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John 5: ‘I don’t write lyrics at all….I’d just write about boobs and guitars

Marqueemag.com caught up with John 5 to talk about a number of different topics. Enjoy the interview.

It’s tour time and John 5 is on the road for a few months with Rob Zombie again. They are joined by his former boss and band mate Marilyn Manson who is co-headlining as part of the Twins of Evil tour (US and Europe).  Marqueemag.com caught up with John 5 to talk about a number of different topics.  Enjoy the interview.

Marilyn Manson Alumni Join Rob Zombie on Twins of Evil Tour by Lindsay Allen

Sometimes it takes a while for even the most obvious of pairings to occur. But often, that anticipation makes a coupling that much more exciting. So when Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson announced that they would tour together as the Twins of Evil, no one said “No fucking way” because they couldn’t believe it, they said “No fucking way” because no one could believe it took so long for it to happen.

As Zombie was focused on finishing his new studio album, tackling final tweaks on his latest film The Lords of Salem that premieres at the Toronto Film Festival this month, and getting the production together for the Twins of Evil Tour, Manson was doing, well, whatever the hell it is that Manon does.

So The Marquee caught up with guitarist John Lowery, better known as “John 5,” who has tenure with both of the ‘Twins’ and is currently playing in Zombie’s cast of characters.

Lowery has toured with, written songs for, and recorded with many mainstream musicians including K.D. Lang, David Lee Roth, Rob Halford, Ozzy Osbourne and Trent Reznor. During his six years with Marilyn Manson, from 1998 to 2004, Lowery took on the “John 5” moniker. He worked on the movie soundtracks for Speed 2: Cruise Control and The Lords of Salem. And as if that were not enough, Lowery also has a solo project that has produced six albums thus far and features guitar legends like Slash and Steve Vai.

So it wasn’t a stretch to see Lowery and Zombie team up together. “We just have a lot of things in common. I guess it’s not so unusual, but when you’re growing up you love monsters and all that stuff and I’ve always been into monster movies. Rob is an expert and a connoisseur of those movies and it’s great. We can really talk about all that stuff, really geek out on it,” Lowery said in a recent interview withThe Marquee. “His love of music and movies is just incredible, but his work ethic — I love his work ethic because I am the same way. He does so much, this guy works harder than anyone I’ve ever known in my entire life and it’s really inspiring to be around someone like that. Birds of a feather — hopefully some of it will rub off on me.”

In addition to the litany of other projects he’s working on, Zombie is wrapping up work on his fifth studio album, which features Lowery’s playing. The group started recording the as-of-yet untitled album, which is also lacking a solid release date, in June of this year, and Zombie has said that the goal is to make a dark, heavy, weird record. (Shocker!)

“I just heard the whole record and it literally just … I was in awe because it sounded so aggressive and the songs are so good. I think people are really gonna love this record. I was such a fan of White Zombie and I really hear a lot of White Zombie in this because it’s live and ruthless, aggressive. We put a lot of heart and soul in this record and it definitely comes across. I think the fans are really gonna enjoy it because it’s an ass kicker,” Lowery said.

While Zombie is, without question, the ring leader, Lowery said that the album still was a collaborative band effort. “We all got in there and we all collaborated together. Of course, I don’t write lyrics at all. That’s one thing I stay away from because I’d just write about boobs and guitars and I don’t think that would be very good for lyrics. So Rob writes all the lyrics and we all collaborate on music and stuff like that,” he said.

Even the group’s newest member, drummer Ginger Fish, who ironically is also a Manson band alum, was included in the songwriting. Fish spent 16 years with Manson from 1995 to 2011, and was there during Lowery’s time with the group as well.

“It’s strange how things happen. I guess things happen for a reason because with a big band like Rob Zombie we were using Joey Jordinson from Slipknot, and since Joey was in Slipknot we didn’t really have a drummer. And Ginger came in and he was a perfect fit,” Lowery said.

With all of that overlap, the momentum behind the tour and the season, Lowery said that the groups are more than ready for the tour. “We’re going to put on an incredible, incredible show. This is gonna be huge,” he said. “Your mind is gonna be blown. It’s gonna be the biggest zombie show. People are gonna walk away freakin’ out, that’s for sure, and what a great time of year it’s gonna be, too. Halloween and fall? Perfect, perfect tour.”