Interview: Diesel (Mark Lizotte)
Interview by Sheldon Ang
Born in Massachusetts USA and grew up in Perth, the artist formerly known as Johnny Diesel has the vocal swagger with more blues than the skies of Western Australia. It was inevitable the musician was destined for greatness.
At 15, he travelled across the Nullarbor to Sydney in pursuit of his dreams, meeting the likes of Jimmy Barnes and ultimately sharing the stage with Cold Chisel lead vocalist for over 200 shows. Despite the success of the first album Johnny Diesel and The Injectors in 1989, a solo career was imminent, in the footsteps of his “heroes” Prince, Jimmy Hendrix and Lenny Kravitz. Through his first solo album Hepfidelity producing the likes of Tip Of My Tongue and Come To Me, Diesel was transformed from an artist of a great pub band to a rockstar staple on commercial radio. With 16 solo albums later across 3 decades, Diesel is still considered as one of the most recognisable names in Australian music.
Sheldon Ang Media sits with the 6-time ARIA award winner, Australian Male Artist of the Year in 93, 94, 95 and music icon Diesel (Mark Lizotte) to chat about his latest album Bootleg Melancholy, the upcoming Australian tour, life in the early 90s, the significance of leaving The Injectors and his masterplan.
Sheldon: First of all, how’s your brother-in-law (Jimmy Barnes), Mark?
Diesel: He’s okay. He’s in good spirits. He’s got to get this hip sorted. He’s a you know…a..a…
Sheldon: A fighter.
Diesel: Yeah. He’s a fighter. And he wants to do the Cold Chisel tour really bad. So I’m pretty sure he’s going to get himself sorted.
Bootleg Melancholy
Sheldon: I know I’m two months early, but let me be the first to congratulate you on your first anniversary of Bootleg Melancholy. I can’t believe it’s almost one year already.
Diesel: Yeah, that’s crazy when I think about it. So a year ago, I released it in October. Crazy, but yeah, thank you.
Sheldon: You’re welcome. So it has been 30 or even 40 years since you’ve been writing music. Do you feel your music has evolved, relative to the time and to the flavour of the demographics?
Diesel: I think definitely to some degree. There’s some DNA involved in my music that it’s always there. The omnipresent kind of factors – the characteristics that you’ll find in probably all of the 17 records that I’ve made. But I’m also like a product of what’s happening around me. I’ve always been influenced by what I’m hearing around me. So I don’t feel like I have at some point that I kind of put a cap on, like, right, music stop there…I know some people who are actually like that – which sounds crazy, but they’re literally like that (put a cap on their music style).
And it’s not a criticism…but that’s just what it is, how they are. And I’m definitely not that. So yeah. I just keep evolving. Maybe to some people when they hear me, this one record in that particular year – that’s their reference to me. And that’s fine. I’m not going to begrudge them for that. But I have a hard time kind of staying in one place, as I say.
Sheldon: The first track on Bootleg Melancholy is Forever. When I listen to it, it feels like I’m driving along West Coast Highway or along the coast from Coogee, Fremantle to Scarborough, in a convertible – which I do not have. It has that summery, breezy, feel, and this ode to nostalgia. Do you feel it is important to think about which song you place as track 1 on the album because it can paint the picture of the overall album – in Bootleg’s case, it resonates with your life and the journey that you’ve been on.
Diesel: Yeah well, at some point I remember pretty early it was one of the first songs I started looking at doing, and I thought this could be one of the key tracks. But I just sort of put it off the side and started working on other stuff, then came back to it. I almost did that subconsciously, for a reason. I didn’t want to cook it too much right at the very beginning. I wanted to do all the songs and let the sound evolve more and then go back to that one because I did know it was probably going to be a key track, and I wanted to let the germination kind of happen a bit more before I added more layers of paint to that one.
It just felt like that (as potential track 1) and also with the actual song Bootleg Melancholy and probably Corduroy and Crumbs. They sort of sum up a lot of the feeling that I was having, which was kind of this really strong nostalgia, and brought on probably a lot because we were in lockdown and thinking about all the places that I lived and going, wow, did that really happen?
My mind was having this vivid…in that period I didn’t know what was going on, but I was having this reoccurring dream a lot. It was a really strange kind of dream pattern. Time for me, like, when I look back, it was like, wow, some really hectic, long, epic sort of dreams.
I don’t know, just different. Maybe because I wasn’t traveling so much and I can’t explain it. I seem to remember a lot of people saying that they were having really hectic dreams in lockdown.
Sheldon: And it’s a very eclectic album as well, for example Vital Signs, which sounds very country in my opinion. And also the last track conveys a very special special message too – Remember My Love.
Diesel: Yeah, I think Remember My Love is almost like an anthem to the people that I love the most or to the people that I feel need to be reminded. It’s like, hey, remember, you’ve got this and it’s almost like a letter to myself, too… about you’ve got to have some sort of love within yourself before you can successfully love anybody. I believe it’s true. It’s been said and I really believe that.
