By: Robert Cavuoto
One of the hardest working musicians on the planet has to be guitar virtuoso John 5.
He is out touring with Rob Zombie for the month of October and in November he embarks on a string of West Coast solo instrumental dates.
And we can all look forward to the release of a Greatest Hits CD/DVD of fan favorite songs, and if that wasn’t enough, he is working on a new instrumental studio CD.
John 5’s guitar abilities are unsurpassed with the perfect combination of brilliant technique and style. A visionary player that can sculpt sound and bend minds in equal measure. He’s one of the few artists who have an uncanny ability of going from a beautiful acoustic piece to a warp speed shredding lead. The man’s a true innovator and virtuoso on the guitar.
I caught up with John 5 to talk about all of his projects, as well ask about the inspiration that drives him!
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Robert Cavuoto: Tell me about your new CD; Greatest Hits Vol. 1, with the live concert DVD.
John5: The best of CD is simply the songs the fans want and the ones I love from my instrumental career. I wanted to do something special with this release, so I included a physical DVD. It has some very cool interviews clips, as well as, one of my instrumental concerts with no editing or mixing, just like you’re at the show.
Remember the Metallica film, Cliff ‘Em All? Well, it’s in the same vein.
I’ve done about 20 instrumental shows and someone at the Michigan show had a camera and just started to film from the crowd, which makes this DVD so awesome.
Robert: I was fortunate to get to hear three new songs that will be featured on your upcoming studio instrumental CD. I heard “Behind the Nut,” “Mad Monster Party,” and “The Black Grass Plague,” what can you tell me about them?
John5: Yes, they will all be part of my new studio CD. “Behind the Nut” is a song that is all done behind the nut of the guitar, like a lap steel.
I did a version of this on my own and now with The Creatures, so it’s really pretty neat. “The Black Grass Plague” is a “grab hold of your seat” kind of song. It was a lot of fun playing and recording these songs.
Robert: You’ve mentioned that you are influenced by country music and two of these three songs have a strong country vibe, how do you merge country with metal.
John5: I like to play what I love and I think more people are getting introduced to country music. Artists like Chet Atkins and Jerry Lee Lewis were the shredders back in their day. The original gunslingers!
It’s really difficult to play that stuff. More and more people are getting educated on that style of music and learning how to play it. What it all comes down to is being inspired. Inspiration can change your life!
Some of it will not work with rock. I just put it in a minor key, like E minor, as most heavy rock tunes are in that key. You can chicken pick with distortion; you just have to be very precise when hitting the open strings. That’s the trick; with distortion you’re going to hear every little thing.
Robert: How do you challenge yourself from CD to CD without repeating yourself?
John5: I love to learn, that’s my drug. It’s all about studying and be inspired. That’s what fun is for me.
Robert: Are you big on improvising in the song writing process, and if so are you always recording every time you pick up the guitar.
John5: Absolutely, luckily we have recording apps on our iphones. That’s a life saver!
Robert: You are currently out on tour with Rob Zombie for the month of October. Prior to heading out on the road with him, were there a lot of rehearsals and prep work you and the band had to do in order to put on such a huge stage production?
John5: There is a tremendous amount of prep work prior to taking the show out on the road. You have to be totally on your game. It’s tough, but it comes out well in the end. You really can’t mess around.
Robert: Any crazy stories while out on the road getting prepared?
John5: We have these huge scrims on stage that display images and we had one fall missing my head by inches.
Robert: Peter Criss of KISS said you and he we were working on new CD, any updates?
John5: He is still working on it, so nothing, as of yet to report.
Robert: Any update on when the CD with David Lee Roth will be released?
John5: He is doing Van Halen and doing great, so who knows when that will get out? It’s done and ready, which is great.
Robert: You have some West Coast solo tour dates along with Doyle of The Misfits on your Mad Monster Tour. Tell us about that.
John5: Doyle was my first choice to go out with on the select dates. I love him and think he is a real life super hero.
I’ve always wanted to do a Mad Monster party and it’s going to be a lot of fun. I start the tour on November 4th in Ramona, California, and then go all over the West Coast. I’ll eventually bring it to the east coast, it’s just a matter of time.
MJP Guitar Tuition (9 years ago)
John 5 is an amazing player! Love that education comes first to get that good.