only now, listeners are reckoning with more Mars than ever before. “When it comes to my playing, there’s the Mötley side and the Mars side,” the guitarist says. “Either way, I always have a very clear vision of what I want to do.”
On the aptly-titled The Other Side Of Mars, fans get that vision in its full, multifarious glory. To be sure, there are plenty of characteristically riff-tastic, tough-as-nails hard-rock anthems. The album also presents the guitarist heading into new and uncharted territory, tearing through caustic, modern metal, conjuring gothic-tinged soundscapes, and digging into anguished, slow-burning power balladry alongside unspooling bluesy, cinematic instrumental workouts. The music throughout the collection is otherwise studded with slide guitars, violins, violas, keyboards, glitchy freak-outs and all manner of sonic surprises.
“There’s a lot of ideas that I have that, I don't want to call them ‘left,’ but they are, you know what I mean?” Mars says. Regarding those stylistic turns, he continues, “My feeling has always been, I might gain some fans, I might lose some fans. But what they’re hearing, it’s all me.”
The guitarist enlisted a crack team of musicians to help him along the way. A key contributor to the project was Winger and former Alice Cooper keyboardist (and, like Mars, Nashville resident) Paul Taylor, who, in addition to performing on the record and assisting Mars in co-writing many of the tracks, introduced the guitarist to powerhouse vocalist Jacob Bunton. “Jacob came into the studio and it was like, bam!” Mars recalls. “And I just said, ‘Yeah, he’s the guy.’ And most of his vocals were one take.”
The supporting band was rounded out by Korn drummer Ray Luzier, bassist Chris Collier and singer Brion Gamboa, who contributed lead vocals to two songs. Mars reflects, “Those required a little bit more of an angsty, desperation kind of thing. And Brion really came to the table with that.” Alongside playing bass on all songs recorded, Collier mixed and mastered the debut solo album.
But while Mars surrounded himself with a new cast of players for the sessions, there was one figure who represented a significant link to his storied past: Michael Wagener. The much-lauded German producer and engineer worked behind the boards on Mötley Crüe’s 1981 debut, Too Fast For Love, and his relationship with Mars stretches even further back. “I had known him for a long time, and I actually brought him to Mötley,” Mars says. Working with Wagener this time, the guitarist continues, “He had such an understanding of where I wanted to go with the material. And he never said ‘Hey, do this,’ or tried to change my mind or anything like that. He was just really adamant about recording what I wanted to record, and making sure we recorded it right.”
The result is a record unlike anything Mars has offered up in his more than 40-year career.
To that end, he says that even as he unleashes The Other Side Of Mars on the world, he’s already working on a follow-up. He offers, “I'm trying to keep growing,” Mars says. “Because if you stop learning new things, if you stop playing new things, if you close your mind, you’re done. You have to keep moving and creating. Next!”
Pre-orders for The Other Side Of Mars can be placed now at this location. Available configurations include a 180G LP and CD, signed and unsigned.
Tracklist:
"Loyal To The Lie"
"Broken On The Inside"
"Alone"
"Killing Breed"
"Memories"
"Right Side Of Wrong"
"Ready To Roll"
"Undone"
"Ain't Going Back"
"LA Noir"
"Undone" video:
"Right Side Of Wrong" video:
"Loyal To The Lie" video:
