Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Eric Martin on the end of Mr. Big: “It kills me that we had to end it”
Eric Martin is an American rock singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Mr. Big and a longtime member of Avantasia. With decades of experience, he has made a lasting impact on both the rock and metal scenes. In this exclusive interview, we explore his career, the emotional farewell of Mr. Big, and his ongoing role in Avantasia. Eric reflects on his journey from the early days of rock to his current projects, sharing insights into his future and the experiences that have shaped his musical path.
BE HERE DRAGONS AND BEING IN AVANTASIA
First of all, welcome back to Finland, Eric!
Eric Martin: Thank you, Marko.
Although you didn’t contribute vocals to the band’s recent album, Be Here Dragons, you rejoined the touring lineup earlier this year—and here we are once again. It must have been somewhat disappointing for you to miss out on the album’s creation due to your other commitments.
Eric Martin: I know, Marko. I couldn’t believe it at first. Yeah, I was super bummed. I’d been on the road with Mr. Big the whole time they were doing the recordings. And then they—Mr. Big—started adding more dates, and I kept calling. I mean, I called Toby, but I also called Sascha (Paeth), because Sascha’s the man, you know, Sascha’s the one who actually helps Tobias put the albums together. Anyway, he’ll play me some songs and say, “I think this would be perfect for you, and I’m going to talk to Toby about it.” I don’t even think Toby knows that! But in this case, Sascha said, “Well, I don’t know. Everybody’s kind of been assigned their stuff, but if you can make it here on this date, you can have it.” And I go, “I can’t, man. I just can’t.” Because everybody was recording either at home or in Germany, and I wasn’t home for almost two years.
So yeah, Toby just gave me that sort of… It’s kind of like it’s for sale out there, but he gave it all to us in this book that, when you open it up, has the CDs inside. He came up to me and said, “Eric, I want you to have this. You’re not on it, and your picture’s not in it, but I want you to have it anyway.” And I go, “That’s cool. I’m gonna sell it.” No, no—I didn’t! I didn’t say that. I wouldn’t… I love these guys so much. Yeah, yeah. I wish I were on it, but yeah. The last thing I did with Avantasia was… God, what was it? “Rhyme or Reason“? That was a really strange but fun tune. We were like—[vocalizes]—and then, yeah, “Look, I’ll do anything.” [laughs]
You’ve been working with Avantasia band since 2013, when you appeared on The Mystery of Time album and tour. That was twelve years ago—how time flies!
Eric Martin: That’s true. I have now been working with Avantasia for twelve years. And I’ve loved every minute of it. The main reason is that I’ve made so many great friends in this band, and I love all the people. Even the new guys—Tommy Karevik from Kamelot, Kenny Leckremo from H.E.A.T., and Chiara Tricarico. She was actually there when I split to go on tour with Mr. Big.
Yes, but I love all these guys a lot. My main man, though, is Ronnie Atkins. He’s my toxic twin, I mean. Look, those of you at home, you don’t see it, but backstage sometimes, after we’ve already sung a couple of songs, we’ll have a couple of drinks. And look, back in the day with Avantasia, they used to have around 15 bottles of wine—mainly during the Jorn Lande days, when he was around. We all drank with them, but we don’t drink as much as we used to. Ronnie and I, though—we are still the toxic twins, bro—Toxic Twins 2.
How does it feel to be one of the many lead vocalists on stage, rather than the sole lead vocalist, as you always were with Mr. Big?
Eric Martin: Look, I have a brother, okay? I’m used to sharing my toys. No problem there. Mr. Big—yeah, I was the lead singer—but at one point in Mr. Big’s history, when Paul Gilbert left in 1996, Richie Kotzen joined. And he was a great guitar player and a great singer. I was the one who said, “Look, we can’t stifle this guy’s talent.” I wanted to create something like two lead vocalists in one band—kind of like Hall and Oates or The Righteous Brothers—but with a hard rock edge. I remember the guys—Billy and Pat—saying, “Dude, you’re the lead singer. He’s a guitar player.” And I said, “Look, we can’t… we can’t bridle this guy. We can’t shut him up. We have to give him a great platform.” So that’s what we did. We had two singers, and we did songs like “Shine” and “Suffocation”—we did a lot of great tracks, and we were killer together live.
Maybe that gave him the idea to work with Adrian Smith later on—I’m sure of it. So yeah, I’m no stranger to sharing my toys or working as part of an ensemble. But honestly, I had never worked with anybody like Tobi, Sascha, and Avantasia before. Twelve years ago, I was super nervous hanging out with all these big rock stars. I didn’t know who most of them were! This was the European market, and I knew little about the European scene. I did know who Bob Catley was—of course, everyone in the world, including in the United States, knew Magnum’s progressive rock style.
Now, when you mentioned that you were not very familiar with the European metal and rock scene, I’m sure you also didn’t know much about Ronnie Atkins and his band Pretty Maids?
Eric Martin: No, I had never heard of Pretty Maids before. Ronnie and I joined the band at the same time. What I remember thinking back then was, “Holy shit, this guy can sing two completely different styles.” He has a clean voice and a super gravelly voice. I was unbridled—I sounded gravelly after a bunch of gigs, but I was more of a clean-voiced singer for a long time.
Anyway, Ronnie Atkins was there, and Amanda Somerville was our background singer. She also sang “Avantasia” and “Farewell” during our set. Amanda really helped me. She was an American, spoke my language, walked the walk, and talked the talk. She made things easier back in the day. Twelve years later, there have been all kinds of singers coming and going.
Geoff Tate—I would’ve never met him if it wasn’t for Avantasia. I remember we were at Wacken for the first time, doing a promo for some TV show. He goes, “Hey, this is Geoff Tate from Queensrÿche,” and I say, “Hi, this is Eric Martin from Mr. Big.” Then I blurted out, “You’re from Queensrÿche!” He said, “Well, yeah, I played with Queensrÿche.” And I’m like, “No, you are Queensrÿche!” He just laughed and said, “Calm down, dude.” Yeah, I was a huge fan.
What about Michael Kiske? Were you aware of his history with Helloween, etc.?
Eric Martin: Michael Kiske was awesome. A gentle giant—so quiet, such a beautiful soul. An absolute genius when it comes to singing. But offstage—oh my God—all day long in the dressing room, playing ukulele and singing Elvis Presley songs. To the point where we’d go, “Michael, please, just calm down.” He’d keep singing, “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” I remember doing a solo gig in Hamburg and inviting him to join me. He asked, “What do you know?” I said, “I don’t know… I can play this old Foghat song, ‘I Just Want to Make Love to You.’” And he goes, “No, no, do you know any Elvis?” I just laughed, “Here we go again.” He jumped in with, “One for the Money, Two for the Show,” and the crowd freaked out. I love Michael. When he first sang “Reach Out for the Light,” I thought, “Oh my God, this guy is brilliant.” When I first came to Japan with Mr. Big, we only had a small article inside one of the magazines. We weren’t on the covers yet—Helloween was. So, I already knew who Michael was.
I’m sure you’re familiar with the story of how his participation in Avantasia marked his return to the metal scene after he departed Helloween in 1993. He took a long break from everything.
Eric Martin: Oh yeah, I know that whole story, man. Tobias always loved Michael. He couldn’t find him for the longest time, but when he finally did, he brought him back. Many of your readers probably know this, but Michael’s an interesting guy. You’ve run into him before, right? Here’s Michael: he’s like, “I don’t know if I can sing tonight. My throat kind of hurts.” And then he gets out there—and it’s perfect. I can’t do it like him, folks. If I try, it sounds like weird falsetto: “Reach out for the Light!” (Way, way better than that—like 10,000 times better.)
