Brown Mark, legendary bassist of Prince & The Revolution, joins host Joe Kelley on Musicians Reveal for an in-depth and candid conversation about his career, artistry, and life beyond the stage. From shaping the Minneapolis sound to navigating health challenges, Brown Mark reflects on the resilience, creativity, and authenticity that continue to fuel his evolution as a musician. He also discusses his forthcoming album, 41st and Park, a project that blends diverse influences into a rich musical tapestry. This episode offers not only behind-the-scenes stories of life with Prince and The Revolution, but also hard-won lessons on staying true to one’s art in an ever-changing industry.

📘 What You’ll Hear in This Episode

– Brown Mark on the highs and challenges of life as Prince’s bassist in The Revolution

– How health challenges shaped his outlook and resilience

– Insights into the Minneapolis sound and its enduring impact

– Stories of camaraderie, friction, and creativity within The Revolution

– The inspiration and vision behind his new album 41st and Park

– Reflections on the music industry’s shift from albums to singles

– Why authenticity and truth remain at the core of his artistry

⏱️ Chapters

00:20 – Introduction to Brown Mark

08:56 – The Evolution of Artistic Identity

13:06 – Auditioning for Prince

16:55 – Collaboration and Creative Growth

25:03 – Life on Tour with The Revolution

34:00 – Health Challenges & Resilience

37:30 – The Truth Behind Prince’s Legacy

45:35 – Reflections on Touring Life

48:55 – The Upcoming Album: 41st and Park

🔗 Links & Mentions

– Visit MusiciansReveal.com

– YouTube – Musicians Reveal

– Live365 – Musicians Reveal Radio

📝 Key Takeaways

– Brown Mark shares deeply personal reflections on his career with Prince and The Revolution.

– His upcoming album 41st and Park embodies his diverse influences and artistic growth.

– Health struggles brought new perspective on life and music.

– The camaraderie and challenges within The Revolution reveal the human side of legendary performances.

– The Minneapolis sound continues to shape modern music.

– Brown Mark remains committed to truth and authenticity in his music, resisting commercial pressures.

Hi, this is Brown Mark and you're watching Musicians reveal with Joe Kelly.

Welcome to Musicians Reveal.

Joe Kelly here, very excited because a true pioneer in music, one of the most influential people in the Minneapolis sound, also a solo artist, a producer of several bands and he is just coming out with new music.

He dropped a hot song which is perfect for the summer called down, Down.

We welcome back to we used to be the upper room now where musicians reveal.

Brown Mark, how you doing?

Brown Brown.

I'm doing good.

Thanks for having me back.

Yeah, great to have you on.

I know this is like the third time you came up at the first on the video and.

Yeah.

So first off, our.

Our viewers probably want to know how you doing health wise?

I know we talked a little off air, but you look good.

Yeah, you know, I like, I was, you know, saying a little earlier, when you have autoimmune, you just go with it day by day because you don't know what's wrong with you.

And something new always pops up.

That's the amazing thing.

I, I developed asthma.

I developed hypoglycemia, Ulcerative clotting.

It just keeps piling on top of each other.

And all I can do is try to stay healthy, go to the gym, keep myself active so that I could keep.

Especially the hyperglycemia.

I got to keep that down because that stuff can kill you.

It's like poison in the blood, you know.

Wow.

Yeah.

My sister, she was diagnosed with multiple myelomas.

It runs in our family.

My dad had it, she had it.

I'm hoping I don't have it, but that's going to be the next set of tests to find out if I got, you know, multiple Myoma.

So I just, I just take it day by day.

That's it?

Yeah, that's it.

Yeah.

I always ask my wife because she's got issues like, like autoimmune.

She says, ask me in the morning.

She knows exactly how the day is going to go by when she wakes up in the morning.

Yeah, that's, you know, sad, sad thing.

Yeah.

But like you said, day by day and today's a good day and you dropping some new music.

That's great.

Down.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, like you said this, this is a great, I mean, it's great Caribbean flavored.

Tell us about this song and the video and how long you've been working on it.

Well, it's a series, so I have an album.

I wanted to get it out by summer, but I got too busy.

I'm going to have to Push it back to the fall.

But it's called 41st and Park.

That's where I grew up.

Okay, so Park Avenue, I grew up on Park Avenue, so I wanted to something to reflect my life in music.

How I learned, how I picked it up, how I started having a passion for it.

And then in a subtitle is Shades of Brown.

That Ah, okay.

Many shades.

Because the music is a collective of orchestra music, orchestrated music, cinema music, funk, a little bit of jazz and down downs, kind of like a Caribbean pop.

So it's just a mixture of who I am internally.

Right.

A lot of people say, you know, Thunder Thumbs, you know, or the Rumbler, you know, there's a lot more to me than just slapping bass.

So in this album you're going to be able to hear all of it and that's the purpose.

So.

Yeah, albums are hard to push nowadays though.

Yeah, I mean I, I had an artist on not too long ago and they're dropping single by single and then the album's gonna be in like five to six months, I guess.

Yeah, you're all everybody search and you're independent, I assume, right?

