Motley Crue

The Saints of Los Angeles are picking up where Saint Nick left off.

The timing of Mötley Crüe’s aptly titled Dead of Winter Canadian tour is all Santa’s fault, laughs guitarist Mick Mars.

“He started it,” cracks the 58-year-old glam-rocker from sunny Southern California. “He said he was going to have us delivered by Dec. 25 and he lied, so now we gotta make it up, to make him look good.”

And just to stick with the Yuletide theme, the Crüe — which also includes bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee and singer Vince Neil — have been making a set list, and checking it twice.

“The original plan was to do the full Dr. Feelgood album as a 20th anniversary thing,” Mars says. “It was a thing a lot of bands were doing — Judas Priest did British Steel all the way through on their last tour, and Iron Maiden did their whole new album. So it seemed like a good idea. And we tried it, and it was cool. But I felt it had too many ups and downs; I felt we lost the crowd.

“So now we’re doing kind of a mixture of everything — but mostly, it’s the heavier songs from every album. Not too many ballads or mid-tempo songs. It should be a good show.”

Before packing his sleigh and heading to their first date in Victoria on Saturday, Mars — who suffers from the degenerative orthopedic condition ankylosing spondylitis — took a few minutes to talk to us about his health, touring with his hero Joe Perry, and how he and his Crüemates are getting along these days. Here’s some of what he had to say.

And remember, kids: Hail Santa!

So, you’re touring Canada in the winter. Were you hoping to cash in by being the only game in town at this time of year?

Oh, I don’t know about that. I mean, we’ve got Joe Perry opening for us. So right there, we’re not the only game in town.

Speaking of Joe, is it kind of weird to have him opening for you?

You know, it is kind of weird. I used to listen to him. I think he might be a couple of years older than me

Actually, it’s only a few months.

Really? Well, see, that’s what I got jealous of — he had records out and I was still wandering around, playing in cover bands and stuff, trying to make ends meet. And later, we used to open up for bands like Aerosmith. So to turn it around is ironic.

He seems to enjoy jamming. Are you hoping to get together?

With Joe? I plan on it. I’m going to make a point of it. Either I’m going to go onstage with him, or I’m going to make him come on with us. I’ll make him! I’ll twist his arm off!

See, you guys are like brothers! So, do you even have to rehearse before you tour anymore?

Oh sure. We did it last week. We just finished day before yesterday.

Have you started working on new material to follow up Saints of Los Angeles?

I have at least 50 ideas for some new songs for Mötley. Everybody in the band writes on their own and has their own thing. Tommy’s doing his solo album, Mick is doing Sixx:AM again and Vince is touring. And I’m writing songs for a solo album as well. But we’ve got a bunch of ideas we can collaborate on some time.

Would you rather have it happen sooner than later?

I’d rather have it happen before we tour in 2011, so we not only have a new tour but a new album to go with it. But we’ll have to see what happens.

How are you guys getting along? The usual ups and downs?

Yep. It’s just like family feud. One week, it’s like, ‘Hey, you’re the best!’ And the next week, it’s like, ‘Hey, go f--- yourself!’

Are they never going to respect you for being their elder?

Who, those guys? Guess what? They’ve all caught up! They’re all like, ‘Oh man, this is getting rough to get up and do every night.’ So now they can relate.

Talking about that, I have to ask you about your AS. How are you doing these days?

Good. I’m cool with it. Sometimes it gets painful, but it is what it is. I don’t want sympathy or violins.

I read that Vince has started up a charter-jet service. Is he actually a pilot?

Oh, no. He doesn’t fly.

Because I was wondering if he was going go start flying you guys, like Bruce Dickinson and Iron Maiden. Would you get in the plane if Vince was flying?

Uh ... no (laughs).