But at first, he’s always like, “I don’t know if I can do it.” His confidence took a hit after not gigging for, what, ten years or so. But he was happy. He was living with family, loving his life. Still, people wanted him back. Maybe the mental side of it kicked in because he didn’t want to deal with the hustle and bustle of heavy metal and rock and roll anymore. And it’s tough to prepare for this stuff. Look, metal wasn’t originally in my blood, but now it is, thanks to Avantasia. When I first came out with them, I knew people were looking at me like, “What the hell is this dude doing here?” I even asked Toby, “Man, am I just some kind of mascot or something?” And he goes, “No, man. There are no rules in rock and roll—or metal.” People think there are rules in metal. But Toby said, “You’re the soul incarnate that we need.”
I have one more point about Avantasia: it’s certain that “Here Be Dragons” won’t be the band’s final album. Do you agree with that?
Eric Martin: I hope not. I really hope not. Every year, I wait for that phone call. This time, it came about two or three weeks before the tour. I was already on the road with Mr. Big when their tour manager, AC, contacted me and said, “I want you out here. Everybody in the band wants you out here.”
But His Highness—Tobias—he’s got a lot going on. New album, tons of promo. Finally, he calls me and says, “Eric, are you mad at me? I’m so sorry, man. I really want you out here. I want you to sing ‘Dying for an Angel’ and this and that.” Then he asks, “Are you cool with singing ‘Twisted Mind’ again with Ronnie Atkins?” And I’m like, “Oh my God. There is a God!” I was so happy. He also threw in ‘What’s Left of Me’—because we hadn’t done that one in a while. (sings) “I think of the days I was thrilled by this road ahead.” Man, I was thrilled he called me. Anyway—yeah.
MR.BIG TALK
One significant and surely important part of your life and career came to an end a couple of months ago when Mr. Big played its final shows in Japan and India.
Eric Martin: Yeah.
Those shows were kind of ‘extra shows’ after your actual farewell. It must have still been a very emotional moment to sing most of those songs for the last time on the stage in Bangalore.
Eric Martin: Yeah, actually, the last show was supposed to be August 2024 in Romania. Then the Japanese asked for two shows in Osaka and Tokyo. And out of the blue, India asked, and we played a couple of shows there—huge festivals, and we were headliners. We’d done some shows in India before. We played in Osaka, which was killer, and then in Tokyo at the Budokan. It was more sold out than I’ve ever seen it. Usually, it’s around 12,000 or 13,000 people, but this time they sold the back too, so it was like 14,000, maybe 15,000. It was mega. We had already played in Japan earlier in the tour, in the first couple of weeks. I said this the other day on a radio show—sorry, man, just dictating it out—some people think it’s like, “Oh, it’s a cash grab.” But no, it wasn’t. The Japanese were the ones who basically opened the door for Mr. Big in the first place, and they’re the greatest audience. No offense to everyone else, but they’re the greatest audience ever.
If you’ve ever played Japan, you’re missing out if you don’t. Crowds elsewhere—Finland, South America, America, Europe—they’re different. In Japan, though…They just stop, and they wait for you to talk. At first, you think, “I don’t know if they’re into it,” but there are 15,000 people silently hanging on your every word. And I’m like, “Okay, the next tune…” Yeah. No, no, no—but they love us. And I felt the love, big time. When they asked us to come back, we were all excited—Billy, Paul, Nick, and I. It was the perfect way to end it. Granted, but it kills me that we had to end it. We should have, could have, would have kept going. But that’s the way it is. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.
That’s the way it is, but you never know what might happen in the future.
Eric Martin: Yeah. I mean, look, I’m not gonna… This is the truth: I’ve heard Billy Sheehan—though I don’t listen to his interviews that much—say, “Never say never” and “Who knows?” Maybe after the Winery Dogs reunion tour, when they do their farewell concert someday, if we’re still alive and kicking, maybe we’ll do another Mr. Big tour. I hope you guys still want us back, yeah.
Do you feel that, after the ‘Big Finish’ tour, the band has achieved all the goals that were set for it when you formed the band in 1988?