Yeah.

So you're just looking for the right way.

So I mean record record labels nowadays, what, what happens, what do you do, what do you get, you know.

Yeah, you, they, they take everything and they blow you up.

But it doesn't reflect on the bank account.

Yeah, that's important.

All the hard work and yeah, so while you got the core fan base, of course people know you from all your previous career, which is extensive.

I mean you, you just, you should be proud of the legacy and it keeps on growing, man.

Yeah, and they've been really, really good to me.

It, it shocks me because revolution kind of gets a bad rap because of how people think it dissolved and then the new, the MPG came in.

It's nothing what people understand at all.

So a lot of the real hardcore fans that really know us, I call them friends, not fans because they're really, they're like my friends.

I love the way they DM me.

I get so many DMS every day and I try to, I can't respond to every dm, but what I try to do is at least engage.

Right.

Art, thumbs up or you know, something.

Yeah, yeah.

That means a lot to him.

I mean, I just read the interaction with different artists and it's like, you know, before it'd never be like that.

Yeah, yeah.

Especially at the peak of the Tours with Prince.

Right.

You guys were just running from city to city and trying to keep safe.

Yeah.

The funny thing is, you know, when you hang out with Prince as long as we have, on a personal level, not musician level, just on a personal level, you start to learn his behavior and you pick up on it, and then you become kind of antisocial, you know, I mean, okay, you.

You know, you, you, you.

You're reclusive, you are introverted, and so you only talk to people at certain time periods.

And it's really hard to open up to the public without this image that you're carrying.

So I spent years stripping that off.

And it is the hardest thing in the world to do is strip off this image, that you learn that behavior.

And once you strip it off and you become a normal human being again, people can relate to you a lot better and that, you know, I like it much better this way.

I. I know you weren't around Prince as much after, you know, you went on to your solo and production, but you definitely were kept in contact.

But did you see that?

Did you keep him.

Did you see him change kind of in the vein that you.

You yourself?

Absolutely, absolutely.

He kind of did the same thing that I did.

He's like, wait a minute, I'm too far left.

You know, I need to come back in and center myself.

You know, Know, I have a lot of fans out there.

I got a lot of, you know, friends.

You know, I noticed that he, like myself.

He was working at becoming more personable, more, you know, friend, fan, friendly, instead of this distant.

What do you.

How do I want to put it?

This distant kind of recluse.

Yeah, but more mysterious character.

Oh, okay.

Yeah.

You know, he started to reveal himself a lot more, especially when he met Larry Graham.

I noticed a big change in him.

And when I went to Minneapolis, he.

He flew me there a few times because he was trying to work on some projects.

But I remember the first time he flew me there, he looked at me like he was shocked, and he goes.

He goes, wow, your aura is glowing.

And I said, what do you mean my aura is glowing?

I was like, I look like I got too much sun or what?

You know, but that's not what he meant.

He.

He said, internally, I can tell you're happy.

And I said, oh.

I said, yeah, man, I found life.

You know, musicians, we can get caught up into this.

This swirl, that.

That business.

Oh, my gosh, it takes you down.

It takes you to a place that sometimes you wish you would have never gone to.

And I was able to get out of it and I was able to look at life through the eyes that everybody else sees life in.

Because when you get way up there like where we were, man, you change.

Yeah, I thought.

I'm not the only one who thought that.

But the commercial success with Purple Rain, I was like, this is going to be the, the peak for Prince.

And.

Yeah, and it was.

But yeah, it was just.

Just you were.

Oh, it was before Controversy Tour.

But how old were you then?

Wow, 19.

I just turned 19.

And he got a hold of me.

Let me see.

We.

We started kicking off that fall, I remember, in the fall.

I was in school that summer.

Oh, yeah, right.

Yeah, I was in school.

And then he got a hold of me and dropped out of school.

Not high school.

Right.

I was learning.

I was taking up architecture out of all things.

Wow.

I wanted to be an architect.

And then so that got sidetracked and that.

Yeah, that was about the fall of 81, I think.

80 or.

Yeah, 81.

Yeah.

How.

What was the reaction?

Your, your family saying, I'm gonna go on a cross country tour with Prince and, and the Time and Company.

They, everybody was shocked.

They were like, get out of here.

I was like, yeah, that's what I'm saying, Get out of here.

I didn't, I didn't understand it, what was happening, because it was a dream and something I always wanted, but it was always a.

Something that was more hobby.

I do this as a hobby because I'll never make a living at this.

Right.

So when I pull out of school, that was a big, big decision.

Yeah, yeah.

And, and Prince, he's notorious for doing advanced scouting on musicians who.

He has come into his, his fold.

What was it like for you and, and where was he taking note of your playing?

Well, as most people know, you know my book, My Life in the Purple Kingdom, I talk about my days with the band Fantasy.

That was a group that me and saxophone player later became keyboard player Michael Smith.

He goes by name Chico, though.

But we formed that band together.

And so we played a lot of, you know, we call it Chitlet Circuit.

We played a lot of, you know, clubs like the Elks Lodge and, you know, the Nakarima.

