Rock ‘N’ Soul Camp
Mark Farner
By: Lori Smerilson Carson | Photo: Joe Schaeffer
Flint, Michigan is not only noted for its automotive history (most famously General Motors), but also for being the homeplace of rock band Grand Funk Railroad, originally formed in 1969 consisting of Vocalist/Guitarist Mark Farner, Bassist Mel Schacher and Drummer Don Brewer. They became world renown with singles such as “Some Kind of Wonderful” and “We’re an American Band” and spawned six Platinum albums and seven Gold. Now, after continuing to release several hit records including many solo LP’s, his latest in 2024 entitled CLOSER TO MY HOME, Farner will be lending his extraordinary talents to the Rock ‘N’ Soul fantasy camp in Fort Lauderdale December 4th through the 7th.
Catching up with Farner just a few months prior to the camp where he will be one of the hosts for the Jam Sessions, he revealed some details about what he will contribute, a bit about his music and past camp experiences, as well as what this year’s December campers can look forward to.
SFL Music Magazine: You will be doing jam sessions for the Rock ‘N’ Soul fantasy camp in South Florida December 4th through the 7th. What are you most looking forward to?
Mark Farner: Interaction with not only my peers, but with those who are fired up, the campers who come. Every time I’ve done a fantasy camp, I’m amazed at people’s drive and how music has touched their life so significantly that they want to get to know us, the guys who wrote it, who played it, who inspired them by maybe singing one word in a song, or one lead. It is so vast and it’s almost like a spiritual experience for me because music, it comes from a place within each individual that creates it, and it’s not a gift, it’s a talent. Everybody has talent. People tell me “Oh, you’re so gifted.” I go, no I ain’t. No, no stop. I don’t want none of that getting on me (he laughed). It’s a talent. It’s a talent and I use it to give an increase to love, and love gave me this talent. So, that’s how I serve love with my music and to be around the campers who are so fired up, it’s infectious. It’s what helps drive me to my next gig, want to do my next gig. Here I am 77 years old this month on the 29th and I’m all about going out and rockin’!
SFL Music Magazine: That’s very, very cool and happy early birthday!
Farner: Thank you, Lori.
SFL Music Magazine: You’re welcome. What advice would you give to a camper to be prepared for the camp? Has there been anything you’ve seen in the past that you want to pass along for people to be prepared for this camp?
Farner: Yeah. I would say, don’t restrict any blessing that could be coming your way with expectations. Come as an empty page in the book and allow love to print out your instructions.
SFL Music Magazine: What do you want them to take away from the experience?
Farner: The drive. The hope that comes from being around professional musicians. For being around David Fishof. Everybody that’s in the crew is fired up about music and for them to take away a piece of that fire. To keep that hope alive. To feed it and to nourish that hope because that’s where we all started. All the guys that are the fantasy camp musicians, that’s where we started and so, just going back to the rudimental basic starting blocks. If someone is there, it’s because they have felt in their heart that they really want to go and they have something. I’ve been to camps where this eighty-some year-old lady showed up. She only liked music. She didn’t know that she could play a tambourine, but she ended up playing a tambourine in one of the bands and it was great! But there’s a lot of musicians that come and that are talented, very talented. Then there’s other ones that are not as talented and maybe they feel a little less fulfilled as far as doing their part in a band, but that’s up to us guys that are helping them out to give them that inspiration. To give them the courage to just keep going. Don’t turn your back on it. That inspiration is, it’s spiritual in nature. The body expires someday. All of these bodies. Yours, mine, everybody that reads these words, we all expire, but while we’re here, let’s be under the influence of the super natural power of love in music and touch people’s lives. Give them some of this glow that we have.
SFL Music Magazine: Speaking of love and talent of music, you have a new single out called “Anymore” that is from your 2024 album CLOSER TO MY HOME. I heard the song and love it with that rhythmic rock, and a bit of an anthem sound with clapping. You collaborated with Mark Slaughter whom when I last interviewed him, told me you met at a Rock ‘N’ Roll fantasy camp in 2007 or 2008.
Farner: Yeah!
SFL Music Magazine: How did that collaboration come about, and what was the inspiration for the song?
