Q&A: Motley Crue still calling its own shots

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By Christa Titus

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Talk with Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx and guitarist Mick Mars, even on the phone, and you'll witness an infamous dynamic in action.

Sixx, known as the driven, visionary bandleader, is as articulate as he is passionate about any topic you raise. Mars is equally knowledgeable, but softer-spoken and more direct. Their responses are a study in contrasts, reflecting the range of perspectives within the band. They also help to make sense of the group's at-times combustive relationships.

As Motley Crue prepared for the June 24 release of "Saints of Los Angeles," the first studio album in more than a decade featuring the band's original members (drummer Tommy Lee and singer Vince Neil round out the lineup), and the July 1 opening of its 40-plus-city Crue Fest tour, Sixx and Mars got on the phone with Billboard. They discussed Motley's past and present with the same boldness that has made them superstars.

Q: Motley Crue's new album, "Saints of Los Angeles," is loosely based on your autobiography "The Dirt" (co-written with Neil Strauss and a 2001 New York Times best-seller). Why that approach?

Mick Mars: I think that we all pretty much thought it was a good thing to do, the right thing to do, to tie everything together, to put everything in a package that would make sense to everybody. Because to people that read "The Dirt" and they heard ("Saints of Los Angeles") and listened to the lyrics, they're like, "Oh, yeah, that was from 'The Dirt' " and that kind of a thing.

Nikki Sixx: It was loosely based on, thematically, on our story, but, in essence, isn't that what all songwriters do? They write about their experience. When you spread (ours) over a full album, you get this sort of story of like, "Wow." Where it started, where it was and where it's at now, and hopefully where it's going.

Q: Why did the band form its own Motley Records label, which is releasing "Saints?"

Mars: We formed our own record label ... (to) be able to do it our way as opposed to someone dictating to us how it should be done. It was a good feeling, like Ray Charles when he was like, "You can have this, but I want my masters." That was cool.

Sixx: Motley Records was sort of an emblem on a car. It was something we did when we were at Elektra. It was our way of saying, "We really are completely self-sufficient. You guys are a distribution source."

But it wasn't till later when we took the masters from Elektra and really started focusing on how to grow our asset, the asset of music ... and the only way to do that is to market it. And it's not a bad word. It's not a dirty word.

Q: How did you get the masters back?

Mars: They owed us a lot of money, in the eight-digit area. It was like, "We'll forget this, we'll take our masters, we'll take seven figures instead of eight and give us our masters."

So it was done like that, which was really good for us. You won't hear our songs on K-tel or anything.

Q: Motley Records brings you full circle, back to when you self-released "Too Fast for Love" in 1981 on Leathur Records. How would you compare the Motley Crue of then with today?