The real small time private clubs.

Because back then it was hard for a black band to break into mainstream because it was just segregated.

People want to act like it's not, but hey, I lived it.

And the truth is we were segregated.

So we never first damned.

I got thrown out the first time I walked in there.

You know, they accused me of.

I was what.

How old was I?

17.

They accused me of harassing women.

I was like.

I didn't even talk to women at that time.

You know, I was too into my career.

Yeah.

My hobbies and stuff.

And when they did that, I was like, you got to be kidding me.

I don't.

I. I wasn't looking at no girls.

They said you were harassing women, and they threw me out.

So I knew what that was about.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's like, whatever, you know, with times change, Prince opened a door and it really squashed a lot of.

Or exposed a lot of Minneapolis's racism and segregation.

And so, you know.

Got my point.

But.

Yeah, no, that's all right.

I. I hear you.

And like, talking about.

He started speaking more on topics like that.

I'm sure he were still with us today.

It'd be.

No doubt he'd be.

He'd be knee deep in it.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Explain what he's got on his mind.

The tours.

Do you have a favorite with Prince and the Revolution?

I remember my point now.

I just want to go back for a second.

That's okay.

So.

So the band fantasy when we.

I changed the direction of the group and we started playing clubs, mainstream clubs.

We fought hard to get in.

We started learning top 40 music.

That's why they gave us a shot.

But we were in 7th street entry, some of your smaller back.

Back door type of rooms in the clubs.

But it exposed us.

Prince would come and see us every week.

And I knew Andre was gone.

But Andre was talking to me even about being in his band as bass player.

So it was really interesting when all of a sudden, Prince called me up at the community center that we rehearsed at in the middle of the night.

And he was like, you know, I want you to come audition.

So that.

That's how all that took off.

That's how he followed me or scouted me.

What was that audition like?

Because we.

We've heard from DEZ and I think.

And Gail Chapman and Fink and.

What was.

What was your audition like with him?

It wasn't even an audition.

It was so funny because Bobby picks me up and brings me there.

We're in the basement of his house where his studio was, and he had the drums and bass and an amp.

Guitar amp set up.

He gives me the bass and he doesn't talk.

I mean, I don't even know the dude.

And he just starts he says, do you know.

Do you know head?

And I was like, of course, you know.

So, boom.

Jam on that for literally 15 seconds.

I'm like, then we jam on, you know.

He's like, do you know Dirty Mind?

Of course I know all your stuff.

You know, and then.

But literally about three minutes went by, and he's like, okay, that's enough.

And I was like, what?

I was like, oh, did I get fired that quick, that quickly?

Yeah.

And.

But that was my audition.

Literally, I would say five.

You know, I might be exaggerating, maybe 10 minutes, but no longer.

And he says, bobby, you can leave.

I'll take him home.

That was my audition.

And then when we were riding, he was bringing me to my car, which was parked in Edina.

Okay.

Because Bobby picked me up.

It was so interesting because I really got to learn who he was.

It wasn't this character that I was kind of afraid of.

Right.

Not anymore.

So very interesting audition.

Yeah, if you call it one.

Yes.

So.

So he was big on popping in the cassette in there at the time and playing his music and testing it out in the car.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, you know, I had a big stereo in my car because I love the 808s, the subwoofers and all that.

But his was on a whole nother level.

When I got his car, the whole thing was shaking.

It was rumbling, and he was letting me hear all the new music, and I got to hear Controversy.

I got to hear let's Work.

You know, all this other stuff he was working on.

Heck, Erotic City, all that stuff Before It's Time.

Right.

He let me hear a lot of stuff, and I was pretty blown away because it was so different.

I was even curious if it was even going to work.

It was so different.

Yeah.

Even this Today went to this day, I put it something like that in the car, and I. I hear, like, different sounds that I was like.

I didn't hear that when I was 20 years older when it came out.

Yeah, yeah.

Wow.

It was amazing.

Amazing music coming out of his mind and fingers.

And he had great collaborators, of course.

Yeah, he did that.

He did.

That's when he started allowing us to collaborate with him.

And it was really interesting how that worked out because, you know, a lot.

A lot of the other bands, you know, that were around him, you know, they.

He worked individually with people here and there.

But with the Revolution, everybody thinks he just worked with Wendy and Lisa.

That's just not true.

Right.

I mean, I don't Know where they get that from?

Maybe the movie people just kind of create this idea in their head.

Rolling Stone cover, maybe.

I don't know.

Yeah, exactly.

But it was interesting how I would always show up early because I secretly had the band Maserati I was putting together.

Yeah, yeah.

So I would always get there early because I could record jams, because this was before I had a big studio in my house.

Okay.

And so I would use our rehearsal space, and I would be jamming on something, and then here he would walk in the door.

Every single time.

Never failed.

He would show up early, and I was like, dang it.

You know, because he would hear the groove, and he'd be like, what's that?

And I was like, oh, just something I'm working on.

He said, oh, you know, play it again.

Play it again.

Next thing you know, he grabs his guitar, and as the van's walking in, he starts, hey, hey, come up with something for this.