Eric Martin: When we started in ’88, all I really cared about was… Look, I told one of the guys this the other day—actually yesterday, flying from Spain—I was talking about Mr. Big and those early days. I was at the Alley rehearsal studio, and we were auditioning Paul Gilbert. Billy was there with all his amps, and Paul showed up with like four or five amps, all day-glow painted with Racer X on the sides. And it was super loud. After rehearsal, I went out to the car, and Billy said, “Hey man, are you okay?” And I’m like, “I can’t even feel my fingers. My skull hurts, man. It’s so freaking loud.” I said, “We have to write songs, man. That’s how we’re gonna get over.” And Billy goes, “Well, you can do it. You write the songs, and we’ll rock out.” I’m like, “Okay, man. I’ll see you tomorrow.” But yeah, I needed a rest. It worked out, though. Did I have any big premonition about it? No.
I remember at the end of one of our first tours, when “Addicted to That Rush” was out, thinking, “Maybe it’s time to show them this other song I have.” I had “To Be With You,” and I thought, “These guys are gonna say, ‘What? Are you crazy? We’re a rock band!” But then Paul Gilbert wrote “Green-Tinted Sixties Mind,” and I realized, “Oh my God, there’s my window.” I could play “To Be With You”—because now I knew everyone in the band wanted to do anything and everything. And that’s been my motto ever since—for Mr. Big, and for my solo stuff: “Anything and everything.”
Mr. Big released its final studio album, Ten, in July 2004. How satisfied are you with this album, and do you believe it serves as a great conclusion to the band’s long and successful career?
Eric Martin: No. No. Because I wish we could make another record. I’m never satisfied with the last one; I always feel like there’s one more left in us. Ten is a great record, but it’s a bit, kind of, almost poppy. Actual Size had that poppy feel, too. And by poppy, I don’t mean “pop” pop. I mean, it’s still heavy, but we took our time with it, and it turned out well.
I wrote all the songs with Paul. Yeah, that’s it. Paul and I—we just… I went to Portland, where he lives, and stayed with his family while we recorded it in his studio. Paul played bass, guitar, and drums. We recorded all the demos. Then I had to go to Japan for a solo project, and the band recorded Ten. I’ve made this joke before, but I think the band had the best time they ever had in the studio because I wasn’t there. Yeah—me going, “No, no, no, I want to do this, I’ve got an idea here, I want to change the lyrics, the music, no, no, no, the bass part…” And they were like, “Thank God he’s not here.” (laughs)
Maybe it was the easiest Mr.Big recording session ever for them. (laughs)
Eric Martin: Yeah. Rock bands, man. You know how we are.
JAPAN TALK AND TAK MATSUMOTO GROUP
We’ve already discussed Mr. Big’s popularity in Japan, and you’ve also found success there as a solo artist. Additionally, you’re part of a supergroup led by Japan’s Tak Matsumoto, called the Tak Matsumoto Group. The band released its debut album, TMG I, in 2003 and its second album, TMG II, last year. Could you share a bit more about that band?
Eric Martin: Yeah. We started it in 2002 or 2003. Tak Matsumoto was a friend of mine who used to come to Mr. Big shows. I knew he was a huge star—he played in the band B’z. Capital B, apostrophe Z: B’z. with the lead singer, Koshi Inaba, and they’re one of the biggest bands in Japan. If you look them up on Wikipedia, there are only three or four massive bands in Japan, and B’z is one of them.
They’ve sold over 90 million records. I’m not kidding.
Tak contacted me and said, “I’m going to be in San Francisco playing with B’z, and I want you to come.” I found out it was five sold-out shows at the Fillmore, which is a pretty big venue. He said, “I want to do a rock band with more of an American feel. Do you know any players?” Immediately, since I’m a huge Night Ranger fan—and grew up with some of the guys in the band—I thought of Jack Blades, the bass player. I said, “Jack would be perfect. He sings great, and he’s a fantastic bass player.” He’s so underrated.
