I wrote the first six Grand Funk albums myself. We filled Shae Stadium with my songs.”
MF: Hi, this is Mark.
W (NM): Hi Mark, this is Nando from Wikimetal. I'm here with Daniel, one of our presenters. How are you?
MF: Well, Nando!
W (DD): Hi Mark, how are you? This is Daniel.
MF: Hi Daniel, how's it going?
W (DD): I'm good, and you, man?
MF: Well, well.
W (DD): We are very proud to have you on our show. Wikimetal is the biggest heavy metal and hard rock podcast in Brazil.
MF: Cool, rock 'n' roll!
W (NM): Yes, we are very happy to have our captain on our program today.
MF: Thank you, God bless you, it's great to be here with you guys.
W (NM): First of all, tell us about this project, the documentary that tells the story of your life. What stage is it at and how can fans participate?
MF: It's in the beginning, the initial phase. Fans, if they want to participate through funding, can contribute and become part of the film, which can be done through a website. But also through prayers! Because we have our son Jesse here, we're waiting for a miracle for him to get out of this… You know, he's a quadriplegic, he's been lying in bed or sitting in a chair for a year and a half now, and we've been asking people to pray. That's what they can do for us, and things will start moving much faster for us.
W (NM): Tell us how difficult it is to choose the songs that will be part of the set list? Having had such a long and successful career, how do you choose the songs that will be played at the show?
MF: Well, our current setlist was put together through a survey we conducted with our audience online. A few years ago, we asked people to participate by sending in songs they'd like to hear at a show. We received 2700 responses and chose our set from there, composing our set based on fan wishes. I thought, "Why not give them the set they want to see?"
W (NM): That's a very good idea. And what percentage of the list is made up of Grand Funk Railroad songs?
MF: 90%.
W (NM): 90?
MF: Yes!
W (DD): Well, then it's a show you can't miss.
MF: This is who I am, this is a Mark Farner show, but it's also who I am. I wrote the first six Grand Funk albums, I wrote them myself. We did a sold-out show at Shae Stadium with Mark Farner's songs.
W (DD): Excellent, Mark. And speaking of that, could you choose a song that you're proud to have written so we can hear it on our show now?
MF: "I'm your captain."
W (NM): Thank you for being our captain for so many years. It has been a great pleasure.
MF: Thank you, the pleasure is on this side, brothers!
When I was with Ringo, we got along really well. It was one of the best times of my life in terms of learning and interacting with people. He's a Beatle.”
W (NM): In your opinion, what was the reason why the highly anticipated Grand Funk Railroad reunion wasn't such a big success?
MF: The obligation we made to each other before we even had our first show. They wanted me not to do any solo shows, and only participate in Grand Funk shows. This was because Don Brewer said it would end up being competition for Grand Funk dates. So I agreed to this for a period of two years, because I have a solo audience, and at that time, at 21 years old, I already had a solo audience, I had many fans. And I said, "I'm not going to abandon them and forget about them, I'm going to come back and start doing solo shows." At the end of two years, the guys didn't care about that, they only wanted to do Grand Funk. I ended up being coerced into transferring my share of the rights to the "Grand Funk Railroad" trademark to the corporation because Don Brewer showed up in my room one night after a show and told me we needed to do this to protect the trademark. I found it kind of strange because when I told him, "Okay, if that's what we need to do, I'll do it," and he said, "Okay, I'll go to my room and get the papers," I thought, "That's strange, why didn't he bring the papers with him?" and that made me a little suspicious, but not enough. And I should never have signed my part for those guys, because they can do whatever they want and I have no say in what they do with the brand.
W (DD): Throughout these 21 years of your solo career, and even more so, these 45 years playing around the world and being very successful, what would you say was the high point of your career?
MF: I think the high point, actually, was the pop festival in Atlanta, Georgia, with 185,000 people who had never heard the name “Grand Funk Railroad” before. But that day they met a garage trio from Flint, Michigan, who came and killed it for them, and they didn't want us to leave the stage. That's how infectious that was. And that's because I played at parties, weddings, and stuff, you know, a young musician plays anywhere. I played for my mom's friends when they came over. I played just for the sake of playing. And finally, there I was, in front of this huge crowd, and they were loving it. It was like a dream come true. Of course, there's Shae Stadium after that. Flying up and seeing all those people jumping in the stands, rocking out, and Humple Pie on the second stage. The place was killing it. Those are memorable things. I remember it well, but man, that was a long time ago.
W (NM): The festival you mentioned earlier, is that the one you signed with Capitol for, and is it true that you played for free at that festival?
MF: That's right. The people who were handling the legal paperwork for the festival were our lawyers from New York, so they got us a place because they were taking care of the legal aspects so the festival could happen. It was great, we played for free and signed with Capitol Records, which wasn't a bad deal at all.
