once, before they signed with terry and jimmy, i played an early demo for prince, hoping he would sign them to paisley park records.. i don't think he thought they were good enough, but he did say, "the singer can kinda blow!!" b]

joelmarable said:

first off, you're phrasing your questions like you think i still work for prince.. i don't.. you do realize that, right?

1. i never got fined.

2. if you have a hard head, have to be told something several times before it sinks in, don't like someone having an immense control over your life, don't like being told what to do, don't enjoy recording at all hours of the night, can't remember complicated changes in musical arrangements from one day to the next, then yeah.. it's hard..

sure, we had fun every once in a while.. but make no mistake.. if you get a job working for prince and you turn out to be too much of a punk to hang, you won't be under his employment for too long, anyway..

michael b.

i was not aware that there was crushing going on, before the show.. however, on our way into the venue, some dude bumped into morris hayes, impolitely, and didn't apologize.. as a matter of fact, i think he cursed at morris..
and, morris put his hands around this guy's neck and started to choke him.
ian jeffrey, our tour manager, had to pry morris' hands off of him!!
so yeah, we knew it was packed. people kept bumping us around, the whole time we were coming in.. but the only crushing i was aware of, though, was that dude's windpipe..

michael b.
[Edited 5/31/06 0:33am]

Yes, it's me again!

So could U tell us how the guys reacted when U told 'em U were gonna leave 'em 4 Prince?

Is that when Stokely decided 2 take over or was he always meant 2 B the main drummer 4 studio work?

Mint with U on the skins can't imagine it not bein' seriously interesstin'!

Michael,

Thanks for answering all the questions!

Do you have a preference, playing in smaller intimate venues or big arenas?

Earlier you spoke about endurance, what do you do to keep your endurance up to play drums?

Mr. Bland, i know you stated that you didn't have a hand in the songwriting process, but do you have any idea what in the heck the song "7" is about?


peace and love - taurus

ebonyrhythmbuddha said:

Michael, I would've known you never got fined even if you hadn't said it.

Have you ever been involved in conducting any drum clinics the way John B does?

ebonyrhythmbuddha said:

Dang, Sweet Mr. Hayes? I've met him a few times and that guy must have really provoked him. Sounds like that jerk got what he deserved.

Michael, has anyone in the MPLS area approached you about The Truth yet? (http://www.prince.org/msg/5/190902) That sounds like a fantastic line-up, and even though I live nowhere near MPLS and I will probably never get to see them, I'd love to hear about you dropping by and playing sometime you're in town.

booyah said:

I believe Michael has his own, similar band...THE COMBO!!!

Michael,
Have you ever been in a performance and saw something in the audience that caused you to have a WTF moment?

Michael, maybe you can clear up a longstanding question about the track Empty Room, which you filmed a video for in '94/'95 (showed before the '95 European shows).

Apparently this version of the song is a remix/reworking of a 1985 version featuring the Revolution. Do you remember if you recorded new drums for this track (they sure sound like you), and if other members of the NPG were on it, or is it mostly the old recording? (Incidentally, have you heard the version that was eventually released in 2003 as part of the C-Note download album? A live version with John Blackwell on drums?)

yes, i was in mint condition for a while before they got signed to perspective records, and for a few months after i started working with
prince.. they used to rehearse upstairs from me, in a building in downtown mpls. when my band would go on break, i would hang out in the parking lot, drinking cream soda, and listening to mint condition going over their set.
one day, their drummer had to work a day shift, and i was just practicing alone, downstairs. i went to take a break, and they were coming down to take a break, too.. we got to talking. they were saying how their drummer wasn't around and they were having trouble rehearsing without him. i tell them that "i can come up and sorta keep time.." without letting them know that i essentially know their whole set from top to bottom, just from listening from the parking lot.
so, i go up there, and sit down, and start playing all the breaks right, and catching all the cues, and they asked me to join probably a couple days after that..

once, before they signed with terry and jimmy, i played an early demo for prince, hoping he would sign them to paisley park records.. i don't think he thought they were good enough, but he did say, "the singer can kinda blow!!"


michael b.
[Edited 5/31/06 0:42am]

Hello Michael ,

It's a great honour to have you aboard .

I was just wondering if you're still doing live,- or session-work with Ricky Peterson .
That album-opener ( Jdarling ) is blazin' !



Thanx for your time and best wishes with all your current and future work .

Peace ,
100MPH .
.
.
.
[Edited 6/3/06 6:58am]

ebonyrhythmbuddha said:

Hmmm, so it's yes to a Carmen or Vanity and no for Mint? I guess it's for the best though.

I love the hell outta Mint Condition, especially Livin' The Luxury Brown album. Any chance of you working with them in the future???

we're actually supposed to do a session on july 5th together, in mpls.
ricky is going out with john mayer, this summer. so, needless to say, we won't be doing any gigs together, most likely, unless soul asylum does a double-bill with john..

michael b.

Hello, Mr. Bland!

Thanks, again, for all the great responses!

In the video for "Gangsta Glam/Clockin' The Jizz," Sonny T is kicking himself in the alley during his "laugh attack" portion in the song.

Did he have some sort of regrets, as in "kicking himself, that he didn't..."
Or is it just to be "sick?"

Hello Mr Bland -


YOu and Sonny have a Chemistry to say the least.


1!!st of All You Are one of the Most Solid Drummers out there.. I love that pocket

2nd - If Appropriate, Who all did you Jam with while working for Prince- DId Old Members of the camp or fellow celebrities come by and Jam and if so Who?

3rd- Maybe Technical But I'm curious - Earlier In a previous post, you stated that the stage was wired in to one of the studios -When you guys were recording, how did you isolate the instruments you and Sonny, Prince etc... and not get bleeding on the tracks. The Tracks are very clean -

twistedeargasm said:

lenny kravitz, terence trent d'arby, and dallas austin.. i think that was it, other than george clinton, mavis staples, eric leeds, and sheila e.

the guitars and keyboards all had DI boxes, so their sound was direct.. with the exception of prince's lead guitar tone. for that, they miked his marshall stacks.. the drums were miked like regular.. the only leakage that would've been going on would be prince's amp, sonny's amp, and the drums leaking into the vocal mikes. but usually, the vocals were recut later, anyway.. and whatever was happening with the drums getting into the mics on the stacks, and the stacks getting into the mics on the drums, wasn't all that substantial..
following me? or is this explanation too alien to you?


michael b.