MIKE JONES (KICK)

1. What are you currently up to? (e.g. touring/studio,etc.)

We are recording our third album in Croydon at present. It's mid-October 2002 and we're about three-quarters of the way through it. There will be eleven(11) brand new tracks, and we are very happy at the way it's sounding. It has far exceeded my expectations already!

2. Who was/is your biggest influence on your career?

As a bass player, I rate Geddy Lee of RUSH, and spent much of my early youth learning the licks to 'Hemispheres'. As a song-writer, I liked the influence that Mutt Lange had on Def Leppard in their early days, up to and including 'Hysteria'.

3. Brief history of your work to date the style of music you play.

KICK has released two albums world-wide. 'Consider this...' in 1999, and 'Sweet lick of fire' in 2001. The music is best described as contemporary melodic hard rock. It's a veritable cocktail of the big stadium sing-a-long choruses, which made Aerosmith and U2 famous in the 80s, and the modern production techniques used by Creed and Nickelback. However, we DO have our own sound, and don't like to be pigeon-holed! We have played tours of the UK with HARD RAIN (ex-Magnum), VAUGHN and THUNDER, and ventured into Europe with 80s veterans, BONFIRE. I understand that we've sold about 30,000 albums thus far, which isn't too bad when you consider that rock music isn't given a fair shout by national radio, or the mainstream music press.

4. What has been the highlight(s) and lowpoint(s) of your career to date?

The highpoint for me personally, was being taken seriously as a song-writer. I'd strived for many years to write a song that would capture an audience, and I believe it happened with 'Breathless', which features on 'Consider this...'. I know where KICK is heading to now and my songs are progressing all the time. As a band, touring is very cool! Apart from playing the gigs, you get to meet lots of people, whom give you the support, encouragement and incentive to keep your standards high. Of course, playing in front of 3000 people every night on the Thunder tour was unbelievable! Also, signing to the Sanctuary record label was a real buzz for us four years ago. Amongst other name artists, they manage Iron Maiden, but it seems that they hadn't a useful agenda for us and the deal fell apart. Sanctuary are releasing a collection of Christmas tunes this year - that seems to be the sort of rubbish they like to invest their money in!

5. How easy is it to gets gigs? What is the live music scene like?

We have already been invited to play gigs/festivals next year, which will coincide with the release of our third album. Touring is a very costly business, but we hope to play a few shows in 2003. If you're Robbie Williams or Oasis the live scene is great!!! However, for bands like us who are looking to playing smaller venues, it seems that only a handful of die-hard fans support the scene. YOUR UK ROCK BAND NEEDS YOU!

6. What do you think of the state of rock music at the moment? Do you listen to radio much at all? Has the Internet helped music grow or hindered it?

Rock music will always exist in one form or another. There are many more rock fans in the market place than record companies would care to admit to. The trouble is that it costs so much more for a new rock band to record albums and to tour, than your average computer-age, manufactured pop act. Rock bands refuse to mime too, which must upset record companies, because it's a lot more work to 'mike' up a band than to press a button on a DAT player!!! I listen to Jezzer's show on Virgin on the way home from the studio just before midnight on weekdays. He discusses sexual and relationship problems, and most stories which are phoned through, raise a laugh, even though the majority are serious to the caller. How people end up in such a mess defies logic sometimes! I'm forever on the prowl for ideas for lyrics and real-life angles on scenarios are better than fabricated ones, so in that instance, the radio is beneficial. Virgin radio and XFM keep music 'real' - no Boy/Girl Bland crap! We'll be sending our next album to those stations. The internet is a superb tool for bands. We have a new KICK web-site at www.kickonline.supanet.com which has had over 1700 hits in just under two months. It keeps us in touch with our fans. We hope to exploit the internet and have samples and perhaps video clips on our site in future. Thanks to Captain Thunder for his help on that front!

7. If you could create a fantasy band - what would be the line-up and why?

The band would be called 'SWEET LICK'. It would be our very own tribute band and they'd play KICK songs! On drums: Tommy Aldridge (power and precision!) On bass : Geddy Lee (love that old Rickenbacker sound!) On keyboards: Jon Lord (Hammonds are us too!) On guitar: Steve Stevens (as versatile as they come!) On vocals: Bryan Adams (has an even better voice live than on CD!) It would be cool to sit back and watch these guys perform our songs, but I still reckon we'd play them better! (Laffs)

8. What CD's do you currently have available and where can they be purchased from?

KICK albums have been distributed into Virgin stores around the country. There were one or two in HMVs too, but you should consider looking at some on-line retailers such as Loud 1, Destiny Records or Townsend Records.

Interview © 2002 Jason Ritchie/
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