W (NM): We have a classic question on our show that we ask everyone we interview. Just imagine you're listening to music on shuffle and a song starts that you immediately lose control of. What song would that be and why?
MF: “Inside Looking Out”.
W (NM): Tell us about your experience working with great producers like Terry Night and even the legendary Frank Zappa.
MF: Yes, that greatly influenced my career and my admiration for those artists. Because I got to work with these musicians who are clearly musical geniuses. Frank Zappa, you know, so innovative. And people think he was always high, but he never used drugs, he wasn't that kind of person, he was very connected to music. I had the pleasure of spending time with these people not only in a professional atmosphere, but it was very friendly. Having coffee, talking about a song, what we would do in those days. They were always good people to have around the band, to be part of what we were building together.
W (DD): Great. And what was it like working with Ringo Starr?
MF: When I was with Ringo, we got along really well. One of the best times of my life in terms of learning and interacting with people. Ringo is at the top, he's a Beatle, you know. He's very well respected by most people in the world, but I got to sit down with Randy Bachman from BTO and Randy showed me power chords, I learned things from John Entwistle, and we played together. John Bachman and Zak Starkey. Just the three of us. It was so good to play with those guys, they influenced me, I learned and expanded. I was a better musician after playing with Ringo. And when we were in Tokyo at the press conference, a young woman asked, "Mr. Farner, what's it like playing with a Beatle?" and I said, "Well, let me explain, dear. Ringo puts his pants on one leg at a time, just like me." And Ringo stood up, came over to me, patted me on the back and said, "Thank you, brother!"
W (DD): That's really cool to hear, what a great story.
MF: Okay.
Always keep your nails trimmed, your hand on the guitar neck, and always practice lying in bed until you fall asleep. And when you wake up, before doing anything else, stay lying down and practice some more.”
W (NM): Mark, tell us about the importance of religion in your life and when you started getting involved with religion.
MF: Well, I learned the difference between religion and faith. When I learned that, I began to detach myself from the debt that existed within me. I was very conscious of debt because I was born into a world where people accept debt. But Jesus said, “Owe nothing to any man.” And I take that very seriously personally. I don't owe anything to anyone. Money defines everything; people think much more about themselves than they should, and churches sink people even further into debt. They say, “Now that you're a Christian, you owe 10% to God, and you must give, make offerings, do this and that, pay the pastor, and this guy.” I'm saying, it disgusts me. There's no reward in that; the only thing it does is sink people into debt. We have to be free! It's rock 'n' roll; it wants us to be free. It's leading the way for us to follow. And for me, personally, the kingdom of heaven is within us, not beyond the clouds, on the planets, somewhere out there. It resides in our hearts, and we are responsible for it. Each one of us, in spirit. For the love and peace it brings us. Because love is unconditional.
W (DD): And speaking of roots, how important is your Cherokee heritage to your music and songwriting?
MF: Importance? I think, brother, it's my rhythmic feel. People tell me, after seeing a show, that they saw part of an animal in me, who I am as an animal. And it's part of my Native American blood to express myself in this way. But I'm a mix of Cherokee blood with Swiss blood, German blood, Jewish blood, I have French blood. I'm like what they call "Heinz" around here, something like a meat sauce. You put a lot of things together to make it taste better. I'm a mix of all those things.
W (NM): So you're like most Brazilians.
MF: That's right, brother! And we rocked it.
W (NM): What would you say to a 14 or 15-year-old boy who is starting to play guitar and getting his friends together to start a band?
MF: Always keep your nails trimmed, your hand on the guitar neck, and always practice lying in bed, lying there until you fall asleep. And when you wake up in the morning, before doing anything else, lie down and tune your guitar, and play some more. Fall in love with your instrument and you'll get back everything you invest in it.
W (NM): Is there any other message you'd like to leave for the listeners, any special thought?
W (DD): Besides all the cool things you've already mentioned.
MF: Yes, thank you. And I just want to say that we are all good at heart. We need to follow that and not so much what our eyes see. Especially on television, which is controlled by people of questionable character. Their motives are mostly evil. We can't let our eyes be drawn to the sick dreams of others. And we don't want to live like that. To have a free mind, we need to live by what's in our hearts. And when I go to Brazil and play for the Brazilians, I know I'll feel the love. And I want to invite all Wikimetal fans to the show in São Paulo.
W (NM): You'll certainly feel it, Mr. Mark Farner. It was a great honor to have you on our program. Let me ask you one more thing, is this your first time in Brazil?
MF: Yes, it is.
W (NM): Another reason not to miss this show.
MF: That's right.
W (NM): Thank you very much for your time and I look forward to seeing you play live on March 10th.
MF: Thank you, brother. And thank you, Daniel.
W (DD): Thank you, Mark. It was an honor to have you on our program.
MF: Thank you very much.
W (NM): And come to Brazil, we'll be there.
MF: Okay, brother.