Billy Sheehan’s a rock god—lots of notes, tons of feel—but Jack is like “the rock and roll version of Paul McCartney,” as far as I’m concerned. So, I invited Jack, and we went to see B’z in San Francisco. At first, we were going to have Brian Tichy—at the time with Whitesnake—and Brian played on the record. But when Brian couldn’t continue, we brought in Chris Frazier from Foreigner. So, it was the three of us—the three American guys—and Tak Matsumoto. That first album went platinum, and we played 20 sold-out shows.
Fast-forward 20 years… We were calling Tak, saying, “Tak, are we going to do this again?” In his broken Japanese English, he’d say, “Oh, let me think about it.” We’d reply, “Okay, please.” So, 20 years later, we did another album: Tak Matsumoto Group 2—TMG II. I think it’s a really good album. This time we got Matt Sorum from Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver, and Billy Gibbons’ band. We had a great time, and we toured again. The new live album, Tak Matsumoto Group, is set for release around May 20-something. I think it’s the 28th. I hope it’s the 28th! It’s coming out soon, with a DVD and the whole package.
MR. VOCALIST
In addition to the things mentioned earlier, you are also very well known for at least one more thing in Japan: your alter ego, Mr. Vocalist. Could you tell us a little more about what that is exactly?
Eric Martin: Sure. Mr. Vocalist—I’m not sure exactly when, but it was around 20 years ago. Sony Records approached me to record songs made popular by Japanese pop stars who had sold millions of records. They wanted a male interpretation of these songs. So, I recorded them, and they decided to call it Mr. Vocalist. I thought, “Oh, dear God. Why ‘Mr.’? Mr. Big, and now I’m Mr. Vocalist?” I know, I know—my peers were probably thinking, “Oh no, they’re going to kill me for this.” But the first record sold 300,000 copies. After that, I thought, “Alright, you will refer to me as Mr. Vocalist.” I wore it like a badge of honour. It was great.
I ended up making about four records in total. Then they released Mr. Rock Vocalist, a collection with male interpretations. It wasn’t as strong as the female-centric albums, but it featured amazing guitarists like John 5, Richie Kotzen, and Marty Friedman—some serious guitar heroes. I also recorded a DVD of a solo show, one of my favorite performances ever. My wife and kids were there—it was truly special. Good times. And last year, for the Mr. Vocalist anniversary, I played at Billboard Live in Japan, the premier live venue there. I did shows in Osaka and Tokyo. I’m going to do it again in 2025. I love it. And look, I wear a suit, but I rock my Converse, my Chuck Taylors. I sing these beautiful ballads. There was also a record where Japanese fans participated in a contest, and I ended up singing “My Heart Will Go On” (Celine Dion’s song). I also did “I Will Always Love You,” but in the Dolly Parton version. I even rocked out on “Hero” by Mariah Carey. Can you believe that? You should check it out on Amazon. It’s pretty great.
So, from now on, I’m calling you Mr. Vocalist. laughs
Eric Martin: Yeah, and I’ll end up punching you right in the forehead. Alright? Laughs
ACOUSTIC SHOWS AND THE FUTURE
The last question: You’ve been doing plenty of acoustic shows lately, especially in Europe. I noticed that many more acoustic shows are coming up later this year. Can you tell us a little bit about what fans can expect from those shows?
Eric Martin: Yeah, a lot. It’s one of my all-time favourite things to do. I love playing rock and roll shows, and I love hanging out with the Avantasia crew backstage, but acoustic shows are my favourite. Right now, I’m on tour—just played in Spain, and I’ll be in the UK soon with my buddy David Cottrell, guitarist for the UK band Demon. We mainly play Mr. Big songs, but we also do some of my solo work and covers. It’s not a ballad-heavy show.
It’s not like “Just Take My Heart” or “I Gave My Love a Cherry.” Not like that. It’s what I call “box rocking.” That’s a term I coined—box rocking. Yeah. Anyway, that’s my favourite thing in the world. And right after that, I’m really excited for the Double Trouble tour with Jeff Scott Soto in South America. It’s coming up soon.
Hey Eric, we made it to the end. Thanks for the interview.
Eric Martin: Woohoo! Thank you, Marko.
WEBLINKS