You know.

Next thing you know, we're working on a song.

That's how Boys and Girls is created.

A lot of people don't realize Boys and Girls was a Maserati song I was working on.

Okay.

I got.

I got it from Cameo.

You know, hold on, let me get this off the screen.

Yeah, I got it from Cameos.

I was a Cameo fan.

Yeah.

Yeah, me too.

So I kind of had that feel in my.

My writing, and that.

That's where that came from.

That's like one of the.

In my.

You know, off that record.

That's one of my favorite tunes.

Yeah.

It's too short on record, but.

Yeah, he just snatched it.

Yeah, that's how he operated.

Yeah.

I mean.

I know, right?

I mean, you detail a lot.

Lot in your book about all different kinds of things.

And, of course, probably most people know the Kiss story on the evolution on, you know, the original working and passing back and forth and.

Yeah.

Is that kind of similar to working like girls and boys kind of thing?

Kiss was a little different.

Kiss was actually a song he brought to me just on.

On, like, an acoustic guitar.

And he said, you know, you should try this on.

On the guys.

It's different.

We need something different.

I said.

I remember I looked at him and I said, yeah, but this is.

This is some, like, you know, some country stuff.

I don't know what it was.

You know, I said, I don't want this on the record.

And he said, just try.

Just see what you can come up with.

And so that's when I went in the studio, put a beat on it.

Changed it up totally.

And that's how Kiss was born.

I just get a little angry when I hear some stories about people's involvement with it.

They're all lies.

People lie.

And I learn that, that people will do anything for a little.

A little light, a little shine.

But they're lies.

You know, Kiss was created solely by me, started with a drum beat and a baseline, and that's.

That's the story.

And it, it, you know, we had producers, we had not producers.

Engineer Dave Z.

We had.

The band would come in and I would have them do certain parts, you know, replace what I did.

And because they.

It gave it more of a band feel, right?

But, you know, then that turns into all of a sudden, yeah, we wrote it.

No, you didn't know you did.

I get frustrated only because I never got the credit due.

Yeah, that's the only reason I get frustrated.

Otherwise I wouldn't care.

But, you know, when I hear people taking credit, and then you see in these interviews, everybody's like, oh, man, you know, David Z did this, David Z did that.

When I hear that kind of stuff, I get really bothered because I'm like, wow, you know, I'm totally discredited for a song that I created.

You think that's life, you know?

Yeah.

Do you think Prince was headed towards and if he didn't pass, he might have rectified some of that?

Yeah, he already did that.

That's why he was giving me.

Flying me out.

I mean, he was really trying to fix what he had done, right?

A friend of mine worked for him at Paisley Park.

He was one of the.

His name is Jim, and he was the guy responsible for all the janitorial in the building.

And so Prince started, you know, having him go with him to LA and things like that.

And next thing you know, he gives me a call.

He does not know that Jim was my friend.

Prince didn't know that.

And Jim calls me up and he says.

He says, mark.

He said, he really feels bad.

I said, what do you mean?

He said, he.

He says, he did you wrong.

And I'm like, wow, really?

And.

And so that's why he was calling me, right?

You know, he didn't know how to say I'm sorry.

He just would try to figure out a way to remedy.

Fix the problem or fix what he had done.

So he'd start flying me out there and trying to work with me on different projects that he was doing.

And then, you know, he may mention he would never said sorry about Kiss, but he says, you know, hey, we're gonna.

We're gonna make things right.

And he says, you know, how about, you know, we might go on a, you know, a tour, and we'll go on a tour, and we'll do it like this, and we'll do it like that.

So I could tell what he was trying to do was throw me a token.

Right.

You know, because I never got.

I never got my ropes.

Yeah.

What.

What about what.

What year was that?

Kind of talk about maybe going on tour with them.

Wow.

Okay.

2013.

2014.

Yeah.

But he had Goucher playing bass.

And then.

Okay, eat up.

Neil's when the third eye girl stuff.

Eda was playing bass.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So.

But.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So.

Because I remember it was about a year.

Edith started playing about a year after my last conversation with him.

Oh, okay.

Gotcha.

Yeah.

So right around, I just got my dates mixed up.

I'm getting old.

I used to, like, stress studying everybody's discography, the artist.

And then I was asking Patrice Russian about a record, and she go.

I asked.

She goes, I don't know.

Did that one come before that one?

And she was.

Did so many records, she wasn't even sure.

You just don't even remember, you know?

Yeah.

So the last time I saw three of the four tours she did with Prince, I didn't see Controversy.

I was too young.

I saw the two shows at MSG and countless shows on Purple Rain Tour.

But what was your favorite tour?

Do you have, as a whole, one of your favorites?

Wow.

A favorite tour.

I mean.

Wow.

I. I liked all of them, but I think Controversy was a struggle for me.

1999 was a coming out where I found myself.

I would say Purple Rain was probably one of the better tours for me by.

By Parade.

I had quit.

Right.

And I was.

I was under a secret contract.

Yeah, right.

So I was just like.

