After filing a lawsuit against Motley Crue members, Mick Mars has given his first official interview.

In his interview with Variety, Mars stated what he expects to happen from here, now that he has filed this suit, Mick said:

“I think that those guys are hoping that I’ll just fold and lay down. Because I’ve done that many times. But this thing that I helped build for 41 years, I’m sorry, you’re not gonna take that from me. I worked very hard for that. It’s mine. I’m keeping it. You can’t have it. Sorry. But they’re well prepared, I can already tell you, because I’ve known them that long too. But I’m not backing down. I’m not gonna fold. And we’ll see what happens. I’m most definitely not afraid of them, or intimidated or anything else.”

On the topic of whether he thinks the MÖTLEY CRÜE fans will be disappointed to know for sure that he and the other CRÜE members are “not a band of brothers, per se,” or that he thinks people are cynical about it and will automatically think, “Well, of course bands hate each other, Mars said: “Well, that’s the way it works. Every band hates each other, right? But it’s hard to predict. There’s gonna be a lot of disappointed people, and there’s gonna be a lot of ones who go, ‘Yeah, tell me something new.’ But on the stage, all the band members are like a unit, until they’re off the stage and then they’re not anymore.

“I can’t put a number on it, but there’s gonna be a lot of people going: ‘What the hell is wrong with these guys? You know, Mick just wants to have some peace,'” he added. “I mean, I’m an old man! [Laughs] I think some people will really, really care and go, ‘No Mick, no band.’ But they say that about everybody (who leaves a group). It is what it is. And like I said, I’m a part of this company that made this name. I’m not gonna let anybody take it from me — anybody.”

Mars, whose actual name is Robert Alan Deal, revealed in October that he was quitting touring with MOTLEY CRÜE because of his continuous, excruciating battle with Ankylosing spondylitis, a kind of arthritis that causes swelling in the joints and ligaments of the spine and can eventually cause rigidity.

But according to the 71-year-old’s lawsuit, which TMZ was able to get, he made it clear that while he could still record with the band or play in small doses, he couldn’t manage a full tour due to his illness.

Mick also repeatedly accused bassist Nikki Sixx of “gaslighting” him about his guitar skills diminishing, despite the fact that Sixx didn’t “play a single note on bass” during a recent tour, according to the guitarist. Mick claims all of Nikki‘s parts were pre-recorded.