Interview: Mark Tremonti

GRAMMY® winning musician, producer, author as well as founding member of chart-topping, globally successful rock bands Alter Bridge, Creed, and Tremonti, Mark Tremonti is “stepping out” with his most-ambitious and challenging project to date.

Mark has partnered with National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) as he releases an album of Frank Sinatra covers entitled Tremonti Sings Sinatra. The album of selections from Frank Sinatra’s catalog is being released as part of a new charity initiative created by Tremonti called Take A Chance For Charity. Proceeds from the album – scheduled for release on May 27th – will go to support NDSS and the work they do to advocate for and support individuals with Down syndrome and their families. Mark and his family were blessed to welcome their first daughter Stella last March – who was born with Down syndrome – and the idea for the project was born. A video sharing the very personal story of Take A Chance For Charity and behind-the-scenes clips can be seen above.

We caught up with Mark as he took some time out from rehearsals for the upcoming debut “Mark Tremonti Sings Frank Sinatra” show set to take place in Orlando Saturday, May 14th, and got the background on the project, but there was only one topic that could kick-off the chat…

How is Stella?! I hope that she is ruling the roost!

She is awesome! She is doing great!

You have been open about the fact that when Stella was less than a year old, she had to undergo open-heart surgery, as a parent, when it comes to your child, putting your trust in someone else’s hands is a difficult thing to do…it also makes everything else in the world pale into insignificance…

Absolutely. It definitely changed my life and my view on life. Before the surgery, they were some of the worst times of my life, and the week after…they were the best times of my life. Stella bounced back from that surgery like that [snaps fingers], the surgeons that we had, the nurses, and the staff at the hospital… were incredible.

It’s great to hear that Stella is doing so well. Now, in his autobiography “Unrequited Infatuations: A Memoir”, Steven Van Zandt – consigliere to both Bruce Springsteen, and Tony Soprano – mentioned that it was only when he got 60’s New Jersey rockers The Rascals back together for the musical/live gig hybrid ‘Once Upon a Dream’ that he realized what his purpose in life was – with that in mind, would you say that your purpose in life now is to raise funds and awareness for Down Syndrome?

I hope so! A lot of stars have aligned for this project to happen. It always seemed like it was meant to be, and a lot of things worked out just right for this to happen. It seemed like an impossible project to pull off, and I have been lucky enough to do it, so I do have some purpose going forward.

One of those “stars aligning” was the fact that your manager TimTournier was taught guitar by Dan McIntyre who of course played guitar as part of Frank Sinatra’s touring band…

Yes! When I told Tim about the project, he told me that Dan was his guitar teacher growing up, and that’s how we got in with the band. A lot of great things happened along the way to make it all possible…it was meant to be!

Going back to that very first day of recording with the Frank Sinatra band, that first day when you walk into the studio as “face-melting guitarist Mark Tremonti”, and you have the band there, Sinatra’s band leader Mike Smith is there; were there any wobbles when you walked up to the mic to sing those first lines?

No, I was ready to go! I was really confident as I had practiced the material thousands of times. When you are doing something for charity then there is no need to be nervous as you are doing it for a good cause. I was never doing this as just a normal project, or a vanity project, this was something that was to raise money and awareness. And I love singing like Frank Sinatra, so it made sense to do it this way. So I wasn’t nervous, I was excited!

It must be exciting to think that there will be fans who know you through Alter Bridge, Creed, and Tremonti, who might now delve into the world of Frank Sinatra and the crooners because let’s face it, everyone needs a break from thrashing away now and then!

You know what, when you dive into this world, then it is a fascinating musical history lesson. You learn things along the way when you listen to Frank Sinatra’s music; people my age can say things like “…kids today have the internet to discover music…but we didn’t have the internet when we started out…”, well, Frank Sinatra could say “…well, we didn’t have microphones when we started out!” It was such a different world back then. Singers were not the frontmen of a band, singers were role-players, they didn’t come in sometimes until three-quarters of the way through a song. I think Frank Sinatra was THE guy…that made a vocalist the feature of a band…him and Bing Crosby. He changed things up completely.

It must have been quite important for you that you thought outside of the box and opted to go with a few deep dives into the Sinatra songbook rather than just going with the heavy-hitters?

Yes, when you go through his catalog, you know how deep it is. He recorded over fourteen hundred songs, and I didn’t want to come out with a record that just had ‘My Way’, ‘New York New York’, and ‘That’s Life’ – the songs that everybody knows. I wanted to show people my favorites from deep within his catalog. Some of my favorite songs are from the Columbia Records recording days, to me he’s almost got three different personalities in the way that he sang: his career nosedived when he was splitting with his wife because back then if you had an affair, then the public just stopped listening to your music and came after you, so Frank Sinatra had a tough time. Before that, he sang with this light-hearted airy voice, and then after that, he came back with this more mature, mans-man kind of singer, and he had these two different personalities, and I love both of them. And then when he came out of retirement and sang songs like ‘Send In The Clowns’…there was that mature, wise old owl kind of Sinatra…so I like all of those parts of his career.

Getting the seal of approval from the Sinatra estate must have meant the world to you? Especially since they are very protective of the name and don’t give the thumbs up to too many projects…

No, it’s just been – well from what I know – it’s just been Tony Bennett and Michael Buble, I don’t know many others. It’s very difficult to get the approval of the estate and I am very honored to have that.