He had me way in the back behind the piano, behind the three guys that he had in front.

So I knew.

I knew the dynamic had changed.

That's his way of, like, getting back at me.

But Purple Rain, I think that was probably, I would have to say my better, better tour.

I had more freedom.

I had a lot of fun.

And I got to give you credit, this is my opinion on this.

When does Christ Studio, no bass?

I Love hearing on that tour when you were laying the bass, especially the extended jams.

I mean, there.

Those sound.

Not sound.

Yeah.

Some sound checks and some recordings of that tour out there.

I mean, yeah, you.

You smoked it, man.

Whose idea was that to put the.

The bass in there, Princess?

Well, originally there was bass and he took it out, right?

Yeah, studio.

But how it on life to put it in?

So that's, you know, when we got live, it's like I'm just standing there doing the dance step thing.

And, you know, and then we got to that.

That, I think third or fourth verse, it was like, okay, it's kind of monotonous now.

And that's when he was like, man, put that rumble in.

And so we just put the rumble in.

And then everything kind of picked up a notch, right?

So it took the song to the next level, and that's how we vamped out.

And then we even got took it to another level where I started doing this octave thing.

All the bass players, you know, remind me of that to this day.

They're like, man, remember that part you were doing?

Do that.

Show me how that goes.

Show me how you did it.

You know, so, yeah.

Yeah, just.

Just incredible times.

And, you know, you brought up, you know, the interplay with different bass players.

I'm not a bass player.

Although it says in chat gbt, that I'm a bass player.

I don't play an instrument.

But anyways, the online tutorials you do with the bass, really, really popular.

And.

And are you going to get back to doing that?

I'm sure there's a lot of work into it.

Right?

Yeah.

You know, here's my thing about YouTube.

I don't do anything for money.

I never have.

One thing I learned from Prince, do good work.

The money always comes.

Okay?

So that was a belief that I had, and I grew up with that.

You know, YouTube, you know, I went through all their little courses and things, and they give you this spiel about what they'll do for you and the algorithms and all this, you know, not if you're this shade, I'm telling you.

And a lot of people don't want to hear that, but it's just the truth.

And if you.

You have people, like, for instance, I'll take.

Let's Work.

Okay.

I did a tutorial on let's Work.

I've little, you know, little white girls and other people will do the.

Do a tutorial.

Let's get funky.

And they got, you know, four or five, 600,000 views, and it took me, what, four or five years just to get 90.

90 views?

90,000.

Wow.

Yeah.

You know, and I just.

It.

Everything about it was, to me, untrue.

It's just everything they said would happen doesn't happen.

And I was even putting in ads and things like that, so I kind of got discouraged because I needed to fund it.

It's very expensive to do that every week.

And so I just got to a point where after about a year or two, I was like, yeah, I gotta.

I gotta put it to rest.

But now I'm gonna come back with it because now I'm working on a project called Collab Music Studio.

It's an online collaboration platform.

See, let me see.collabmusicstudio.com.

now, it's still in its beta stage, so it's got a long ways to go.

We're still working out a lot of stuff, but when that thing gets fully built, it's going to be a very powerful, very interesting site for anybody that wants to learn music or even jam with professionals, you know, learn how to jam or do anything.

And so that's the only reason I'm going to go back into doing more tutorials, because what it does is it feeds the project.

Right.

Because that's part of.

Part of collaborate.

Collaborate.

Collab Music Studios.

I guess that's part of that is.

Is the.

The teaching people how to write songs, how to jam, how to work with other people.

So the tutorials come in handy for that type of work.

We'll look forward to that.

And of course, people can go to your website, brownmarknation.com and down.

Down.

Where's the best spot you want them to come to to listen and hopefully purchase it?

You know, I'm.

I'm gonna revamping browmarknation.com I will have E Commerce set up there where they can get it directly from there.

Okay.

Probably by the end of the year, but for now, you can just go to Apple Music.

Okay, cool.

Yeah, Apple Music has it.

Yeah.

You know, I wanted to mention something.

Our good friends Chris France and Tina weymouth at the TomTom Club, you.

You're jamming on their track there, man.

That was cool, hearing it.

Yeah, yeah, they came.

They've been to the studio because they're from Connecticut.

I mean, they live in.

Okay.

Yeah.

So, yeah, I love their vibe.

Yeah.

We went to their house when they did the Tom Tom Live from the Clubhouse.

It was in their house in their living room, and they had their studio in a barn behind.

So.

Okay.

Yeah.

Monkey Groove for his time.

Yeah, yeah.

You hear it all now in the commercials, so.

Yeah.

Let me see.

My band, the Bad Boys.

We jam on that sometimes on stage.

Oh, okay.

So.

Yeah, well, speaking of the Bad boy, Bryce Miles is a mutual friend, so.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Is he out in Atlanta still or.

He was in la.

No, he's la.

Okay.

Yeah, he's out in la.

Yeah.

We first met him when he was playing a few gigs with the time, the keyboard, I think Chance had left to go with Prince, maybe.

And he was playing keys.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Bryce, he's working with me on a project out of Las Vegas right now.

