Joe Bosso at MusicRadar.com recently spoke with MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist Mick Mars. The following is an excerpt from the interview.

Q: Despite the success of the band, you're never celebrated for your guitar playing. In fact, the opposite - people rag on you.

Mars: "I never got in this to be the fastest guy around. I love the blues, man. I know it's a hip thing for a lot of people to say, but I was lucky enough to hear the blues early on. Right about the time I was starting high school we moved from Indiana to Garden Grove, California, which had a real diverse mix of people: blacks, Mexicans, and us! [laughs] But there was all this different music, such a wide variety. I started hanging out with a pretty cool crowd and they turned me on to R&B;, funk, soul, gospel even. The music they loved became the music I loved. But the thing I loved the most was the blues. THE PAUL BUTTERFIELD BLUES BAND's first album, that record spoke to me like a secret language only I could understand. Songs like 'Born In Chicago' and 'Thank You Mr Poobah' - that was the shit. Walkin' Shoes, Got My Mojo Workin'…what a great album."

Q, I imagine you liked Michael Bloomfield.

Mars: "Oh, yeah. I followed him from when he played with Paul Butterfield until he formed the ELECTRIC FLAG. But then he started getting too country-fied for my liking. But still, I'm really into the blues. That's what I love, that's what I listen to."

Q: Still, you are maligned in the music press - you've been called a bad player, a terrible player even. During the late '80s and early '90s, you and CC DeVille alternated winning Worst Guitarist in practically every poll.

Mars: "I don't think people realize that the music they hear coming off the stage is me. People try to tear me down, break me - I don't care. Sooner of later they're going to figure it out. Guitar playing isn't about how fast you can make your fingers go; it's about making music. There's tons of guitar players better than me. I know that."

Go to this location for the complete interview.