Sheldon: So what is a bootleg melancholy?
Diesel: It was a title that I kind of had and I didn’t actually know what it was, just I put the two words together, as I do with a lot of words. I like putting incongruous words in some ways – I like to juxtapose words.
It’s like how it amuses me to some degree, and that was just something that was hanging around. And then I realized, hey, that could actually mean something to this record. And then I hung off the side still for a while, and then the song, Bootleg Melancholy came about. I was up very, very early that morning.
I remember because I had to fly somewhere, and I was a up bit before dawn making a cup of tea, doing a RAT test, because we had all had to RAT test before we would fly anywhere. So I just picked up the guitar and started. Oh, okay.I don’t know what this is.
I recorded it and then I came back to it. think I want to pursue that. And I pursued it. And the lyric then popped out and it was like I basically wrote a song about (the process about writing an album) which is something I’d never done before. It’s very meta. I wrote a song about the process of writing the album.
Yeah. I was creating this bootleg melancholy because I was making myself melancholic just so I could get sort of inspiration from, forcing myself to think about places that I’ve been to or places that I’ve missed or people that I’d missed. I found it was kind of entertaining, almost like, you know…losing a loose tooth, and you just like when you’re a kid and you keep wiggling it because it’s like a good pain.
I felt it was like one of those good pains that I wanted to just keep wiggling. And then I thought to myself, like, this is almost like I’m creating a bootleg, a fake melancholy, you know, just like for shits and giggles and yeah, that was kind of like, right, I kind of put this to bed and then, the reference to Elliott Smith is almost kind of like people going, oh, this song sounds a bit like Elliott Smith.
And it’s like, well, that’s the whole thing. I mean, you listen to the lyrics, I’m making a donation, shout out to Elliott, and that’s the whole and some kind of irony there, but I don’t know, it’s just seem like I find that I put that reference in because I find that mural in Silverlake in Los Angeles, of him on the wall is a kind of the most beautiful thing.
But also the most sad thing. At the same time, it gives me a deep, like really anxious kind of sadness in my gut every time I see it.
The Australian Tour – Bootleg Melancholy Album Tour with Greatest Hits
Sheldon: And you are coming to Perth in November as part of your national tour. You toured in March as well. So you must really love the touring life.
Diesel: I do, I love touring. It gives me kind of sort of a place to like, kind of a canvass things. I get to play all of my toys. It’s like the most beautiful environment to have with all of my gear that I really have. Is just the stuff we can’t do at home.
It really is. And having people to share it with is the ultimate. I love being in the studio because I’m making things ultimately that I’ll hopefully get to play live. It’s kind of like they go hand in hand, but one without the other just doesn’t make sense.
Sheldon: This tour will be the album tour Bootleg Melancholy. I assume that you’d be playing all of your songs. Will you be chucking some classics as well?
Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I’ve got a pretty good amount of time because we’re not having support, which I love having support acts. The energy that someone can bring is always really appreciated. And I guess it gets me seeing acts that I might not normally see.
And I’ve gotten to relationships with support acts where I’ve ended up producing and writing with them and stuff. It’s a great thing to have to support and mentor, especially the younger acts. So we wouldn’t be having any supports, but we have a lot a big more canvas to work with. So I’ve got two sets on at these shows definitely going to be hits if people are wondering.
There’s definitely, I mean it says on the artwork plus Greatest hits.
Sheldon: So therefore know you’ll be playing Tip of My Tongue, Come to Me, but can I make one request please – Masterplan.
Diesel: Oh, well, your request has been granted! Yeah, I’ve been doing that song solo, in the last few months at these other theater shows that I’ve been doing as the Forever Tour, now Forevermore. The Leg Added On, and it’s one of those songs that, I don’t know why – but I didn’t play it for a while and I’m playing it again and really loving it. So the next step is to now play it with my band, which I’m really looking forward to. It’s got a really nice atmosphere of that song.
It’s probably the only song where I’ve actually tried to…well, not the only song I’ve done it a few times, but I’ve tried to kind of meld kind of Asian influences in with my thing, whatever that is. So but with electric sitar and kind of like these little motifs that are very, very Asian centric, which I love music from that part of the world.
The Early Years and Six ARIA awards
Sheldon: Fantastic. You’ve been around for like 30 or even 40 years, and following the Injector days, you had won six Aria Awards, three of those for Male Artist of the year in 93, 94, 95. So how was it like man – to be in your 20’s and to walk into a nightclub, knowing you’re the most popular male in Australia? You might’ve been married at that time but yeah…but it must be so awesome?