Three.

Three brothers.

They call themselves Three Be Rich.

And right now we're just there in the development stage.

We haven't even got to the music yet.

I'm trying to develop what and who they are.

Once we get that developed, we launch.

That's.

That's going to be a.

A good project to look out for.

That's going to be a good one.

So, me, when I was younger.

Yeah.

Who.

Who are the three Brazilians, Right?

You're working with a group.

Is that them?

That's them.

Okay.

Yeah, I saw the video.

They were dancing.

Carl Carlton's, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was.

Yeah.

I wish we all could move like that still.

Oh, man.

Yeah, we got a lot of videos.

We've just been building up content.

Every once in a while, I'll throw one out there, but you know, their social media.

We just got a social media manager, so their page will be coming up pretty soon.

Okay.

So, yeah, we'll look forward to hearing everything coming out with them.

Sure.

How about speaking you.

You know, the.

Through the.

The Purple Family Maserati, near and Dear to a lot of people's Hearts Stroke.

Still one of my favorite songs out off that record.

I love that track.

But what's the latest with the band?

And still going by the Bad Boys of Paisley or a different name.

Yeah, you know, that.

That's a.

It's a. I get asked the question a lot, and I. I try to stay positive about, but that.

That right there is a thorn in my side, a thorn in my life.

That group really caused a lot of.

There was a lot of tension there and, you know, a lot of lies being told about me.

And just.

It's kind of like almost the TLC Pebbles thing, you know, Only I don't know her situation, but I know mine.

And I know that.

I know what I lost.

Half a million dollars.

That's a lot of money on trying to launch a group.

And, you know, Prince Had a lot to do with its failure, believe it or not.

And, you know, but that's my second book.

I'm writing that right now, you know, because there's a lot that went into that.

But I decided to leave it alone.

You know, when.

When people show you who they are, believe it.

And, you know, I tried to revamp that group, and I really got to see that I just don't want to work with these people anymore.

And then I changed it to Bad Boys.

And then.

Same thing, though.

It's.

I started working with cats, and I just, you know, I just.

I just don't want to deal with them anymore.

So now I'm just gonna bring in a whole fresh.

Whole fresh sound, whole fresh group of people, younger cats that I'm working with now.

So unfortunate.

I hate to have to say that.

But you know what?

One thing that I've always been known for is my truthfulness.

I. I don't.

There's no hair on my tongue.

I just.

I tell it how I see it and I don't lie.

Right.

You don't lose sleep over it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So.

Oh, and I know you're not there, but the videos you have.

I always admire watching the videos.

The huge screen you got in your studio.

Yeah, what.

What is that exactly?

That.

It's.

It's a touch screen.

It's all custom, so you can't buy it.

Okay.

It's something that I have built for me.

There's a company Q Logic out of Florida, and, you know, they said, what size?

I told them, and, you know, we built that thing and, man, just.

It's just like a slate logic system.

So it's all, you know, touch screen nowadays.

You know, I come from the time when everything was analogous, and nowadays you don't need it.

Everything sits actually on my laptop.

And then when I go into the studio, I just transfer it to my hard drive and then I just run it from there.

But, yeah, really, really fun system.

But it's a little big.

Yeah, but it looks cool.

Well, my age, you can't see anymore, so.

Yeah, we're all wearing the glasses.

Yeah, I need a big screen.

I got the progression for Close and Far Away, so.

Okay.

Yeah.

Okay.

Out of the Prince days that you.

You were a part of, do you kind of wish, like concert video or studio recordings of See a Light of Day?

Do you have any wishes for anything particular?

You know, I have a lot of wishes, but I just don't.

I don't.

I don't know.

I don't Think anything's ever going to get the.

I don't think people are ever going to get the truth of what it was because everything's fabricated.

Everything is greed, making money.

It's so disappointing.

You know, I, I grew up an artist and an artist always is a starving artist.

And if you make some money, then great.

But that's not what it's about.

It's about the music.

And so it's so disappointing to me when I look at what's happening with, with the legacy, you know, and.

But it's what it is, you know, that's just my opinion.

Everybody else loves it, so, hey, that's all that matters.

But for me, I just look at things that do surface and I go, people never get the truth.

It's always some fabricated lie from some engineer or somebody that, that wasn't there.

You know, they're stuck in a studio with them.

They don't hang out at the club with them.

They don't know what's really behind that stuff.

And it's so disappointing when I listen to people talk about what was.

And I go, wait a minute, I was there for 12 years and I don't remember seeing you anywhere, you know, so, you know, it just, it's, it's really disappointing.

And I just don't think that people are ever going to learn the real, the real truth about the whole legacy from beginning to the end.

I definitely think there's, there's a dire need for who's ever working with the estate and the future releases.

Talk to people like yourself and other musicians who there for quite a while that, that, I don't know that that would at least have your say.

I think what happens with me is, you know, I've talked with many people and they get the truth.

The truth gets shut down.

You know, people don't, people don't want the, the people in charge do not want the truth out, you know, so everything's fabricated.

I'm just like.