Farner: Well, David came to me, and he said, “Mark, Howard Stern wants you to come over and play “I’m Your Captain” live on his show today.” I said, really? How does he want it? Does he want me to just show up with an acoustic guitar? David said,” No. man. Take the fantasy band.” At the time, Sandy Gennaro was on drums, Kip Winger on bass, Teddy ‘Zig Zag’ (Andreadis) on keyboards, Bruce Kulick was on acoustic, Mark Slaughter on second, me on first guitar, and we did the song there and Howard absolutely loved it! In fact, he goes, “encore” (he laughed) when we finished, and that session is on YouTube. People can see that and that’s a result of a fantasy camp effort where Mark Slaughter and myself were both there, and I had to take my cans off. You know what I mean? You’re in a studio, they want you to put these cans on so you can be locked in with everybody, but I’m more locked in without the cans and just hearing people play their part. As a result of that, I didn’t have any of the instruments coming in. I had the drums, and everything were filling the room, but then I had Kip Winger and Mark Slaughter and Teddy, I had voices I was hearing going, wow! These guys are singing their asses off! This is really good stuff! I told Slaughter after. I said man, I didn’t know you could sing like that! I was just pleasantly surprised, and Mark said, “hey, I tell you what. I’m going to send you some stuff. I’ll email.” So, I gave him my email. He emailed me some stuff that he had been working on, and I loved the sound of it! I could point to in the mix, in the stereo mix, you’re talking about a half a pie. I could point to where the guitar was. I could point to where the bass was. I could feel the separation of all the instruments, which is very important that you don’t stack things on top of other things that are already sitting in the stereo mix. You’ve got to fit them in there so they can all be heard, and it’s quite a surgical process. Anyways, I listened, and I went, oh my God! I don’t know who’s producing him, but I called him up. I did the old-fashioned thing. I picked up the phone. I said, Mark, I love this stuff! I love this music! I said, who’s producing that stuff? He said, “I’m producing that stuff.” I say, you’re kidding me! And that’s when he said, “I would like to produce something for you. I know you’ve got music. Whatever you’re working on, I’ve got the time that I want to invest,” he said. “It won’t cost you a cent,” and I’m thinking, this guy, he’s speaking from his heart. He’s part Native as well, and he was speaking to my heart. I was so grateful and just so thankful to have a relationship with somebody that is just about the music. It’s all about him from his point of view, wanting me to sound as good as I possibly can at my age, and putting all of the elements together that were on this album being a vinyl album. The one song that didn’t make it to the album is a bonus track on the CD and it was written by Jim Peterik and myself “Friends forever”. That’s another great song that Slaughter got his hands on and really, I thought, the production and the mix on everything, he made it sound like it was part of what we did in his studio. So, I’m very excited for people to hear it of course, and you know us songwriters Lori. When we’re working on a song, we think it’s a smash hit! Every one of ‘em. Why would we invest any time at all in something that was not cranking our tractor?
SFL Music Magazine: They are hits! I’ve seen Mark in the studio (with Dana Strum). He is an amazing songwriter, as are you. You have several accolades. You have sold over twenty-five million records, thirteen Gold, ten Platinum. I believe sixteen records with Grand Funk Railroad alone. You were also inducted into the Michigan ROCK & ROLL Legends Hall of Fame, as well as receiving a Cherokee Medal of Honor and a Lakota Sioux Elders Honor. What would you say attributes to your longevity and success?
Farner: I believe it’s my devotion to love. My dad died when I was nine years old, but he was a city fireman. He was a World War II veteran. He was a tank driver in the 7th Armored Division. My mother was the first woman in the United States to weld on Sherman tanks at Fisher Body in Flint, Michigan. So, when he died, it was the biggest funeral the city of Flint, Michigan had ever seen, and I saw the love that people had for my dad. He really was all about the love and had so many friends because he was a sincere person. Just no bullshit. Just all real heart and helped so many people, and that’s what is in me. I am proud of my dad. I miss him terribly. I still miss him. So, that’s what I hope people get. That they get a piece of my dad’s love because he gave it to me. He passed it on to me and my mother too, God rest her soul. I came from some pretty good stock.
SFL Music Magazine: It sounds like it. What would you in turn recommend to an up-and-coming musician?
Farner: If someone gets far enough along where they’re going to get involved with someone who is in the music business, let’s just say like we did early on in Grand Funk. Mel was nineteen and Don and I were twenty. We did not have any legal representation between us and our manager. Our manager told us, “Oh, we’ll just use my attorneys, and you don’t have to invest any money in that.” It all sounded good to a twenty-year-old kid that didn’t know shit about the music business. So, it is imperative that you have somebody that knows the business represent you in every move and every piece of paper, in every agreement and everything that you get into contractually with someone. You’ve got to know what that implication is going to mean to you thirty years down the road, and the only way you can do that is to have this legal representation. It’s going to cost you a little bit, but it’s well worth it.
SFL Music Magazine: That is excellent advice. Anything else to entice people to look forward to the camp?
Farner: I know that the people that come, the professionals who are there with the campers, they’re looking forward to it because it’s an exciting thing to watch somebody that you give a pointer to, that you give some instruction to out of your heart. It’s not like I’m doing this because I’m a teacher hired by this university. No, I’m doing this because I’m there to see you get better and for us to have fun. That’s really my ambition through it all. If I’m not having fun Lori, I’m not going to be there (he laughed).
SFL Music Magazine: Was there anything additional you want to add about the camp?
Farner: Every camp I’ve gone to, I feel this, it’s like a freedom. It’s people letting go, letting their hair down. I mean, you hear the expression, but fantasy camp, it has a real good representation of that. Just for the campers to know that we are guys and gals who sit across the table from them having lunch and we might belch (he laughed). Lori, we might fart! But there is this freeing, just to be free. Say what you want. Ask what you want. You’re going to find a bunch of people who are willing and able to give to you truthful straight answers because we don’t want anything but what’s good for you.
