mike1v2.jpgIn 2002, Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready made public his two-decade battle with Crohn’s disease, an affliction that causes extreme abdominal pain and, at the less-explicit end of the symptom spectrum, “bathroom panic.” One night each year since 2003, McCready, along with his UFO tribute band Flight to Mars, has rocked the Showbox (at the Market) to benefit the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America—a non-profit that has strived to cure inflammatory bowel diseases since 1967.

Every year, notable local supporting acts have joined the bill and special guests have surprised a packed house. The trend continues this weekend as Flight to Mars appears on Saturday with Feral Children, Kristen Ward, and Rick and Chris Friel (members of Mike’s first band, Shadow).

Sound recently had the pleasure of talking to McCready about his hair-rock-emulating band, his struggles with Crohn’s, and what’s in store for those who catch this year’s show.

SEATTLE SOUND: How did Flight to Mars form? Was it specifically with benefit shows in mind?
MIKE MCCREADY: It was specifically with benefit shows in mind. We formed roughly six years ago. We had a show at the Sunset Tavern right about the time I came out about having Crohn’s and colitis. I figured a thing to add to that would be to put together a band and raise money for the CCFA—an organization which I’ve been a part of since about that time. It’s turned into a thing where now we send kids with Crohn’s or colitis in the Northwest to a camp—Camp Oasis. That’s where all the proceeds from the show will go.

We were doing a Rockfords show and we needed another band that night. I thought, “You know, let’s do a UFO tribute.” Because I really liked the guitar player, Michael Schenker, at one time—and I still do. I thought it would be fun. Since most of my friends here are musicians, I got in contact with them—Paulie [Passereli], Tim DiJulio, Gary Westlake, Kelly Van Camp and we have a new keyboard player named Ty Bailie. It’s been really phenomenal.

SS: Why a UFO tribute and not one of your noted influences—KISS, Jimi Hendrix, or Stevie Ray Vaughn?
MM: That’s a good question. On that note, we are doing a Jimi Hendrix tribute (Saturday night). My old band Shadow—we’re calling it Shadow ‘86 because it was Rick Friel, Chris Friel and myself who moved down to Los Angeles in 1986—we’re doing a Jimi Hendrix tribute. That’s going to be cool. I’m really stoked. And Duff McKagen is coming out, too. He’s going to do “I Wanna Be Your Dog” I think.

But KISS—maybe someday we’ll do a KISS tribute thing. Maybe it was UFO because I hadn’t really heard anybody do it. I thought it was kind of original.

SS: Any chance you guys might record an album someday?
MM: It’s a tricky situation because we’re doing cover stuff. So if we’re doing a record of covers, I don’t know if that would … I don’t even know if you can do that.

We may do something aside from that, though. We’re all friends and we like to play music with each other. We’ve talked a little bit about that. But Gary plays in eight different bands. Tim plays in North Twin. Paulie plays in 70 Proof. Kelly Van Camp plays in the Dusty 45s. There’s a lot of stuff going on.

SS: It seems like you let it rip a little more freely with Flight to Mars than you do when playing live with Pearl Jam.
MM: That is really true. It’s more of a free atmosphere—but there are certain constraints, you know. You have to be true to the songs in Pearl Jam. But other times you don’t have to be. I’ve had freedom to play any kind of lead that I want to do, like on “Alive.” You want to play the song as close to how you think the fans want to hear them. You want to play them for yourself, too. But I want to hear the same beginning for “Alive” that I do on the record—and then I’ll go off from there. Luckily I’ve had the freedom to do that. But with [Flight to Mars] I do get to go off a little bit more—just in a different way. When I’m doing the UFO set, I’ll play as much like Michael Schenker as I can. When I’m doing the Jimi Hendrix set, I’ll bring out the Uni-Vibe and have my Strat tuned down as much like Hendrix as I can. When I’m doing our stuff, I’ll just play how I play, which is a combination of a lot of those things. That’s the difference.

SS: Do you get a bigger rush out of doing one or the other? The “Rock Bottom” solo is out of control. [Mike laughs] And you do all sorts of stuff with “Yellow Ledbetter” and “Porch.”
MM: They’re two totally different worlds. I don’t know. I get a bigger rush when we [Pearl Jam] are playing in front of a lot of people and everybody’s singing along with it. But this [Flight to Mars]—I feel like I’m 16 years old again and I’m emulating my heroes. Does that make sense? I get a rush out of it that way, and out of playing with my friends outside of the band. We sit around and talk about the Mariners. Then we do some rock ‘n’ roll. Then we sit around and talk about the Mariners. It’s fun in that way, too.