Part of what makes life so interesting is learning the truth.

You live a lie or you live an untruth.

How do you ever, you know, I don't know.

How do you ever get the essence of what was really being created?

The.

The real truth behind it matters.

So it kind of just.

I don't know.

When I listen to all the fabricated stories, I just get, I just shake my head now.

Did you get approached to get mad?

Yeah, that's right.

Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

I mean, we gotta kind of let it fly off our, our backs, I guess.

Yeah.

Did you get Approached for that, that documentary.

The Netflix.

Yeah, I was in it.

Yeah.

Yeah, that got shut down really quickly.

I. I knew when I was filming, I was like, they came to my house and, you know, they were asking me some questions.

And I remember I used to have to say, look, you asking me things I don't know.

Ask me stuff that I know and I'll tell you the truth.

Right.

But don't ask me things that is hearsay, drama, rumors.

I don't, I don't gossip.

I don't talk about stuff I wasn't there to know about.

But I'll tell you what I do know.

And what I do know is truthful and is from the heart.

Me and Prince were friends.

And friends have fights.

Me and Prince were brothers.

Brothers have fights.

That's part of life.

So why hide the truth?

He wasn't infallible.

He wasn't perfect.

He was a human being.

And so when I give interviews, I tell the truth about the human side.

The person that I grew to love as a brother, you know, to this day.

Yeah, he did things to me that hurt me, but, man, that was my dog.

I mean, he was like my big brother.

That's just the way I.

It's the way it will always be.

You know, there's a love and a connection there because of everything that he gave me.

Now, getting back with the revolution, we saw you at, at the Wolf Den in Connecticut.

The casino there still talks about some dates with the, with the band or it's off the back burner right now.

It's on the back burner.

It's on a big back burner.

I mean, I don't know what's going on.

It's just, you know, I can't speak on it because I don't know.

But all I do know is a couple people in the band just decided, you know, they don't want to do it.

They don't want to play for whatever reason.

They'll sit there and say they want to play.

Well, if you want to play, then let's play.

Stop beating around the bush.

But you know, there's a lot of, a lot of in house nonsense going on right now in the band.

And I, I think it's all greed related, but that's just my, my point of view.

And I don't care who gets mad at me for saying that.

It's what it is.

And you had to take a huge role on the vocals, you and Wendy up there, and we saw you when Stokely was up there.

What was that like?

Jumping up front and playing the bass.

It's a little more difficult singing and playing bass in a concert.

It was difficult, but I think what was more important was, okay, we had to convey what was the people come for an experience.

The revolution is an experience.

We help create the music we play.

We barely played stuff that we didn't have involvement with.

And so what that does is.

Makes it.

The energy is different.

It's very authentic.

So, you know, Wendy and Lisa, they were hitting the high end parts because of course, we don't have Prince.

Right.

And then I would always hit his more.

His baritone, his more lower, lower tone vocals.

And then we brought Stokely in because I. I can't sing every song and play.

Right.

And so that's how it happened.

You know, the.

The four of us kind of just shared those vocals and it.

It worked.

It.

It.

It was a nice.

We had fun, a great time on tour.

Yeah, it.

It was a great concert.

Yeah.

You had the meet and greets after and stuff like that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I wish it.

I. I don't know why it ended, but I. I wish we could.

I wish we never would have stopped doing it because it was a lot of fun.

You did some Europe dates too, right?

Yeah, yeah.

For that.

Yeah, yeah, we did.

We went over there a couple of times.

Had a good time.

Oslo, Sweden.

We did, you know, Amsterdam, London.

I mean, we had a great time over there.

They love us over there.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, that, that fan base is not.

Unless people pass away, they're still there for you guys.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, man.

It's just like awesome.

We'd be riding the train from.

To France or somewhere.

You know, we get on the train and people recognize you.

On the train is so cool.

The experience is so different over there than it is over here in America.

So you are back playing with.

We were the MPG or some form of that, with the name.

With Morris Hayes and company.

How that First Avenue gig going?

And you got another one coming up, right?

Yeah.

I'm still not sure what I'm gonna do with.

With that Sonny Thompson, you know, he's, you know, he's out.

He's in Italy, right?

Yeah, yeah.

And so, you know, I'm sitting in for him, you know, for First Avenue.

Then we have another one coming up in Idaho.

Okay.

But I'm still contemplating that.

You know, I don't know how much further I'll go with it.

So.

Yeah, we just have to wait and see.

I'm just not sure at this point.

The, the era that you were with Prince.

Of course you're playing songs that weren't, you know, you weren't there while it.

What are your favorite songs?

Or in the show that.

With Morris's band.

And we are the mpg.

I, I love.

Get off that.

That just rocks, man.

That bottom end is just nice and fat on that.

I just love playing that song.

I like playing if I was your girlfriend.

You know, we play a lot of revolution stuff, but I really like from the MPG music, those two, three songs, they're kind of my favorites.

I like Diamonds and pearls, but they do that kind of more just keyboard and vocal.

Okay.

But yeah, there, there's, I definitely.

There's.