Obviously, you were very involved in the recording process, but what was it like hearing the album back in its entirety for the first time?

Awesome! I didn’t hear the whole record because we worked on two songs at a time and I only heard what we had worked on at that time. But just going into the control room, my immediate response was how good it sounded. In modern recordings, you hyper-focus on all these little things and polish them to make them the best that they can sound. But this time, it was just one-take and you used the right microphone. You didn’t have to compress everything or re-cue anything, everything was recorded the way that it was required for that kind of sound. That doesn’t necessarily work for my modern bands, but for this project I wanted it to sound like the old recordings. I told the producer that I didn’t want it to be polished or over-produced, I wanted it to sound like I was in the room with the band, and he agreed with me.

It’s not just the sound of the album that captures the era perfectly, but also the album cover artwork harks back to the classic Frank Sinatra album covers; it’s one of your own pieces I believe?

Yes, my publicist said to me…” Frank Sinatra was a painter, and you paint, so it would be good if you did the album cover, it would be another level to the project”, so…he didn’t have to ask me twice! I love painting! So I went out into my garage and spend weeks just messing around with some abstract art and there are actually five paintings for the record: one is the cover, and then for the lp sleeve there had to be one front and back, then four more on the inside.

It looks stunning. The debut “Mark Tremonti Sings Frank Sinatra” show is almost upon us, it must be quite strange for you because you are used to being on stage with a guitar in front of you, and a stack of Marshall’s behind you…it’s almost like you are going to be naked up there without your guitar!

Yes! What’s going to happen?! [Laughs] I did some homework for about fifteen minutes of other people performing these songs, to see how they perform them, and I very quickly realized that I was not going to learn from that. A lot of them were snapping their fingers and it seemed like a Vegas show, and that’s not my personality. I love Frank Sinatra, but I’m not going to pretend that I am Frank Sinatra, I’m just going to be myself.

You are back in the UK and Europe with Tremonti not long after the show – you must be raring to go!

We can’t wait! Right now I am in the studio with Alter Bridge so all my focus has been on that, but once I finish maybe in the next week, then I can start rehearsing for the Tremonti tour. But right now all I can think about is the upcoming Sinatra show this weekend!

Lastly, the UK and European tour dates for Alter Bridge have just been announced, you are bringing both Halestorm and Mammoth WVH over with you; with Wolfgang Van Halen having played with you in Tremonti, you must be pleased that he is getting so much acclaim for his incredible debut album?

Oh absolutely! He’s a talented individual but also a good person, and I couldn’t be more proud of him. It’s great to see him step out and see his vision through.

Tremonti in June, Alter Bridge in December; you are going to be busy!

And hopefully, you will see us with the Sinatra thing this Winter…fingers crossed!

Well, you have already played the Royal Albert Hall once, something about “Tremonti Sings Sinatra” at the Royal Albert Hall makes perfect sense…

That would be amazing! I’m down for that!

Tremonti Sings Sinatra is available May 27th, preorder information, here.

Find out more information about Mark’s new charity organization Take A Chance For Charity, here. 

Interview – Dave

Image of Mark Tremonti in Frank Sinatra’s dressing room – Chuck Brueckmann

Live image – Rob Wilkins

About Take A Chance For Charity:

Take A Chance For Charity is a new charity focused on giving artists/actors/athletes/anyone with a platform the ability to get out of their comfort zone. The idea is to have people get out of the genre they are known for to raise funds/awareness for the charity of their choice. We want people to have the most fun they ever had while raising money for charity. An actor can sing, an athlete can dance, a musician can perform a song out of their musical genre – any artistic interpretation. This gives participants the ability to do something out of the ordinary – in fact extraordinary – all in the name of charity. Tremonti Sings Sinatra will be the first release for the cause, the recipient being NDSS.

About NDSS:

The National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) is the leading human rights organization for all individuals with Down syndrome. NDSS envisions a world in which all people with Down syndrome have the opportunity to enhance their quality of life, realise their life aspirations, and become valued members of welcoming communities. Founded in 1979, NDSS supports and advocates for the Down syndrome community by focusing on three key areas of programming: Resources & Support, Policy & Advocacy, and Community Engagement. Within these focus areas NDSS engages in various activities, events, and programs on topics that are critical to our community such as federal and state advocacy and public policy, health and wellness, education, and employment. NDSS creates resources to support individuals with Down syndrome, their families, and caregivers across the lifespan and hosts awareness and engagement events throughout the country
including the National Buddy Walk® Program, the Times Square Video presentation and New York City Buddy Walk®, Racing for 3.21 on World Down Syndrome Day, Run for 3.21, DC Golf Outing, the annual NDSS Gala & Auction, and various other events.

Visit www.ndss.org for more information about NDSS.

Check Also

JENNY DON’T AND THE SPURS: New Single – ‘Pain In My Heart’

Based in Portland, Oregon in the US Northwest, Jenny Don’t and the Spurs have spent …

MOON SHOT | album’s title track “The Power” released

Scrap the old-school idea of a rock band and replace it with MOON SHOT, a …

AMIGO THE DEVIL | UK & RoI tour 2024 : US singer-songwriter announces July dates

US singer-songwriter Amigo the Devil (aka Danny Kiranos) has announced a July UK & RoI …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *