The CEO cut their teeth on some of the best rock/metal bands of all time. While growing up, they played their albums and put on mini concerts in their bedrooms. They bought their concert tickets and pushed their way to the front as close to the stage to soak up all of that glorious energy that you get at a live concert. That led to each guy learning how to play a musical instrument and eventually starting or joining
a band. While juggling their passion for music with a good old “day job,” they continued to chase that dream and eventually Mack Mullins, Chase Brown, Beau Anderson and Joseph Herman all crossed musical paths. After years of paying their dues in tribute bands, the guys decided to join forces and start The CEO. Vince Hornsby of Sevendust was at one of their shows and approached them after their set. He liked what he heard and saw and wanted them to cut a few tracks with Sevendust producer Elvis Baskette. That led to Vince becoming a bandmate and the recording of the band’s debut album Redemption. The album was a lifetime in the making and was released by Rat Pak Records on June 25. I sat down with fellow KISS fan and lead vocalist of The CEO Mack Mullins to talk about that chance/fate meeting with Vinnie from Sevendust, the meaning of Redemption and even wrestling!
Mack Mullins. Your name would make a great secret agent name. Mullins, Mack Mullins.
Mack Mullins/The CEO: That came from growing up in foster homes. I was adopted and they changed my last name and they asked if I wanted to change my first name too. So I said, ‘Mack, like a truck.’ I could have been Frankenstein or whatever, but I picked my own first name.
I had no idea! Mack Mullins sounds much better than Frankenstein Mullins!
Right!
Do you know where your love of music was established?
It goes back to the whole foster home and adoption thing. There really wasn’t any music that I can remember in those first few years of being in foster homes. It was until my first real Christmas in a real home and my first real album was KISS Alive II. So you can imagine me opening that up and that gatefold pic of the stage and everything. I dropped the needle on my very first album and I can hear the bombs going off and the crowd going crazy. I thought whatever that is I want to do that! So, that’s where it all started.
I’m a huge KISS fan and that gatefold is the holy grail of live shows!
My whole room was nothing but posters. I studied that album and all of the liner notes. I could tell you the producer, the engineer, who played what. You know, we really studied those albums. Now, I’m with Rat Pak Records and our bundles come with stickers and guitar picks and all of that cool stuff that we used to get back in the day. So, it’s come full circle.
I love Rat Pak Records! Those guys are like fans and really seem to get it.
I’m a big fan of the label too, especially being a fan of guys like George Lynch. I’ve ordered stuff from them in the past as well. When we were shopping for a label and their name came up, I got excited.
I like to start these things with my first of two music nerd questions. Every super hero and every villain have an origin and a band is no different, hopefully, minus radioactive spiders and secret government experiments. What’s the origin of The CEO?
It started off with me being with these guys in an Ozzy Osbourne tribute band. Now, you don’t hear it on this album and it’s because I did it on purpose. It just didn’t fit the feel we were going for. So, these guys were my band minus Vinnie (Vince Hornsby) from Sevendust. We toured around the country for about 12 years doing this. We had a lot of success and we had this this huge stage show and we went all over the world doing it. It was really super cool, but people kept asking if I’d ever done anything of my own. I had done plenty of music on my own but nobody ever seemed to really care and so forth and so on. So, it kind of came back full circle again and I said let’s write some music and see how it sounds. So, we did a record and we had a release show and Vinnie was there. He came up to us after the show. He said he liked what we were doing; he liked the music and the show. He wanted us to go down to Florida and cut a few songs with Sevendust producer Elvis Baskette. He sends us down there and we cut four songs. Before we’re even done, Elvis calls him and says that not only is it cool and sounds great but he’s going to be the bass player in the band. He told him, ‘get your country ass down here because you guys are going to make a record together.’ Vinnie is super cool and such a great fit. You can just imagine the wealth of knowledge that the guy has. We had a blast writing this record with him!
I guess the pandemic really screwed with the timing of all of the release and everything. Have you guys had the chance to play any live dates with Vinnie?
Not with him, but we have with our previous bass player. Those guys (Sevendust) had their last record ready before we did and got it released. He’s out with those guys right now and it’ll probably be November before we get the chance to play with him.
Those guys live on the road!
Working class dogs baby!
I’ve been a Sevendust fan going way back and through it all those guys have remained super nice guys.
That’s the best part when you have a band that you look up to and you love their music. You get to meet them and they turn out to be even cooler than you thought they’d be. They don’t want to be rock stars; they just want to be one of the guys and hang out and talk fishing.
They’re more like fans in the crowd than rock stars up on stage.
Crazy, ain’t it?
Name, I know you’re a CEO, but did you guys toss around any other names for the band or was The CEO a no brainer?
That’s one of the things when you’re putting together a band that ends up being the hardest thing to do. Writing a song isn’t necessarily that hard but picking a band name sucks. We all had to agree and we tossed around a couple of ideas and it came down to we don’t really look like guys who should be in a band so let’s just go with what we’re doing. Vinnie from Sevendust is the boss and we can play it off as just an attitude and it really is. Be the boss of your own life, be The CEO of your life with whole take charge mentality and it stuck. At first, we ended up wearing suits and ties but they’re pretty hot and uncomfortable.
Album titles can sometimes have a meaning. I know Redemption is a song on the album, but why go with that one? Is it a little more personal?
First and most obvious is that it’s a song and we put it out as our first single. As far as the subject matter, this was in some dark times and even before the pandemic hit. There were race riots, an election about to happen pitting this group against that group and the whole world felt like it was on fire. We were fighting each other with the social media and the actual media. This song is kind of a push back because we know this is not who we are. What you guys need is a little redemption so that’s mainly what that is about. There’s some personal meaning to it as well, but that’s mainly what it’s about.
Speaking of first single, how do you choose from so many strong songs?
Just like you’re big nerd thing when it comes to music, there used to be a formula to all of that. You want the first song on the album to catch them as fast as you can. It needs to be upbeat and driving and gives them an idea of what to expect on the record. Right around the third song is typically where the quote unquote “hit” would be. So, we put “Redemption” out there as an introduction to the world of who we are.
Live music is making a strong comeback! Do you guys have any plans after the release date that you can mention?
We’re looking forward to the 25th and we are hoping that the people will like it enough that they’d want to hear more. We’ve got a lot of material that we’ve written and if people like this one, we’ll head back and record another one. We’ll talk to the boss when he comes off the road about it being our turn to go out there and deliver a 45 minute to an hour set. We’ll push the music to the masses and see what happens.
We like wrap these up with something we call 3 for The Road. What was the first album that you bought with your own money?
From 77 until about 80 or 81, there were no other bands in the world to me other than KISS. I remember going to the record store and deciding to step out of my KISS comfort zone and I bought the first Van Halen album.
And with that one you still had a KISS connection.
Oh yeah, that’s right!
If you could have any actor, cartoon character, anybody be your inner voice, who would you choose?
What a cool question. The first one that comes to mind first is the guy that played God and was in Shawshank Redemption?
Morgan Freeman.
Yeah that would be a cool one, but let’s go with Clint Eastwood.
Last one, if music being a CEO was over with and you had to go into professional wrestling, what would your wrestling name be?
The Old Boss Man (laughs).
Interview by I’m Music Magazine Owner/Editor Johnny Price
The CEO is:
Mack Mullins (vocals), Chase Brown (guitar), Beau Anderson (guitar), Joseph Herman (drums), Vince Hornsby (bass)
