Speed McQueen
(Necessary/Mercury)
An interview with guitarist Mark
by Rich Romaine
You just played Boston, yet you’re coming back in February. Where’s the tour headed after that?
Boston was one of the first dates, then we hit New Jersey, back to New York, and tomorrow we go out to the mid-west for a month, right in the middle of a huge snowstorm. Then we come back to Boston and do the East coast. We’ll be out about two months.
How’d your show at the Rat go?
It went well considering there weren’t many people there. There was really good response from the people who were there. We played the Rat last year and I had my guitar stolen. I had a ’72 Gibson Goldtop Les Paul that got stolen out of the dressing room before we even went on. That bummed me out. At least they could’ve waited until I’d played my set before they stole it. I’m friends with the guys who were in Klover, and they were keeping an eye out for it. They were signed to Mercury at the same time we were.
What happened with that, anyway?
We did a full album for them that never came out. It got shelved while our A&R guy was getting fired. They left us in limbo for a few months without dropping us. We went through a big legal thing trying to get our songs back, and then we started looking for another label. We leave that stuff out of the bios and we don’t usually like to talk about it because it seems to happen to everyone.
Did that slow you down, or did you use the time to get better?
We played a lot of gigs and worked on a more material while trying to forget what was going on. We only got re-recording rights to five of the older songs, so the other six that are on the record are newer. We feel better about those because they’re up to par with what we’re writing now. We got it out quick rather than waiting around for the next elusive major deal.
So this album is a combination of older favorites and new songs?
It’s only our first album, and it’s something of a greatest hits. If we ever become successful, Mercury can still release the songs they have with the original cover art. Which sucks, but we’re kinda tired of those songs anyway.
How did that affect your writing or your philosophy?
It took some of the excitement out of being in the record business, so now we have fun performing. We don’t like the business part of it anyway, and it did help us to take ourselves less seriously and just have fun playing again.
How’s the vibe with Necessary?
Really good. We get to have a lot more say about what goes on. We got to co-produce the record. I’ve recorded and produced most of our demos, and this was the first time I actually got credit for it. It’s got much more of the guitar punch that we have live, rather than a lot of slicked-over studio polish.
What sort of sound and styles have always interested you?
Songwise, first and second album Cheap Trick, Catherine Wheel, and Psychedelic Furs. Soundwise, I’ve always liked Butch Vig’s stuff before Garbage.
Speed McQueen has good material overall, but doesn’t have that one song to capture radio.
And a lot of bands have only one good song, and the rest of the album is a let down. If bands stick around for long enough, and they’re good, I think they’ll hit that one song sooner or later. A lot of people like “Imbecile,” but it’s older than the rest and I’m kinda sick of it.
What’re the influences of the band?
We come from different backgrounds, but we overlap on a few key areas. The drummer and I are into a lot of later era Beatles, but he’s into really progressive fusion/jazz drummers and stuff. So his performance style is more developed in that direction. I’m more song-oriented, but he’s able to fit in more stuff than I’d think possible.
What is your typical song-writing process?
When we first stared off, I had a bunch of songs I’d written and brought in, but they were really one-dimensional compared to the stuff we brainstormed as a band. We jam a lot in order to work up the final arrangements.
Do you use alternative versions either live or just for fun?
Sometimes. Like in “Loved By Millions,” we have an almost jazzy breakdown with bass and drums that we draw out when we play live. We walk around, talk to people, goof around a bit, and take a break.
Which element of the song comes first, riff, melody, lyrics?
Oddly enough, a lot of it comes from the groove the drummer lays down as he’s warming up. We’ll start playing around with a chord progression to go along with it, then we’ll mash it into place until it comes out right. Sometimes it doesn’t work at all, but sometimes it does. I think it’s better not to have a preconceived idea of what something should sound like, you should give the rest of the band some freedom to experiment with and come up with something really good. It’s really a hit or miss thing.
Why didn’t you include lyric sheets?
I’m kinda insecure about the lyrics. Not that I think they’re bad, but a lot of times I hear a song and I think the lyrics are really good, then I read the words on the page and it’s just never the same as when you hear them sung. Either you think they’re something else, or the emotion of the singer is what carries the song.
What are most of your lyrics about?
I take a lot of digs at myself. The times when you look back at the stupid mistakes you made. The songs may sound like they’re being directed at someone else, but it’s me I’m criticizing.
