John 5 – Careful With That Axe (2014)

The latest solo album from guitar virtuoso John 5 is Careful With That Axe. I spoke with him about the new album and upcoming live internet concerts, the recently released Rob Zombie live DVD, the status of the next Zombie album, writing new music with David Lee Roth and other topics.

Chad Bowar: Is writing for an instrumental album more challenging than a regular album or just different?
John 5: It’s just different. Writing for an instrumental record is always challenging because there’s so much going on. You just start doing so much stuff. It is very challenging. Of course writing just normal songs with vocals is very challenging. It’s just very different. I guess that’s the best way to put it.

The album title can be taken several ways. Is that the way you designed it?
Yes. The title, this whole record is taken back to my childhood when my dad gave me my first guitar. I was so into guitar. He was just being a dad and saying, “Listen, this is one in a million. Don’t get your hopes up.” That’s where I got that title Careful With That Axe, because when I got my guitar, you don’t know if it’s going to bring you happiness or poverty or riches or sadness. Hey, careful with that axe.

It also revolves around some axe murder titles. It’s very interesting, like “Flight of the Vulcan Kelly.” Vulcan Kelly was a brand of an axe and that song was inspired by “The Flight of the Bumblebee.” Everything has a meaning on this record. Every single thing has a meaning.

You explore a lot of different styles and genres on the album. Was that something you set out to do going in or just how things kind of turned out?
I really enjoy all different styles of music. I really, really enjoy western swing and country and things like flamenco music, just really cool Spanish-style stuff. It’s just interesting to me to play that way. I think it’s interesting for the listener too, because you never know what you are going to get.

It really came out fine. It’s how I like to play. If you ate one type of food, you would get tired of that type of food. If you ate hamburgers all day you’d want a little variety and that’s how I am with my playing as well.

01. We Need To Have A Talk About John
02. This Is My Rifle
03. Flight Of The Vulcan Kelly
04. Jerry’s Breakdown
05. Villisca
06. Portrait Of Sidney Sloan
07. Jiffy Jam
08. Six Hundred and Sixty Six Pickers In Hell
09. El Cucuy
10. The Dream Slayer

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