Diesel: (Chuckles) It was pretty fun. I mean, look, you know, it was fun, but also kind of harrowing. It really was. I don’t know, but that’s not what I kind of signed up for – as they say. I didn’t sign up for that. I just wanted to make music, and make a living out of it was my goal. And then that all happened and was like, wow. And I could see that what goes up must come down and all that. That was always a bit daunting. Thankfully, I didn’t feel like I crash landed too bad. I didn’t get the tall poppy syndrome like other people might have copped so much. Australia is notorious for chopping people down, with the tall poppy thing being very real. I was kind of glad when things kind of like settled down a little bit. I’ve always been a fan of being kind of a little bit invisible (in private life), but then being really visible on stage.
That’s where I’m more comfortable. And I find the absurdity of doing a show to this very day, I’ll be on stage in front of thousands of people and they’re watching me on a big screen. And then I drive off in a car and it’s surreal. And then I can pull into a convenience store 50 k’s away from the area and just kind of like, be a complete nobody. And it’s nice. I really enjoyed just being under the radar. I like being in Bunnings or Woolworths or one of these conglomerate-like things, institutions that we have to go to because they’re all over the planet or for over our environs and hearing one of my songs, it’s always like, well, you know, there’s my song coming out of the speakers and I’m in the screw section trying to find the right screw. And next to someone who doesn’t know me from a bar of soap.
And that’s refreshing. Kind of leveling humbling thing. And I’m happy with that. I never liked drawing that much attention to myself, to be honest. So, I’m an intrinsically shy person, believe it or not. So, yeah, but put me on stage, and put a guitar on me – that’s a different story. And that’s where I’m not shy.
The Departure of Johnny Diesel and The Injectors
Sheldon: You were in Johnny Diesel and The Injectors, back in 89. How significant was it to for you to break off from the band, and be that solo artist? Because at that point, you went from a pub artist to a radio commercial star.
Diesel: It happened kind of, well, wouldn’t say overnight, but it happened quite quickly. And luckily I had sort of the good people around me. I think it really helped, that kind of helped nurture me. And by the time I got to making Hepfidelity, which was my second album, technically, I’d learned enough about songwriting and I collaborated with enough people, but just kind of grew into the idea of being an artist.
And in those days my hero were people like Jimi Hendrix, Lenny Kravitz, Prince. Of course, these were all solo artists that I really aspired to. I just loved people who were doing that kind of really wide canon of work. And we’re talking like the early 90s. So there was a lot of great music for me to be kind of influenced when I became a solo artist.
Sheldon: Yeah, obviously no regrets at all. Obviously.
Diesel: No. I mean, people are still wondering, you know, they still pop that question, what happened? You know, “why did you leave the bands like”…well, we had one hugely successful album as a band, but I was the only songwriter in the band.
And, I don’t know, that’s not really the reason either, but just after that one album, I didn’t have the vision for album number two and instead of just going through the motions, which we could have easily done, the record company would have been totally fine with just getting another record, I’m sure. But I didn’t want to do that.
I just I could see it coming. It was like, right, this is inevitable. We’re going to make album number two. And I just didn’t want to do something that I didn’t feel like I felt in the first one. It felt fun and it was the right thing to do, and it was all like, let’s go. And then when it came time to doing it again, I was like, no, I’m not feeling this at all.
What else do I put it? I didn’t have a masterplan for (the upcoming) album. And that’s when I realized it was like, shit, this was a one-trick pony. I didn’t realize that it was like a one-album project or a good project and a great project because it got me singing all over the world.
That’s when the epiphany came – I am destined to be a solo artist. And in the process, I’ve ended up having what I call virtual bands because I get to collaborate with people and it’s perfect. I love being able to do something with somebody, then saying, hey, see you next time.
You know, we’re not like bound to this. It’s almost like a marriage, a band, which is not really the right thing for me personally.
Sheldon: Yeah. Hey, Mark. I’ll be looking really looking forward to seeing you. I’m a photographer as well, so I’ll be taking some pictures, if that’s all right with you, mate. Yeah. This is you.
Diesel hope you’re familiar with, if you’re not, maybe check out my, my son Jesse’s work. He does some beautiful stuff..
Sheldon: Will do for sure. See you at the show.
Diesel: I look forward to hearing what you’ve done. See you in November. I see buddy, Thank you so much.
For the full video interview – please see below
Diesel will be touring across Australia between August and December. Tickets and info are available from dieselmusic.com.au
About the Writer: Perth based Sheldon Ang Media (est. May 2022) are a source of news and features on live entertainment. SAM have been accredited to almost 100 of the hottest acts including Taylor Swift (ERAS Tour in Sydney), KNOTFEST (Melbourne), Coldplay (Perth), KISS, P!NK, Fridayz Live, Robbie Williams and Rod Stewart with reviews shared by the likes of UB40, Delta Goodrem, The Wiggles and Toni Childs on social media. The founder has interviewed rockers Suzi Quatro (pic below), Ace Frehley (KISS), John Steel (The Animals), Frank Ferrer (Guns N Roses), Phil X (Bon Jovi), Andrew Farris (INXS) plus over 45 artists. He’s also a contributor on Triple M Albany as a music journalist
