Post by classic rock revival on Apr 26, 2011 4:11:00 GMT -6
Mark Volman interview 2004, by: Mark Berrier.
Mark B: Having gone from the Westchester A Cappella Choir to the Crossfires to the Turtles and on to present day, how have you and Horward kept such a close friendship and working relationship? The highways are littered with relationships ruined by the business.
Mark V: I think Howard and I have a tremendous amount of respect for what we each bring to the image and sound of the Turtles. We function well because when it becomes necessary to make a business decision we are very aware of the other persons objections. If one of us is so against us doing something we usually do not fight about it and we just do not do it.
Mark B: How did you guys handle the speed of your early success...Was it pretty much a whirlwind that you just were swept into, or did you have time to soak in what was happening?
Mark V: We did have success so young and we were busy trying to keep the hit records coming. I don't think we got caught up in it perhaps the way many others did. We were on a small label who needed us to have hit records to stay alive and we felt the pressure of that constantly. We were a hard working creative group. We wrote most of our music and we played on every record that we made. This was important to us. We did have a good time. We spent money unwisely and never stopped to look back. I am surprised at times that we survived the high speed lifestyle we were pursuing.
Mark B: The scene you describe on your site of Howard losing it at a coming out party for the daughter of the President of U.S.Steel sounds pretty surreal...what were the debutantes' and guests' reactions like?
Mark V: The band was in shock much more than any one at the party. I believe that Howard was reacting the way all of us felt about the way our career was going at that moment. He was the only one who finally reacted and did something about it. Howard left for only a short time and we continued to make records as a group.
Mark B: Did you ever get any satisfaction from the monies stolen from you by former manager David Krambeck? And, how do you think the Turtles story would have been different had you stayed with Bill Utley who managed Three Dog Night and Steppenwolf?
Mark V: To the first part of your question I would say Yes. With our staying together as a group through all of the problems and the hit records we would eventually had. To the second part I could not speculate about this. In my opinion It is a waste of time speculating on things like "what if?"
Mark B: Can you elaborate about the Rythym Butchers and the plan to give it (the recordings) to John and Yoko?
Mark V: The rhythm was a in hotel room drug induced mind relaxing experience. It freed us up to live vicariously through the Butchers as we had so much pressure on us to have hit songs. The Butchers allowed us to just have fun singing and playing what we wanted in the state of mind that we enjoyed most. The idea to give it to John & Yoko was just hyperbole. They represented an artistic duo that we aspired to and we made reverence to giving them the Butchers in an interview once because of their artistic endeavors. Maybe we thought they would appreciate it.
Mark B: After Frank Zappa was injured in London, you and the band continued...did you think at the time Frank would be back as soon as he was better? And do you have any special memories of your days with The Mothers you'd like to share?
Mark V: We never thought about taking the band away from Frank and we never thought about Frank and us after the accident. After the accident we all needed to make some money. Warner Brothers Records was interested in signing Howard and I and the group we had access to was the Mothers of Invention. These were great players and we were happy to work with them. We also used them out of convenience and they were all excited about continuing to work and make some money. We all were in the same boat financially so Flo & Eddie gave us all the opportunity to make some money while staying together. We did not play any of the music that we had made during our time with Frank and we did not consider whether we would ever return to working with Frank. We wrote a bunch of Turtles type songs and produced the album ourselves.
The entire time with Frank was a great time and Frank was a great guy. We loved him as family. We miss him greatly and wish he was still alive. He was very considerate and generous. Howard and I were given the chance to do many things we have not done since.
Mark B: Flo & Eddie were going pretty strong. Why stop at the point you did?
Mark V: Have we stopped? I do not think so...In case you forgot we are doing an interview about us. We have not stopped, we just do not make records at the present time. Perhaps we will again sometime. When there is a radio station to be played on we might get excited about making records again.
Mark B: I also saw on your site your a Professor, what do you teach?
Mark V: I am a professor at two Universities. I teach in the Film and Television school at Loyola Marymount University. I teach Music Business courses and Music History. I also teach Music Business courses at Los Angeles Valley College in the Commercial Music Program. I teach four classes every semester and over 200 students. I am also a Music Business Consultant that can be reached through the university for consulting. mvolman@lmu.edu. I get paid for my consulting. I have been teaching since 1997 and it's my favorite adventure in life at the present time.
Mark B: Your touring seems to be very consistent. Do you enjoy it as much or more with ageand experience?
Mark V: Yes, I love to travel and our live show is still one of the best parts of mine and Howard's career. We always were great live. Professional and fun. We still love it, because of that.
Mark B: Collections and rarities aside, will there be any new music forthcoming that we canlook forward to?
Mark V: No plans for the two of us at the present time. Howard has recently recorded a live album of other people's music, something he has wanted to do for a long time.
Mark B: Can you tell us about Howard's script for 'My Dinner with Jimi'. I see that it won the award for 'Best Screenplay' at the 2003 Slamdunk Film Festival. Can you elaborate on the story?
Mark V: I would recommend that you speak to Howard about the screenplay and film. I had nothing to do with it. I saw it before it was finished product and I can't really elaborate on it.
Mark B: In closing, thank you so much for your time. Is there anything you'd like to say to your fans in cyberland?
Mark V: Our fans, if they are still there can reach us at our website.
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