Mark Morton Talks Recording with Chester Bennington
One of the tracks to make a big splash on Billboard’s Hard Rock Digital Songs chart as of late is Mark Morton’s “Cross Off,” which came in at number 18 on the chart and features the late Chester Bennington.
The track is featured on the Lamb of God guitarist’s debut solo album, Anesthetic, and in a recent interview with WMMR’s Sara, Morton opened up about working with Bennington and what he brought to the songwriting process:
“Chester brought so much to the table, with regards to the process of the song. I think the first thing, when you ask me that question, the first word that jumps out to me is ‘ethusiasm.’ He was really stoked to work on this with me, and he had a lot of ideas. He came very, very prepared. He had his notebook full of lyrics scribbled down and was anxious to show me and [producer] Josh [Wilbur] where he thought they should go and how they should go. He was great! We tore it down and built it back up. He had a lot of great ideas and had a huge impact on this song and a really big impact on me. Just being able to get so quickly into a creative vibe with someone of a talent of that magnitude, but he was very, very humble. There was no arrogance; there was no directing how things go or insisting on anything. He treated this process for what it is, which was a back-and-forth creative process, and I’m just really lucky to have gotten to work with him.”
Bennington isn’t the only guest on Morton’s Anesthetic. In fact, the album is packed with guests including the likes of Randy Blythe, Myles Kennedy, Jacoby Shaddix and Josh Todd. Considering all of the guests, however, you would think touring in support of the album doesn’t seem likely, but Morton said that’s not the case:
“We’re working on that. Everyone’s asking me that, so obviously, people want to hear it. We’ve got a couple of opportunities to check out, and we’re trying to just figure out exactly logistically how to put a band together, and kind of also a little bit how to work around the schedule of my day job. But yeah, we’re looking at it, and it’s definitely something I aspire to do.”
Anesthetic is currently available for pre-order on multiple services and in multiple formats here.
This interview can be heard in its entirety below.
Erica Banas is rock/classic rock news blogger that loves the smell of old vinyl in the morning.
