Eric Martin, Kelly Keagy, Matthew Nelson, Gunnar Nelson, and the man I talked to about the whole thing, Mark Slaughter. They call themselves Scrap Metal, and together are an illustrious and industrious collection of melodic metal veterans who crank out their hits and bits in a show that is sure to please fans of the genre who know the songs perhaps more than they know the personnel in the bands who first delivered them.

“This came about, because we were doing a benefit show, meaning Gunnar, Kelly and I, here in Nashville, for a songwriters organization called NSAI,” explains Slaughter. “And when we did this benefit, at the end of it, we had all these great songwriters, ARTIMUS PYLE from LYNYRD SKYNYRD, Jim Peterik from SURVIVOR and 38 SPECIAL; it was quite a Who’s Who, and we were playing all these hit songs all night, and at the end of that, Gunnar turned to me and said, ‘We should call this Scrap Metal,’ and that was pretty much the beginnings of it. And the idea and the plan of this is to make it like a modern-day rat pack of all these different people who have the songs, and are from these different bands, and giving it a place where it will be traveling all around the country. And miscellaneously, you don’t know who you’re going to see, but at the same time, you’ll have these hit songs where ever you go.”

Pertinently on that miscellaneous point, if the band’s show at Melodicrock.com’s 10th Anniversary Party in South Bend, Indiana is any indication (see www.melodicrock.com/southbend/index.html), famous folks may jump up at any given Scrap Metal show for a blast through a classic. Now, the above mentioned event is a special occasion, but on tap for the gig (tickets are going fast) include Joe Lynn Turner, Jack Blades, Jim Peterik and Jimi Jamison (and incidentally, HAREM SCAREM is also playing this special gig, as is Jeff Scott Soto and 7TH HEAVEN).

“We’re working on a lot of corporate stuff right now,” says Mark, asked if they’ve had any success in the murky, little talked about world of corporate gigs. “We just signed with the William Morris Agency, and they’re actually pulling a lot of those things in. We’ve also played casinos and there are always more of those.”

Proven performers all, it’s a classy gathering to be sure… “Well, these are the guys who are the singers and the voices of all that music,” agrees Mark (trivia note: Slaughter’s first two albums moved a total of five million pancakes in the states alone). “And they’re great guys. We’re not dealing with ego issues. We’re dealing with people who are good singers and have worked on their craft year after year, and they’re going to be out there doing it for a long time. Very, very cool.”

“I really stuck with the hits,” says Mark, asked about his own contribution to the pot. “I stuck with ‘Up All Night’, ‘Fly To The Angels’, ‘Spend My Life’, songs pretty much off the first album. There are a plethora of songs but only so much time. Very easily, if you add up four songs from each person, which is just the common thing that we would do, an average set for Scrap Metal is two hours plus, because there are so many songs. Every once in a while we will do a jam at the very end with different people, where we will let our hair down, so to speak, and go for it. But for the most part, we stick with the hits of the people who are involved.”

Any SLAUGHTER plans?

“Well, Slaughter is still together; we’re still going strong. I just hung up on Dana. We were just bullshitting a second ago, which we do on an everyday business. That’s something that is a staple in my life. Dana and I have been playing together since the Vinnie Vincent Invasion as you are very well aware of. It’s something we developed, in Slaughter. We love the band and we love the music and it is something that we are planning to continue, making music with that as well. You know, Scrap Metal is not a bailing out point for all of the artists involved. What it is is an event and it’s a party, that we are creating with all these different artists, that get a chance to just go out and have a great time.”

With respect to Slaughter, Mark notes that it would be “touring right now for the most part, although we have written some songs. We’ve got some new material that we’ve done, meaning Slaughter. As well as Scrap Metal. There is an abundance of new music that I think we’re going out with.”

Scrap Metal? New material? “Yes, we’ll do some stuff with them as well.”

Mark adds that a live DVD would be in the probable category, plus… “We’re working on a TV show as well, that we’re pitching right now. Again, it’s hard to tell with all this. You never know what’s going to come with all this, or what’s going to come to be. It’s not going to be like the Bret Michael’s show, that side of it. It’s going to be more about the music and behind the scenes and really taking people into the different cities, that type of thing.”

While Eric Martin croons soulfully through some MR. BIG classics, with Mark, you get that patented sassy shriek that could only come from him. I asked him if he’s ever had any trouble with this powerful weapon from days gone by. “Every singer is going to have a period of trouble with his voice. To say that they don’t is a complete lie. It is a human organ, and you know, if you’re going to use it, it gets tired. Just like a football player, you have your injuries and everything else. You just keep going. You’re either going to keep playing the game or you step out.”

Is there an element of falsetto to what you do?

“No, it is what it is. I have a high timber in my voice anyway. Even my talking voice, even like right now, I’m tired, but it still has a high timber to it. It’s how a person is wired, they’re structured, and how it’s done, more than, ‘Hey, I do this right.’ I’m not doing anything that much different than anybody else. It’s just that that’s the way I’m wired.”

Talk of the band’s legendary tour with KISS, on which the band incredibly played their first live dates ever (Lubbock, Texas – first gig), lead Mark musing down memory lane. “That was about a solid year, and then we toured with POISON after that. But Kiss… I do not have a negative word to say about those guys. They were great. We laughed a lot and had a lot of good times. I think that, they were redefining a lot of things in their career at that point. And you know, again, music lasts a long time. And I think that, even for them, they probably weren’t going, ‘Hey, in 20 years we’ll be doing this tune.’ You don’t think about that. You just wind up doing it, and it’s either in you or it’s not. You either love doing this or you don’t love it. And those who do love it continue to do it years and years later. OZZY OSBOURNE - think about Ozzy, and how long he’s been doing it. He loves to do it. It’s who he is. It’s not like he needs the money. He just loves going out and he loves the crowd.”

See www.myspace.com/scrapmetalband for more, and in terms of the above mentioned special show (I’ll be attending – come say hi!), go to www.melodicrock.com and click the banner at the very top for complete details.