Q&A: Rock ‘n’ Roll, New Releases and Nostalgia with Mark Younger-Smith
WRITTEN BY RILEY HUNT
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Mark Younger-Smith, the genre-bending point where Rock ‘n’ Roll meets southern bluegrass, lives to tell the tales of his fruitful career as a guitarist, writer and producer for legendary artists such as Billy Idol, INXS, Tom Jones and Charlie Sexton.
Now, Younger-Smith plays with his Austin-based rock band, The Broken Things. The vivaciously electric group secured a devoted audience of their own when opening for English rock band The Cult, for their shows in San Antonio and Dallas back in 2022. Recently, they released their first album, Blue. Their experience and never-ending passion united to form an undoubtedly thunderous piece.
With a resume such as Mark Younger-Smith’s, the honor of interviewing him was not taken lightly. Read the full interview below as he speaks with Life on Jupiter about his uprising in the music industry, working with Billy Idol, and how devotion to music has evolved through the decades.
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LIFE ON JUPITER: It seems like every musician has one defining moment of “this is what I want to do.” What did your introduction to creating and playing music look like?
MARK YOUNGER-SMITH: My mother was a music teacher her whole life. At first I was not very interested in the early lessons on piano and guitar. By the time I was 15, I was living on St. Croix Virgin Islands and was asked to play in a Rock ‘n’ Roll cover band with some gents in their 30’s. It was the start of my interest in music.
Each genre of music has a message or motivation behind its sound, with the musicians of each becoming a representation of said genre. What sparked your interest, not just for music, but for Rock ‘n’ Roll?
YOUNGER-SMITH: Oddly, as I grew more musically and as a guitarist, my early desires were quite heavy…Blue Cheer “Vincubus Eruptum” was my first vinyl record. I loved that super fuzzy sounding guitar. I went through many styles after those early years but I would say befriending James Honeyman-Scott of The Pretenders did the most for my vision to write songs with stylistic guitar and vocals. He was that great in my eyes.
Throughout the decades, the musical creation process has evolved alongside the fanbases that follow them. With the introduction and reliance on streaming services, the action of listening to music is notably different than it used to be. When comparing the music industry of the 80s/90s to how it is now, do you notice any defining similarities or differences?
YOUNGER-SMITH: Yes, the differences are with the audience. Not just the live audience but the ethereal audience, the one where in the 80’s and 90’s and before that, it was to immerse yourself in the live moments for your memory. It was also spending time with an entire record. It felt to me at that time that the full length record gave more insight to the artist. You might actually like different songs from the ones on the radio or MTV. Now algorithmic data determines a lot of what the audience hears. They have to get enticed by something that may not have much more depth to it than that one song. I still think live music can tell you a lot more about an artist. Can they hold an audience’s attention for 30-45 minutes? Is it exciting or did it elicit an emotion you weren’t expecting?
You worked with punk rock legend Billy Idol for his albums Charmed Life and Cyberpunk, both albums that made statements on what rock music could sound like. That experience of performing sold-out stadiums and writing masterpieces couldn’t have been anything less than extraordinary. What did you learn about the experience of being a performer while on tour with Billy Idol?
YOUNGER-SMITH: The touring aspect of my time with Billy Idol was much more than the hour and a half sets. We lived music almost the entire time. Billy and I traveled on the same bus, maybe because he was already comfortable with me from the year it took to record Charmed Life. We would listen to dance music or reggae which I was very familiar with from my time in St. Croix. Of course we would have some moments of excitement in other ways. But the stage was where we really excelled. Billy is an amazing front man. As I talked about earlier, he’s one of those rare performers that can hold an audience in the palm of his hand. When you’re part of that, you try to embellish that with your guitar work, with your guitar tones, with your stage presence. You have to know when to shine and when to step aside.
As you’re from Texas, having your southern sound in Billy Idol’s Charmed Life album truly materialized it into an incredibly unique piece. How do you think being from Texas has influenced your career?
YOUNGER-SMITH: There are some fucking amazing musicians from Texas. You better know something about yourself and what you can deliver on an instrument or in a song. You can be forgotten in a minute in Texas. I remember when I thought going to music school at the University of Houston would be a stepping stone to a career. I bar tended at a Jazz/Rock club at nights and the musicians that played there were from another planet. I saw guitar wizard Eric Johnson when he was around 21 and good god he was on fire. Every weekend was a different amazing band from Austin or Lubbock or Dallas. I had to move to Austin! Most of my career after that is documented.
Congratulations on your current band, The Broken Things’, first album release! The album, Blue, serves as an impressive and confident introduction to the band’s remarkable abilities. Were there any specific musical influences or events that assisted in forming Blue?
YOUNGER-SMITH: Thank you, I’m very proud of Blue in its entirety. The Broken Things is the result of meeting Lance at a recording session I was engineering. He was in a power rock style band, I heard something different in him. I heard Iggy Pop, I heard Scott Weiland, I could hear Screaming Trees. So we proceeded to start writing. As with most bands and full length records it takes time to find a sound, one that is cohesive. One that will take the listener to where you were at when you wrote a song or a lyric that became that sound.
Blue has a very distinct grungy sound that widely centers on the impact and course of the guitar. Is there a specific song on the album that you, as the guitarist, feel the most connected to?
YOUNGER-SMITH: I’m connected to them all really. That may sound off a bit, but honestly I have different emotions that I wanted to project for each song. “Black and Blue” is about dominance and submission to feelings. “Kill Me” is about desire. “Down” is about trying to find yourself. Of course they are open for outside interpretations too. I think I’ve always tried to do this with recording guitars…or singing or playing keyboards. Putting emotion into it was an early impression from James Honeyman-Scott’s playing. He once said to me during a recording, “If you’re gonna stop a great song for a guitar solo, it better be a fucking great solo.”
Do you have a message or any words of wisdom for individuals aiming to break into the industry?
YOUNGER-SMITH: Do it because you love it. Love will give you pain but it will also give you euphoria. That sounds simplified but it’s true for me. I love music, I still love to play the guitar, to write a new song.
What’s next for Mark Younger-Smith?
YOUNGER-SMITH: More writing, more recording and maybe I’ll get out more live.