INTERVIEW: Kix celebrate 35 years of ‘Midnite Dynamite’
Photo: Kix are celebrating the 35th anniversary of Midnite Dynamite. Photo courtesy of the band / Provided by press rep with permission.
The hard-working hard rockers known as Kix have had quite the unusual year in 2020. Like other touring acts, they have largely been sidelined due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so rather than looking toward the future, they decided to look toward the past for their next project.
This year — which most people agree was a fairly crummy year — also serves as the 35th anniversary of the landmark Kix album Midnite Dynamite, so the band decided to reissue a new version of that seminal record called Midnite Dynamite: Re-Lit, out now on digital platforms and also available as a two-CD set.
This influential album includes such hit songs as “Midnite Dynamite,” “Bang Bang (Balls of Fire),” “Scarlet Fever” and “Cold Shower,” among other rock anthems.
In addition to the album release, the band was supposed to play live gigs and share the Midnite Dynamite love around the United States. That unfortunately didn’t happen.
“We’ve done four shows since the pandemic hit,” said Mark Schenker, bass player for the group. “We did a wedding reception. We played a cornfield up in Susquehanna Valley, which was great, and we did a drive-in theater last weekend. … It’s really sad that we only did four, and I can only remember three. Usually it’s like we did 60, and I can’t remember any of them. So, yeah, it’s been a bummer.”
One bit of positive news for Schenker is his side gig, playing bass in Sun Dogs, a Rush tribute band. That group actually was able to book a slew of dates because, as the musician said, they are in that “goldilocks zone.”
“We’re not too expensive, but we’re not too cheap,” he said. “So the promoters can still afford to have a band like ours in their venues and be able to pay us and still make a little bit of money with the reduced capacities, you know what I mean. So I’m playing a little bit more than the other guys are. We’ve had some good gigs with the Rush tribute band, so it’s been great. The festival scene over the summer is when we go out and travel [with Kix], and we see all of our friends in other bands. We get to see our regular music-folk all the time, so we missed that this summer. That was a bust.”
Schenker is definitely anticipating the day when the music business will go back to some semblance of normal. He knows that the future is very much tied to the rollout of the vaccine, and he’s hopeful that in the next few months the music world will open once again. In fact, he’s not only talking the talk, but walking the walk. Schenker volunteered for the Moderna vaccine trial a few months ago.
“So I’ve been following the vaccine news pretty closely myself out of self-interest,” the bass player said. “I think people’s confidence will be directly related to how quickly the vaccine can get to the general public. … I think that the vaccine is the light at the end of the tunnel, and there’s going to be more than one. There’s going to be more than a few, and they’re talking about efficacy rates that have been unprecedented in immunology before. So I think once there’s some confidence, the governors will lift restrictions more, and people will be less fearful and less careful. It’s scary, but people are being careful, too. So I’m worried about the first couple of gigs that are scheduled in February and March, but after that, when we start hitting middle of March and April, I don’t think we’re going to see cancellations anymore. They may increase the venue capacities to three-quarters or four-fifths, who knows. That’s the timeframe that’s looking pretty good for us right now.”
The pandemic has hit Kix and other bands in more ways than one, but they are staying focused on the positive. And the positive right now is this 35th anniversary release of Midnite Dynamite. For the revitalized recording, the band actually partnered once again with the album’s original producer, Beau Hill, who has worked with Alice Cooper, Ratt and Warrant.
“It came out great,” Schenker said. “I love the way it came out. Beau Hill and I are very close friends, and we always relish the chance to work together on a project. So this worked out really good for everybody.”
The reason the release has two CDs is because there’s also a demo disc included. Schenker finds the sound on the new release punchier than the original, and the guitars are clearer as well. “There’s not as much reverb and echo on everything,” he said. “For some reason, all of the Kix albums were mixed with Steve [Whiteman’s] voice a little bit further in the background. … So Beau puts Steve’s vocal right up front, and Steve is a phenomenal singer. He was phenomenal back then. It’s great to hear him up in the front.”
Although Schenker was not in the band back in the ’80s when Midnite Dynamite was released, he remembers those early days and being friends with Whiteman and guitarist Ronnie Younkins.
“I’ve known Ronnie and Steve for so long,” the bass player said. “I was in bands during the early ‘80s when Midnite Dynamite was coming out. In fact, I remember Ronnie and I were friends when they were working on Midnite Dynamite because he had to leave. I didn’t see him for a month or two, and then he came back. And it was like, ‘Hey, let’s go out drinking,’ back in the days when everybody drank, so Ronnie and I were good buddies back then. And I heard all the demos and knew what songs they were working on. I was tight with Ronnie back then and somewhat friendly with Steve.”
He added: “Of course, Midnite Dynamite is one of my all-time favorite sounding records because I just loved the production that Beau put on that record, and ever since then, from that point forward, I had always bought everything that had Beau’s name on it. And then fortunately later in life I was able to become great friends with him. We’re scuba buddies. He’s a diver. We go diving together, so he’s become a great friend. I always loved his work. I even bought the Dweezil Zappa record that he did.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Kix’s new album is Midnite Dynamite: Re-Lit. Click here for more information.
