After returning to California in the early 70's, David worked as a union studio musician, as well as with such artists as Delbert McClinton, Warren Zevon, Leon Russell, Delaney and Bonnie and and Gary Busey. During these years, Marks also played guitar on many of Danny Moore's (writer of My Maria & Shambala) productions where he would find himself jamming with such artists as Joe Cocker, Bonnie Raitt and Rita Coolidge.

During the 1980's and early 90's Marks spent most of his time raising his daughter, Jennifer as a single father, and recording and playing in Blues bands with his long-time musical partner, Buzz Clifford, an early 60's teen idol who is best known for his 1961 hit Baby Sittin' Boogie.

In August 1997, David returned to the band he helped create. Carl Wilson was suffering from cancer and unable to continue touring; of course, Marks was the obvious choice to replace him on the road. David spent 2 years as one of Mike Love's Beach Boys, traveling the globe and playing Brian Wilson's music for millions of fans in 14 countries spanning four continents. In addition to playing live, David Marks recorded tracks for the Brian Wilson 1992 solo album, Sweet Insanity, as well as the Beach Boy's Tribute to NASCAR CD. Marks also appeared on an episode of the television hit, Baywatch. He can be seen on Grammy nominated television documentary, Endless Harmony, the E! True Hollywood Stories and has been a feature story on Inside Edition and Entertainment Tonight. Also, David Marks was portrayed in the Emmy nominated mini series, The Beach Boys, An American Family, produced by John Stamos.

Marks, who was forced to leave the Beach Boys once again due to his battles with Hepatitis C, has founded a grass roots foundation called Artists Against Hepatitis, which is dedicated to providing services to the children of those suffering from Hepatitis. David Marks is also the National spokesman for the Hepatitis C Action Movement and participates in fundraising events. Along with the Hepatitis C Action Movement, David has been involved in lobbying members of Congress and elected officials on behalf of Hepatitis C related issues. In addition to his work with these foundations, Marks is touring with Beach Party!, an all star band made up of former members of the Beach Boys touring band.


 

Q: Carrie has also mentioned that you are in a clinical study?

A: Yes, I luckily got involved with Dr. Brown at Columbian Presbyterian Hospital. I was referred to him through a colleague of my doctor in LA at Cedars Sinai. We were living in upstate New York at that time which was really too faraway for regular treatments. But now we live closer to New York City, like 45 minutes from there. When we moved, I went to see Dr. Brown and the timing was perfect, they were gathering people to do the study. I lucked out.

Q: And this was sometime after you had been waiting on Schering's access assurance list?

A: Well, yes, something like seven months. I did different things before going on the list, I was hooked up with Dr. Zhang, a Chinese Herbal specialist and he had some help in treatments for me. I did a lot of research on different types of health care and alternative drug, because that is absolutely essential. Controlling your diet, taking herbs and anti oxidants and just being smart about what you do to your body can help take care of your liver until you can get on treatment.

Q: Did your liver functions lower at all, did it seem to help?

A: No, my liver readings stayed pretty much the same. I was doing that along with other things to help break down the virus and buffer up my immune system. But my liver didn't get any worse, so something was working for me.

Q: What lead you to finally do something with Interferon; were you resisting treatments?

A: When I was first diagnosed they really hadn't come up with a good treatment. The success rates were so low, you know 3 shots a week, pills, the discomfort all the time and the odds just weren't worth it to me; success rates of like 18 percent. Of course the virus was not going to go away and I was aware of that. When I finally went and saw Dr. Brown, I figured I should dive right in and take advantage of it. Eventually it is going to come around and kick you in the ass, there is no question about that.

Q: What is your geneotype?

A: Mine is 1a, one of the harder ones, you know. My liver is not quite cirrhosis stage but between fibrosis and cirrhosis. So in other words, I am not really that bad off yet and not anywhere near end stage or liver failure, by no means. Evidently those five minutes during my life that I actually took care of myself paid off.

Q: When and how did you first notice your Hepatitis?

