FAQs

These frequently asked questions are compiled from interviews,
questions via the internet and personally.

Why is the Native Son project of new recordings taking so long ?
Native Son has been on hold these past few years for several reasons, mainly due to the relocation
of my family from the UK to Australia and also because of my desire to find like-minded musicians with which to form a viable partnership.
I have also had to deal with an ongoing hand injury which has at times restricted my work.
However the time has been spent working on new material and searching for a suitable Bass player
and Drummer. I am a great believer in having the right chemistry in a band and the various
combinations of musicians I have tried out have not had the collective vibe for a project.
Native Son will continue when the time is right.
Some of the side projects I have been involved in these past few years where I have just been a
member of another band have been really enjoyable.me has been spent

Is the inspiration behind the song lyrics deeply personal ?

Yes -- Some of them are. "Crying In The Night" I wrote 25 years ago about a girl called Jemma Lucy Bridge. The second recorded version off the "No Man's Land" album is my favourite. "Heaven Song" was written about my mother after she passed away. Other songs such as "Spiritland" and "River Of Life" have a more philosophical theme.

What guitar sound effect was used on the solo section of "That's How I Am " from the Heepsteria album?

Mark: I used an Octavider pedal set with an octave down and an octave up then into a Bixonic Expandora (original model) for overdrive into my Marshall 100/Mesa Boogie 4x12. G-Force delay was added at the desk. The track was done with the Musicman Luke guitar and an Ovation Acoustic in the background.

What shape/form is your next album UTOPIAN SKY?

Mark: Utopian Sky will now probably be a solo album sometime in the future.
The next Native Son album will have a different title and will be a "sort of" follow on from 'Leap of Faith'. Although I mostly do what I want with Native Son as it is my band project I may in the future do a solo type thing with several different musicians helping out in a variety of styles.
It sometimes becomes very difficult now days keeping a solid band together with a shared creative vision.

Where do your lyric ideas come from?

Mark: People, places and situations, books, movies and phrases, all the usual stuff and topics that stick out in conversation.

Do you ever want to do other types of music other than Native Son type stuff?

Mark: yes, sometimes. Maybe one day an all instrumental album with keyboards and percussion.
I am a huge fan of all the Jeff Beck music and other early/mid70s jazz rock fusion like Return to Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Stanley Clarke, Billy Cobham, Terry Bozzio, early Al Di Meola, Tribal Tech and also the music Carlos Santana was doing in his early/mid 70s jazzier period.

Where did the band's name come from?

Mark: I came up with Native Son after seeing it as a headline above an article in the 1980s - I can't remember what the article was about, I just thought it looked like a good name for a band. A name that didn't associate with any one sort of music.

Have you ever planned to add other instruments ie keyboards to the band's sound?

Mark: Maybe on a future album. There are keyboards on River of Life and Moving Target (Solidground) and Home (No Man's Land).

Any plans to do the Heepsteria songs live?

No.

Any plans for any other cover songs?

Yes, but they are a secret, for now. With so many good songs out there there a loads to choose from. I have a few up my sleeve that haven't yet been done to death, but I mostly only do original music.

Which guitar have you used mostly on the albums?

Mark: Mostly I've used a '73 Fender Stratocaster on the first three albums and occasionally a '73 Gibson Les Paul Custom. I used a MusicMan Luke on the Heepsteria tracks.

What singers do you like / listen to?

Mark: I like all the great rock singers like Paul Rodgers and Glenn Hughes, also I am a huge fan of James Dewar the vocalist/bass player from the Robin Trower Band.
Whenever I listen back to that great era during the 60's & 70's all the guys like Steve Marriott, Steve Winwood, Jack Bruce etc. still do it for me.
A lot of the guitar players I like also have expressive distinctive voices too.

What other musical influences?

I believe it is quite hard not to be influenced by other bands if you listen to as much music as I do. But I look for inspiration in others' music rather than outright stealing. I have always felt it is better if you have different band members who like different things because it's easier to mix up styles and hopefully create a less obvious sound. It makes the music much more organic. I hope any of the music I make doesn't bear too much resemblance to the bands/styles that I like and listen to.
My taste in music has always been rock based but with elements of jazz, blues and psychedelic styles. The whole era from the mid '60s till the mid '70s was a very fertile period.
Powerful creative drummers and bass players are a huge influence on me too.

