Mark Farner: Can He Succeed In A Ted Nugent World? You Betcha!

[Since he wasn’t available in L.A., we tracked down Mark Farner at his Michigan farm. He interrupted his chores to comment upon Zappa and the new album.—Ed.]

CREEM: What did you think of Zappa?

Mark: I thought he was neat because he wasn’t anything like what I had related him to before. He’s ... a real good person.

CREEM: Not like his image?

Mark: Uh uh. Not to me. Well, every person gets a kind of different view of it, but what I’ve heard of him, and I don’t have none of his albums, but I’ve listened to some of his songs before and other people that I know had his albums, and 1 know of him.

CREEM: Frank said that you’re a band that “farts on each other,” and he liked that. You know what he meant by that?

Mark: Farts on each other? Yeah, we back up against each other and fart.

CREEM; You just let loose, huh?

Mark: Yeah, just grab legs and—ha ha ha. CREEM: I guess he thought you were down-toearth.

Mark: Yeah.

CREEM: I heard also that your guitar playing was sounding better. Have you been practicing? Mark: Yeah, I practice. It’s payin’ off. That’s what you gotta do.

CREEM: How do you think Zappa compares with your other producers; Todd Rundgren, etc.? Mark: Well, he’s more precise and more out in the open about what he’s doing. He doesn’t do anything unless he gets an OK from you and is just a very considerate person. He considers how you’re going to feel before he does something. Like with Todd; I can just remember, he would do something and not explain it thoroughly, and we wouldn’t get a good understanding of it, whereas with Frank the communication was there. We’ve never had that before with anyone else.

CREEM: I heard that there was a song about guns on the album. What’s that about?

Mark: Yeah. “Don’t Let Them Take Your Gun.” CREEM: Is it about gun control?

Mark: It’s about—actually what it’s about is a lot heavier than just gun control. The song can be interpreted in a lot of different ways, but from my heart I meant it as something that’s sacred to us: our right to keep and bear arms, and I stand behind it one hundred percent. I’m a lifetime member of the NRA, and I just believe in self-defense for every man in this country; the right to defend his family and his home.

CREEM: Have you ever talked to Ted Nugent? Mark: Uh uh.

CREEM: What do you do out there on the farm all day?

Mark: Well, lately I’ve.been rakin’ hay and baling, putting it up. And some week comin’ up, I’ve got a friend who’s going to come down and combine my wheat. Another couple of weeks, he’ll be down here with the combine. And we’ve got corn coming up, that’s gonna be harvested this fall. CREEM: Are you touring at all in between all this?

Mark: Uh huh. We’ll start the tour in September. CREEM: I heard a rumor that you and Donna Hall were about to be married . . .

Mark: Uh uh. No.

CREEM: What about the break-up that Grand Funk was supposed to be real close to a while ago?

Mark: What about it?

CREEM: Well, it hasn’t happened, and you’re happier now?

Mark: Right. It gets stronger every time. It’s not something that we take lightly.

CREEM: Is the new album different from Born to Die radically?

Mark: Uh huh. It’s better. Production-wise, to me, the music—you can hear the guitar, and the bass, the piano and everything—it’s just more like the band to me.

CREEM: Is it any more political than the last few? Mark: Well, “Don’t Let Them Take Your Gun” is on there, and that’s political—controversial. As political as anyone wants to make it. That and “1976” and that ain’t really a political song—I don’t see it as any more politically oriented than any other album. I really enjoyed it. And I’m happy—happier than I’ve ever been with any album.