Blues Stalker: Mick, I read that you were born in London in 1950 and brought up in Wimbledon and that seeing Eric Clapton in 1965 changed your life forever. Tell us about that.

Mick Clarke: Yes that's right, son of a newsagent in the backstreets. Later we moved to the suburbs and I went to quite a good school, Rutlish. One year they invited John Mayall's Bluesbreakers to play at the school fete - featuring Eric Clapton! They played in a marquee in the sports ground right next to our house and it was a magic night. First time I saw a Les Paul guitar. I was fifteen and impressionable… I walked around dressed the way Clapton had for years!

BS: You formed your first band "Killing Floor" in 1968 and backed Freddie King on his U.K. tour. What was that like? What musicians did you get to jam with while touring with Freddie?

MC: We were lucky because around that time there were a lot of bluesmen being brought over from the States, and they all needed backing bands. Our manager got in touch with the agent, and originally we were set up to back Jimmy Witherspoon. This got changed to Freddie King! Freddie was a lovely man, a great guitarist and singer and a fantastic showman. He always had a great rapport with the audience, winning them over immediately with his warm smile. We never knew what songs we were about to play… he'd just shout the key then 1..2..3... and off we'd go. He was a total professional and I learned a lot from him.

During the tours with Freddie we shared concerts with Otis Spann and Howlin' Wolf. Otis was a quiet, friendly guy. We went to a party with him once and he and Lou Martin (Killing Floor's pianist who later worked with Rory Gallagher) got into a friendly "competition" on the piano. Lou wasn't really trying to impress anyone, just being himself, and he acquitted himself well. Otis was pure class, and I remember him running up the keyboard and hitting the top note with his foot!

Wolf was a different character altogether. A fantastic presence on stage and a voice that sent shivers down your spine. He wasn't too easy to talk to but we managed some interesting chats. One night he and Freddie jammed with Killing Floor and played "Smokestack Lightning".

BS: Your second band was SALT and opened for Muddy Waters at two major London concerts. Tell us about that experience.

MC: SALT was a great little band featuring Stevie Smith on vocals and harp. We did really well on live gigs, such as the Marquee in London, but never got a proper record deal. We opened for Muddy at his first big London concert at the "New Victoria" in 1977. We thought that the "purist" audience wouldn't go for our noisy rock/blues, but we were wrong. it was a great night and we encored with ‘Johnny B Goode’! Later, when SALT had transformed into Ramrod (including Lou Martin and Rod DeAth from Rory's band) we opened again for Muddy at the Rainbow, and this time we got to meet the man. He complimented Steve's harp playing and said that next time he was over he'd ask for "my boys"!

BS: In 1984 you formed the Mick Clarke Band. Your first albums were for an
Italian label, Appaloosa? Correct?

MC: Yeah… The way it came about was strange. I was still working with SALT but getting a little frustrated and wanting to try out more of my own ideas. I booked a demo studio and Lou and Rod came along for a jam. Steve Waller, who was a legend on the pub scene in London, came and played bass... all of them quite unpaid. I only did it for fun, but the engineer persuaded me to try and get the tapes released, so I started sending them out to labels. There were very few specialist blues labels in those days, but a friend of mine, Shakey Vick, had an album out on Appaloosa. I approached them, and partly because they remembered me from Killing Floor, they offered an album deal.

BS: You have eleven albums to your credit. Care to mention any of them and tell fans where they can listen to and purchase them. I love " Live in Luxembourg."

MC: That's good! Somebody recently described it as the worst thing they'd ever heard! I describe it as rough, raw and not for the faint-hearted. It was taken straight from the mixing desk at a great gig we did in Luxembourg in 2002. The reaction from fans was so good that we decided to release it, and it's now available on Taxim Records. All my albums are available from the CD Shop at http://www.mickclarke.com. There are also sound samples so you can decide for yourself!

BS: You have toured the U.S.A. several times. Who did you appear with on these tours?

MC: Those tours were based in Portland, Oregon by courtesy of a local promoter, Steve Hettum. We played all the local clubs and toured up to Seattle and down to Los Angeles. Some of the highlights were opening for Johnny Winter at a club in Washington state, and appearing at the Waterfront Festival in Portland. In Los Angeles we opened for Linda Hopkins, who was (and I presume is) a wonderful Bessie Smith style singer. We also played with C.J. Chenier, Clifton's son fronting the old band, and Big Jay McNeely, rolling around in the audience playing his illuminated sax. Brilliant stuff. We also worked with Savoy Brown, Foghat, The Palladins and Canned Heat. Good days.