There's music from the MPG that I, I really dug, you know, when.

Back in the day, right.

When they were put together.

Sign of the times.

I like that one.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Who's.

Who's got the better war stories?

The revolution or the MPG guys, when you're talking backstage, because we, we've hung out with the time so many times.

Yeah, it's always, it's always fun.

But, yeah, I think we, I think we all have war stories, you know?

You know, I, I, I think it doesn't matter what band you're in, you're going to have war stories.

The, the road is rough.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Road.

Life is hard, man.

Wake up in the morning, you're on a bus.

You go to bed at night, you're at a hotel.

You get up in the morning, you're on a bus.

City after city after city, and everything becomes monotonous.

The same thing over and over.

So that's a rough life.

It would have been nice during Purple Rain to have a residency like Prince did in Vegas.

Right?

You just come down for showtime.

Yeah, that would have been nice.

Yeah.

I just remember him saying to me, he says, mark, if you ever catch me in Vegas, kill me.

Yeah.

And the last time I would, you know, last time when we talked, I was like, well, what you doing, man?

Right.

I said, you spending a lot of time in Vegas, right?

For somebody that said he would never do Vegas.

Yeah.

I guess he had a change heart for whatever reason.

Yeah.

Well, Vegas is cool.

Vegas is cool, man.

You can, you go there, man.

You play, you make money, you just.

It's fun.

I like bakes.

Did you ever live out there?

No.

Okay.

I go out there.

I go out there now because I have a band that I'm working on.

Work with.

Yeah, Yeah.

I go out and see my dad for like five days out there, but.

Okay.

Yeah, I'm happy with home.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So, and the sphere, right?

Yeah, that's pretty cool.

That's.

That's dope.

I would love to play that.

Yeah, yeah, that would be cool.

Have you.

I haven't been in Revolution in the sphere.

That would be cool.

See, I gotta.

Everybody's gotta come back on, on board for something like that.

I'm sure.

Yeah, people would love that.

Yeah, we'll see.

Yeah.

So.

So anyways, before we wrap up, I want to talk a little about your upcoming music.

I know you alluded to him before.

The album's going to be called 41st and Park.

Yeah, yeah.

That's New York, right?

Yeah, yeah.

You grew up in the Bronx, right?

I grew up in Bronx.

Well, I was born in Bronx.

I grew up in Minnesota.

Yeah, yeah.

So my mom got me out of there before the gang started, you know.

Yeah, yeah.

New York's a.

You know, it's got so much to offer, but.

Yeah, yeah.

Stuff you alluded to, Zach.

Not the best.

Right.

So.

So this album, 41st in Park.

What can people expect?

Just refresher.

They can expect what's in here?

My heart, it's.

It's.

I. I am a plethora of many different genres of music.

I. I don't even consider myself having a genre.

I play whatever.

It feels good.

So that's what this album is, a feel good album.

You can get a taste of it online if you look at.

Go to, you know, my YouTube page and listen to.

It's called Planet Earth.

This is Planet Earth, man.

It's got.

That'll give you an idea what the album, some of the stuff that is going to be very different on this album and then, you know, they will have some funk tunes and some pop tunes, but the industry is so different.

It's a personal album.

If you like music, if you like what I do, it's going to be perfect for you.

If you're looking for the next Chris Brown hit, I'm not the guy, you know.

Yeah, it's not one of those, right?

Yeah, you save those for the.

The.

The triple B are the group you're working with, right?

Three.

Three be rich.

Yeah.

Three be rich.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So.

So Brown Mark Nation going to be.

Have a big upgrade on there and of course we'll keep our viewers and listeners because this will be on audio outlets as well as YouTube.

With Brown Mark still busy as ever, right?

Yeah, too busy.

I gotta slow it out.

I'm tired.

Yeah, yeah.

How many bases in the collection you.

Still have I got 14 bases.

Wow.

What's your favorite?

You have one?

My.

My favorite is that I have a black Fender.

You know, that's just my favorite base.

My second is G. L made me a.

A Fender Jet, not a Fender Jazz.

G. L made me a jazz bass signature.

Got my name on it.

I mean, that thing, it's got a really nice sound.

It's different than my black jazz bass.

So those are my two favorites.

And then my third favorite is I have a Warwick.

Like, I call it a Warwick hybrid because it's a Corvette with all thumb bass electronics.

I mean, it's powerful.

The thing is bad.

And then when I play it, it just.

It bites.

Things just got a lot of drive.

So those are my three bases.

Yeah.

Well, you got a lot to choose from, so.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

So thanks, Mark, for spending generous time with us, and great to have you back on and seeing you.

You're healthy, you're looking great, and you look a lot younger than your age, that's for sure.

Yeah.

Thanks, man.

Yeah.

Hey, jeans.

Yeah.

Well, let's.

Let's hope it all continues great for all of us, and look forward to seeing the projects.

Various projects.

And if the bands that you've been a part of and the bands you work with now, if you decide to continue along, we'll come to the show and see right here on these.

Absolutely.

All right.

Thanks, Mark.

All right.

You take it easy.

All right?