John Christ - Official Myspacewritten by Stephanie Cabral
and Katherine Turman
From the opening statement of "I'm back" John Christ boldly proclaims his long-awaited return with Flesh Caffeine , his stunning solo debut. "I'm Back" isn't only the opening line to Flesh Caffeine, rather it's a declaration of independence for guitarist/songwriter John Christ as his first album since his departure from million plus-selling rock group, Danzig.
As a well-established rock guitarist one might expect a simple instrumental album for a debut solo effort, but the opposite is true. John Christ not only played every instrument (electric and acoustic guitar, bass, and keyboards) barring drums (handled by session percussionist Stefan Svensson) on Flesh Caffeine but he spreads his wings and sings on nine of the ten tracks. The decision not to hire an outside vocalist came easily: "I couldn't find a singer that I was happy with," explains John. "I tracked my own vocals on the demos and people told me that I sounded pretty good." So he ran with it, and from just the first three tracks it's obvious that the admitted vocal novice is exploring all aspects of his range, being compared to such giants as James Hetfield, Rob Zombie and Ted Nugent. On songs like Flesh Caffeine's title track and "Talkin' Dirty," erotic tongue-in-cheek lyrics fused with the hip thrusting grooves pay homage to John's first rock inspiration, when the twelve-year-old heard Ted Nugent's Cat Scratch Fever for the first time.
As humble as John may be he's actually not a total singing rookie. John sang background vocals throughout five Danzig world tours and actually got his first performing bug as a wee tyke. "As a kid I sang in community theater for the church and together my whole family acted and sang in stuff like Mame, Brigadoon and Carousel." Not exactly the beginnings you'd expect of a guitarist emerging from the "Evil, Death, and Satanic" imagery of a band like Danzig, but with Flesh Caffeine's song titles alone it's obvious that John's interests lie more in the realm of sexual deviance, love and lust. But, old-school Danzig fans have nothing to fear: "I wanted to retain a little of the intensity, flavor, and mood for the long-time hard-core fans," he notes. And the John Christ signature guitar sound is more than prevalent, particularly on the eerie, psychological retrospect of "Judgement Day" and the prowling allure of "Slow Down". After all, for eight and a half years, the guitar sound for Danzig was John Christ. Unfortunately, due to irreconcilable differences within Danzig, both Eerie Von (original Danzig bassist) and John left that band on the very same day in July of '95. "I hung in there as long as I could," explains John, but "after Chuck Biscuits left the band, it just wasn't the same," he says, referring to Danzig's original drummer and first rift in the classic lineup.
John first entered the world of rock stardom a year shy of earning himself a BA in Jazz composition at Towson State University in Maryland, when he got the gig as lead guitarist for punk-metal band Samhain and moved to New Jersey. Quickly Samhain evolved into Danzig, a more goth than punk rock ensemble. Aside from recording and touring behind five Danzig records, John also found time to record two solo instrumentals for guitar compilations. The first being "For Christ's Sake", which appeared on Guitar's Practicing Musician's Vol. 3 (Guitar Recordings, 1991) and most recently "One Song", an acoustic ballad found on Guitars That Rule The World II - Smell The Fuzz (Metal Blade 1997). John even spent a little time as the house guitarist for Australia's number one TV variety show, Hey Hey It's Saturday, backing such high powered talent as Tom Jones and Lou Rawls to name but a few.
John Christ's talents are hardly limited to guitar god (oh yeah, and avid body builder/health nut), he's also an established rock journalist. When Guitar For The Practicing Musician asked John to interview White Zombie from a musicians point of view that released the floodgates of the journalistic opportunities. Besides his own column, "Mind Jam", in G.F.T.P.M., he wrote a Danzig tour diary and an Ozzy Osbourne feature for RIP Magazine, then finally got his dream of interviewing his legendary guitar idol...none other than Ted Nugent himself.
GET FLESH CAFFEINE!
Nowadays, John Christ's writing efforts are keenly focused on his new musical direction, AKA Flesh Caffeine. At the present time, his current labor of love is premiering solely right here at: JohnChrist.com, beginning Halloween night 1999 availing fans a special sneak preview release. Don't be scared. It won't hurt. John Christ is truly back, as one tantalizing taste of Flesh Caffeine will prove!