Craveonline, music website, recently sat down with John 5 for an interview.
Interview: John 5 Talks Solo Album, Zombie, Van Halen & More
Rob Zombie’s main axe man and seasoned shredder discusses his own new solo album and more.
By Iann Robinson March 22, 2012
Currently John 5 is the main axe man for Rob Zombie, who he’s joining on a co-headlining tour with Megadeth in 2012. I got to sit down with John 5 amidst his busy schedule to talk about his upcoming solo album “God Made Me Do It” as well as new Rob Zombie stuff, Van Halen reunions, his history and, oddly enough, the seventies variety show Hee Haw.
CRAVEONLINE: First up, how are you this fine day?
JOHN 5: I’m well. I’ve been doing a lot of these interviews but it’s great. That’s what it’s all about, getting it out there to the people.
CRAVEONLINE: Good to hear. So, let’s jump right in. Your new album “God Told Me To”, why make it a half heavy, half acoustic record?
JOHN 5: On my previous albums I would do rock and then add some country flair in there, y’know, I’d always try to do things with different styles and different music just to keep it fresh for the listener. This is my sixth album so I had to really try and change it up a little bit. I wanted to really challenge myself and do some unique acoustic music. It was all for the fan who buys my music, I always wanted to keep them guessing.
CRAVEONLINE: As an artist do you get different satisfactions from doing acoustic vs. doing the heavier rock jams?
JOHN 5: It’s definitely a completely different animal with structure and melody and how I approach the song. I could just chop away at the guitar and play just rock stuff but I wanted to make it more interesting. I put a little more thought into it, like with the song “Noche Ascador” and the Spanish style. Those songs give it a different flair.
CRAVEONLINE: So why call the record “God Told Me To”?
JOHN 5: That’s what a lot of serial killer and people who commit horrible crimes claim. They say they talked to God or that God told them to do it for him. To carry out his word and things like that. I look at it as a more of a positive thing. I wanted to be a guitar player and musician so badly and I prayed to get this the very few times I went to church and I feel like I got my prayer answered.
CRAVEONLINE: One of the more curious songs on the album is your cover of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”. What brought that about?
JOHN 5: That song was such a huge hit worldwide. Not just America and Canada but all over the world. It was just massive. Everybody knows it. “Beat It” was such a huge hit when I was a kid and I was amazed nobody had ever covered it. I just didn’t understand how that could be.
CRAVEONLINE: Nobody’s ever covered it?
JOHN 5: Not that I know of. It has such a great solo in it and it’s such an iconic song that I just had to do an instrumental version of it. I’m really happy with how it came out.
Read the full interview here: http://www.craveonline.com/music/interviews/185231-interview-john-5