A: I didn't notice it. I went to the Doctor in the emergency room for a broken rib, although I didn't know at the time it was a broken rib. Yeah, liver problems from lots of drinking is what I was thinking. They did some blood work and that's when they noticed the liver enzymes being awfully high. This was a few years ago, December 1999. My doctor happened to be waltzing through the emergency room and he could tell right away by looking at my eyes. I was quite jaundiced and I was still into my active drinking, practicing my best alcoholic skills at that time. So I was diagnosed, I'd never really heard about hepatitis c but Carrie looked it up on the internet and we found out that it was something quite serious, even potentially fatal.

Q: It kind of wakes you up quite fast, don't it?

A: Oh yeah!... I immediately stopped drinking, smoking cigarettes and taking hard drugs. It took me a while to get a grip on it but I finally did. I understood that it plays hell and havoc with the immune system. Yes, I quit smoking, which I never thought I would. Only one reason; Carrieann, if you want to quit smoking you have to live with Carrieann (laughs). Anyway what happened next was I got on all these herbs, we did research and found out there is a whole bunch of stuff out there, Milk Thistle, Licorice, Dandelion, Burdock, a whole lot of other things to help with the immune system and the liver in general. All this was before I was even on treatments, I was just taking herbs. This probably would have worked for me for a while but I know it does not get rid the virus and I wanted to give that "old college try" to kill this virus. The odds are better, they say it's a 50/50 shot at eradicating it, and since I've spent a lot of time in my life with pain and discomfort I've got a lot of practice, I'm willing to take that chance. The side effects so far have not been too bad, some days I have a little trouble with it, like today, I had a lot of fatigue, I was a bad boy... I didn't get any recording done.

Q: How about other side effects?

A: Muscle and joint pains, that's starting to happen. I've been noticing that lately with my back muscles and such. There's also stuff going on in my head that I've never before felt in my life, weird pains, fog, sometimes I just daze off. I'm digging the trip, however, they're not cheap drugs(laughs). I'm giving it my best shot and a little comic relief never hurts. My insanity is my salvation. If I get to far into the dumps or depressed it's so easy to cross over for me into happiness, it saves my ass. You know, I go to the hospital periodically for the clinical studies and their big one (question) is "do I want to kill myself or others?"(laughs). Have I lost all hope for the future (more laughs)? So, I guess I'm getting the best available treatment at this point and I'm thankful for that.

Q: Do you have any messages for others going through or considering treatment for Hepatitis C?

A: I would say don't give up, have fortitude if you want to survive. I don't want to get into any big philosophy thing with it but you've got to want to really do it. It's so easy to give up because of the discomfort and all. If I were to give a message to anyone it would be, take it serious, this is a deadly disease, it can kill you. Bear down, grit your teeth, knuckle down, suck it up, eat a lot of chocolate, do whatever helps getting you through it, this is a deadly disease, you got to find a way to make it all the way and beat it. Who ever is able to take this stuff should feel lucky, stick it out.

Q: How does all this intertwine with your various projects; Artists Against Hepatitis and the Hepatitis C Action Movement?

A: Well so far our website, Artists Against Hepatitis, people write in for advice, information, we hook them up with certain people, literature to help them get back in a state of health or try to point them in the right direction where they can get help. And there are some sad cases out there, guys in prison who can't get treatment. And not just the prison population, but the whole general population, people just don't know what the hell the thing is yet. We went to Washington and talked to a few representatives and they were shocked when we gave them the information. One guy came right out and said "what is that?" Like when AIDS started out we had to educate the public and make people more aware.

Q: As the general public what can we do to help out with this?

A: Maybe at this point Carrieann should be in on this. She can explain, she is the expert.

Carrieann Marks:

Right now, the main focus of our efforts have been on raising awareness for Hepatitis C with government officials and agencies. We hope that anyone who would be reading this interview must be interested enough in Hepatitis C to find this site, so why not spend the time and right a letter to your Congressmen and Senators and let them know that we need to educate people on the seriousness of this disease and to provide adequate support for those who already have been infected. Most officials have email addresses on their website where you can send a quick note. We need to bring the issue to the front burner and unfortunately, that isn't going to happen unless people start speaking up.

Many thanks to David and Carrie Marks for their wonderful help with this interview.

David Maxwell