Who are Mark's favourite guitar players?

The guitarists I feel most inspired by, well, the list is pretty long but mostly by guys from long ago: Jeff Beck, Steve Morse, Eric Johnson, Joe Walsh, Tommy Bolin, David Gilmour and Snuffy Walden from Stray Dog who I always thought was the greatest "unknown" rock guitarist. Also, when I was growing up in New Zealand I thought players like Harvey Mann (Space Farm), Eddie Hansen (Ticket), Kevin Borich (The La De Das) and Billy T K (Human Instinct) were great and accessible from a local point of view.

In fact most of the 60s/70s guitarists like Alvin Lee, Robin Trower, Terry Kath, Peter Frampton, Steve Miller, Billy Gibbons, Gary Moore and Paul Kossoff I found an inspiration. And of course Peter Green and Jimi Hendrix too. I can also add to the endless list of great guitarists - all playing in different styles - Pat Thrall, Pat Martino, Steve Hillage, Frank Marino, Buddy Guy, T Bone Walker, Charlie Christian, Frank Zappa.

From a jazz rock viewpoint I have always liked Allan Holdsworth, Scott Henderson and Michael Landau. There are so many great guitar players out there and these are just some of my favourites and because they have their own distinctive style and tone and are also players I still listen to a lot. A couple of "newer" guitarists I like a lot are Ty Tabor (Kings X) and Warren Haynes (Gov't Mule)

I should also add that I admire guitarists like these as much for the music they make as well as guitar ability. I go for players with character and a distinctive tone and feel.

Are there any plans to release a live album?

Mark: Yes, there is every chance in the future. There are unofficial live recordings but these are poor quality sound-wise and not endorsed by the band. Anyone who finds these should hand them in to their nearest police station!

Why a three piece band?

Mark: I have always been a big fan of power trios, mostly the less well known like Stray Dog, Tempest (with Ollie Halsall), Hot Tuna, the 3 piece version of Spirit featuring Randy California, plus the New Zealand groups Space Farm, The Underdogs, Human Instinct and Ticket (although Ticket had a lead singer as well), the Australian based 3 piece version of The La De Das, Beck Bogert & Appice, Trapeze, Rush, Robin Trower Band, Paris (with Robert Welch), West Bruce & Laing , Rory Gallagher (Taste and solo stuff) and ZZ TOP. Native Son was formed with this in mind but only as an inspirational thing. Cream and Jimi Hendrix started the whole power trio thing off for me. All of the Hendrix albums, the Experience ones or the Band Of Gypsys ones still do it for me. Eric and Davide (original Native Son line-up) were also big Police fans (another great three piece) but I always stress that the music has to come out sounding different, which I believe it does.

Do you like any of the "newer" bands?

Kings X and Gov't Mule are the only sort of current "newer" bands that I really like but with their sound and style, they could have existed any time in the last thirty odd years. Other newer bands or rather side projects like Oysterhead, Jing Chi (with Robben Ford), The Jelly Jam, The Mermen who play great surf instrumentals, Abraxas Pool and the Hardware album with Stevie Salas, Bootsy Collins and Buddy Miles are all very interesting, along with the music Shawn Lane was making with Jonas Hellborg and Jeff Sipe. I really like the Ty Tabor solo albums and also the "jam band" scene in the USA which has been growing in momentum in recent years too.
I really like the band projects that Michael Landau had going awhile ago with Burning Water and The Raging Honkies as well as his solo albums -- all great stuff.
The Scott Henderson trio albums, either the Blues or Fusion thing I also find very inspirational.

Why did you choose Stealin' and That's How I Am for the Heepsteria tracks?

Heepsteria was really a bit of a side step for me as I am not really a fan of tribute albums or indeed cover bands in general but Stealin' was a song that got a lot of airplay in New Zealand when I was growing up, so I always remembered it. I also had a chance to do a song from the John Lawton period - an unreleased song that I heard (That's How I Am) just seemed to work for us. Uriah Heep had a New Zealand bassist, Gary Thain, and he was big news coming from a small country, going overseas and doing well in a big band.

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