SS: So what’s Paul’s story? He looks like stepped right out of 1984. But in a good way.
MM: I’ve know Paulie since 1982. (Shadow) played some songs with his band, Lipstick. He also played in a band called October in L.A. when we were down there. He’s a cool guy and I’ve always liked his voice. I just thought, “Okay, that’s the guy.” He was schooled on UFO, too. And he sells it. People love it. I love watching him.

SS: The CCFA and Wishlist Foundation must be thrilled to have your support—do you benefit just as much from their efforts?
MM: Easily. The CCFA is the reason that I got to know people that had Crohn’s disease. I never knew anybody that had it before getting to know that organization. Now I meet adults that have it, kids that have it and I go to seminars. I never wanted to do any of that. I was just ashamed of it. I felt very much in denial about the disease. And the Wishlist thing is great. They go out and raise money—they started it with the Crohn’s thing. These Pearl Jam fans just started it with their own initiative. It boggles the mind. It’s amazing that people will take the time to do that for a good cause. I’m very stoked that they do.

SS: How long did you battle Crohn’s disease before you knew what it was? Were doctors quick to diagnose it?
MM: It was quickly diagnosed. But it hit me one day when we were in L.A. I just had to go to the bathroom at this restaurant. Immediately. It was excruciatingly painful—I thought it was something I ate … but I hadn’t eaten yet. This was in 1986—and it never went away. It came out of nowhere. I think it was probably stress-induced. I dropped out of college and moved out of state for the first time. We were living on a shoestring budget…. It was fun, but a lot of stress.

SS: What made you go public about having Crohn’s?
MM: My wife Ashley had heard me talk and complain about it for a long time. She was kind of tired of hearing me do that, honestly. I was kind of ashamed of it, but I’d bitch about it a lot. So she said, “You should be part of the solution. You should contact this organization and lend your name to this.” It just made sense when she said that. Had she not done that, I don’t know what I’d have done.

SS: There’s no cure and often no effective treatment for these kinds of afflictions. How do you deal with it on a daily basis?
MM: It’s interesting. Now, 20 years after I was diagnosed, there are many more (medications) that people are taking to improve Crohn’s a little bit. There’s diet, too. A specific carbohydrate diet is something people have done that works for them. There is no cure for it, but there are solutions out there, and they’re coming up with more all the time. And what we’re doing is helping raise awareness.

SS: Do you see your music as a form of treatment?
MM: I do. Music to me has always been a healing aspect—a retreat. It’s also been really fun, too. It’s both of those things. I can kind of get into a meditative state when I’m playing, something I don’t get any other way.

SS: I think I’ve seen that look on your face.
MM: You might see me staring up in the sky with my eyes closed. I’m not faking it. That just kind of happens. It happens a lot with Pearl Jam. There’s something the five of us create that I don’t get anywhere else on this planet. We all kind of speak to each other in a musical sense, a non-verbal sense.

SS: Can you share what the “Tribute to Jimi Hendrix” set might include?
MM: It’s not a huge tribute, but I’m going to do a couple of songs. We’re going to have some guests there. We’re going to do “Little Wing,” and I think we’re going to do “Killing Floor.” But I don’t want to tell too much. It’s a short set, but it’s going to be loud. It’ll come second. Kristen Ward will be first.

SS: How’d you and Kristen come to know each other?
MM: I met her through Gary Westlake from Flight to Mars. He plays guitar on her record and is in her band. He’s in the most bands in Seattle, I think. We were on tour in London and Gary came over and played some demos of hers. I thought they were awesome—very Emmylou Harris-like. Very real.

SS: How much planning goes into the annual show? Do you lay the whole night out ahead of time or just go with the moment?
MM: We schedule this thing out. We’re designing t-shirts, figuring out the bands who’ll be on the bill. My friend Chris Adams is another guy who helps put this thing on. Chad at the Showbox helps us out. We’re discussing it about three or four months out. We don’t think about it every single day, but we get the band together and start rehearsing about two weeks out. You know, dust off the old covers we may have forgotten.

SS: Do you see Flight to Mars doing this for another five or 10 years?
MM: I hope so. If everybody’s still having fun and it doesn’t feel like a job or anything, then let’s do it. For sure.

PHOTO: Mike McCready at 2007’s Pike Place Market Party, by Clint Brownlee