Ruben Mosqueda of Sleaze Roxx spoke with former Great White singer Jack Russell. Portions of the interview appear below.
Sleaze Roxx: On [Great White’s] debut [album], you worked with Michael Wagener who has worked with more acts on the metal side of things.
Jack Russell: Let’s not forget Don Dokken was integral on that album. Don was more of a “sound guy” and Michael is more of a ‘mix guy.’ Michael makes the records sound really good where Don has a sense for the songs.
Sleaze Roxx: [What about the] Once Bitten… record…
Jack Russell: The record where people discovered us [laughs]! Up until that record, Alan had this thing that he would say “Jack sing like Jack Evil on this one.” So I would do what I was told, but on Once Bitten…, you get to hear what I really sound like. I’m very proud of that record.
Sleaze Roxx: Twice Shy was a killer record with House Of Broken Love, Move It, Heart The Hunter and Once Bitten…Twice Shy. In retrospect, was it a good idea to put the Ian Hunter track on there?
Jack Russell: Oh, I love Heart The Hunter. That’s one of my favorite songs. As far as Once Bitten…Twice Shy, I’m alright with it of course. That’s become a signature song. I’m okay with it selling three million records! It’s good song and I felt we made a great song. We got a Grammy nomination out of it. Honestly. I never thought the song was going to be a hit. That song broke all the rules. It takes forever to get to the chorus. For some reason, that song just would just keep going [laughs]! That song just wouldn’t stop going [laughs]!
Sleaze Roxx: Jack, we know what’s transpired over the years with Great White which has led to Jack Russell’s Great White. Your story is that of a comeback.
Jack Russell: Thank you. I think this album reflects that you can hear that on the title track “He Saw It Comin.”
Sleaze Roxx: He Saw It Comin’ is a deeper record lyrically. Was that done by design?
Jack Russell: Well, that’s where I’m at at this point in my life and it’s the culmination of Robby [Lochner] and I writing together. We wrote one song together and we didn’t do too much after that. We wrote a couple more but once we got this band in place, I knew we needed to write some more and begin to work on an album. I knew when I found a band that felt was ‘forever’, I knew I’d have to get a deal and begin to work on an album. We did that and I believe the finished product is obvious. This is a very special album. In my opinion, this is the best work that I’ve ever done. I don’t know what fans might think but to me, it’s the best work of my career and I’m proud of it. We played last night at The Whisky for the first time since the release of the album. If you can believe it, the live stream of the show reached 140,000 people. That was pretty gratifying for jus. We wound up perfroming three of the new songs — Sign Of The Times, She Moves Me, and My Addiction. They were well received. I was expecting crickets chirping but the audience was into them. We’ll be on tour this year on a package tour. I can’t say anything yet, but you’ll definitely be familiar with the bands we’ll be hitting the road with.
Read more at Sleaze Roxx.
Jack Russell’s Great White’s, He Saw it Comin’, was released on January 27th. To listen to songs from this release, click on the highlighted titles.
6 Responses
The EP and the first Great White album are my favorites. Jack Russell IS Great White, even if that dirt bag Mark Kendall is out there was his competing band of the same name. Russell can still sing well and I wish him the best success in health, well being, and music.
I was a pretty big Great White fan back in the day. Bluesy hard rock has always been my favorite type of music. I only got to see them one time, but it was one of my favorite live shows of all time – Great White, Tesla, and Badlands! All three bands totally killed it! I’ve always liked Jack R’s voice, and he can still sing. But, once again, we have one original member of an 80’s band trying to keep something going that is obviously dying, if not dead. It’s RATT all over again! I would have much more respect for him if he would just attempt to create something new. Just go out there as Jack Russell and try to build a new fan base. If the song writing and playing are worthy, the fans will find you.
Ratt is now one band again, with 3 original members, so not Ratt..
Keith,
Have you ever heard of Tora Tora? They were another bluesy hard rock band, whom as far as I am concerned, were very underrated.
D 🙂
Dana,
I have heard of Tora Tora! Love them! They were criminally underrated. I have two of their albums from back in the day. Never got to see them live, but there isn’t a bad song on either of the albums I have.
Keith,
I saw them a few times at L’Amour in Brooklyn, and they were just as good, live.
I assume you have the same two albums I have, Surprise Attack and Wild America? If so, they are both great, and always in heavy rotation, in my home.
We both agree, they were a very underrated band. Had their debut album come out earlier than ’89, I think they would have been bigger. Ironically, that was the same year Sykes’ Blue Murder record was released, and talk about criminally underrated. Sheesh…
D 🙂