BS: You have toured all over Europe, correct? What is your schedule like in the future?

MC: Yes we've toured a great deal all over Europe - from Finland down to Sicily! We even played behind the Iron Curtain back in the eighties. Recently I have had a personal blow which has forced me to look again at everything I do. We have confirmed dates for next year including festival dates in Norway, Germany and Holland, so I will be making plans over the next few months.

BS: What equipment do you use? What is your favorite guitar?

MC: I've had the same guitar since 1969, a 1963 Gibson SG Standard nicknamed "Gnasher". Actually it's not that easy a guitar to play, but I've kind of grown into it. It got stolen once in the 70's for about nine months, but I got a tip-off and was able to go and get it back. The thief had stripped all the cherry red finish off of it, so ever since it's been natural wood finish. I prefer it that way.

I bought a regular Squier Strat in the 80's to play slide on. (Squier's were still good guitars in those days!). It's served me well and I still use it all the time. I've always used Marshall amps, my last one was stolen with my car, so I had to find another. Since I prefer the old models I found this old 50 watt combo with most of the front missing and the wrong speakers fitted. I stuck in a couple of "Sidewinder" speakers which are ridiculously powerful, (I only use one of them) and rebuilt the front of the amp. It looks unusal!

BS: Do you play clubs as well as festivals?

MC: Yeah we'll play anywhere. And it's good to remind yourself how to work with a tiny audience in an intimate room sometimes. That helps you in turn when you go out in front of a festival crowd. Only thing I don't like in small gigs is the smoke… I prefer oxygen!

BS: Do you play acoustic guitar also or are you always plugged?

MC: I've never been much good on acoustic. I think a good acoustic player should be able to finger pick properly and I never really learned that, although I have my own kind of cack-handed finger style. I featured a couple of acoustic tracks for the first time on the "New Mountain" album, and I think they work OK. I think there'll be more acoustic guitar featured on future projects.
 
BS: Do you have a website so fans can find out more about you?

MC: The website means a lot to me… direct contact with people who enjoy my music and my friends. (Sometimes they're the same thing!). It features news, CD sales, photos, etc. I am my own webmaster, so I'm updating it constantly, and people can always contact me through it.

BS: I have noticed that your albums are recorded by record companies in Italy, USA, and Germany. Many players today complain about the lack of promotion by their labels. One of my favorite discs of yours, ‘No Compromise’, is distributed by Burnside Records in Oregon and I think Susan Stewart there has done a very good job of representing your work. Are you pleased with the marketing of your talent by the labels?

MC: All of my records are released on independant labels and generally their promotional budgets are limited. I accept this. They will always make sure that promo copies go to where they are needed, but I do not expect grand promo campaigns from them. I think with modern communications, mainly the internet, the artist himself can do a lot to promote his own work. There's no doubt that the business is changing, and that sales and promotion via personal websites will become more and more important.

BS: Who are your current band members?

MC: Chris Sharley on drums has been working with me since the early '90's. A superb powerful drummer who originally started with the Welsh band "Sassafrass". Eddie Masters has been on bass for the last few years, another fine player with five strings on his bass guitar. What's that all about then? On keyboards is Dave Lennox who has worked in the past with Ginger Baker, Blodwyn Pig and many other names. Dave has to be one of the top players on the scene in Britain.

The band is flexible… the guys all take other gigs between our tours, and sometimes we get deps in, which I think keeps things fresh. Sometimes we have worked with Ian Ellis on bass (ex Savoy Brown) or Brendan from Nine Below Zero on drums. Lou Martin and Rik Lee (Ten Years After) have also helped out occasionally, so we have a pretty high standard of musician!

BS: What projects do you have planned in the future?

MC: We've recently recorded a new album by my first band Killing Floor. It will be the first new release for 32 years, so it's quite exciting. It was good fun getting together again, and I think it's a good record. Full details at the website http://www.killingfloor.com. I also hope to record a new Mick Clarke studio album before too long. I have the material ready to go.

BS: Whom have you not met or played with that you would like to?

MC: B.B. and Eric I suppose! Two of my greatest influences.

BS: Who is currently in your CD player?

MC: Hang on, I'll have a look!... aah, a blues compilation! Further on up the Road... Frosty by Albert Collins... I'm a King Bee, Slim Harpo.. Help Me by Sonny Boy!! Wonderful, wonderful music… aren't we lucky?

BS: Thank you Mick for sharing your talent with blues fans all over the world. I look forward to hearing you live one day.

MC: Thanks Monte, for thinking of me. All the best to you.
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