Requiem:Noun: 1. A musical service, a hymn, or lament for the repose of the dead. 2. a mind-blowing, sinister guitar instrumental by John 5 with song titles named after torture devices.
How does one define John 5? Is he rock? Is it country? Is he heavy metal? What about emo, industrial or bluegrass? Truth is there is no one set genre to fit John 5. In a world where music must be defined, John 5 breaks every mould by continually changing and adapting his style. Although he is unmistakably John 5 in his sound, he mixes around with the foundation with every new track he writes, every album he guests on and every time he picks up the guitar.
His fans and peers showed him how much he has redefined the guitarist model when they voted in Guitar World.com's Readers Poll at the end of 2007. His third solo album The Devil Knows My Name won Best Shred Album, beating off stiff competition from Joe Satriani (Surfing with the Alien - Legacy Edition), Steve Vai (Sound Theories, Vol. I & II), Dreamtheater and Marty Fieldman. 'I was so proud, you work really hard and you want people to like it. I was so excited about it; one of the big big highlights of last year.'
Having also released an instructional DVD at the end of 2007, one that promised 'a journey into his twisted mind,' and a chance to 'learn some of the techniques that have set him apart from guitar players everywhere', John 5 now sets out to release his fourth solo album - and continuing a promise to release at least one new production a year.
So how does the man who has studied a wealth of musical genres, who has worked with artists as different as KD Lang and Rob Halford, The Scorpions and Rob Zombie keep his sound so fresh? 'I try to make each one more and more interesting, so with this one (Requiem) I kept it fresh by injecting classical in this time as well as more country and bluegrass. The songs on this one were so long. At first some of them were 12 minutes or more but for the album, for the CD ident, we had to break them down. We had to split the songs up, so some songs kind of have two parts, like song three goes into song four. The listener will think, wait that's the same song when in fact its the same song just broken down onto two tracks. It's a real wild album.'
John 5 once again delves into the dark recesses of the human mind. On The Devil Knows My Name, each of the titles (minus Welcome To The Jungle and Young Thing - both covers) could be traced back to notorious serial killers. For example '27 Needles' referred to Albert Fish who when x-rayed was found to have 27 needles embedded into his body. For 'Requiem' John 5 explores the dark nature of sadism and torture. 'When you have the album you'll be able to see that all the songs titles, except for Requiem, are names of torture devices. Listeners will be able to go onto the net and look up and read about these devices. When people saw the posters, for example the first one, it was funny because they all jumped to conclusions that it was about movie posters when in fact each of the posters represent devices of torture or people being tortured.'
John 5 spent alot of 2007 touring and working with other artists, a fact not unusual as he has been very busy in the past four years, contributing work to albums by Meatloaf, Paul Stanley, Static X, The Scorpions, Rob Zombie and of course his own releases. As a result 'alot of the writing was done whilst on tour, so I could only get into the studio for a few days at a time when I got back home. But the wild thing was that the studios were all booked during the day so I'd go in after midnight and so couldn't expect anyone to want to come in with me. But it was good, no calls, and so quiet so I get alot more down whilst no one was around.'
To promote the album John 5 will be starting a series of Guitar Center tours across America. Beginning on the west coast, he will be playing in front of fans, performing tracks from the new album and some from the old and will be answering questions from the fans. 'A Guitar Clinic tour is so much more personable. On a normal concert you can't just put your hand up in the middle of the concert and ask a question. I wanted to make this more personal so people could ask me questions and so I could reach out to the fans and thank them for all their support. They can chat, or ask me any questions they want and I'll answer.'
For John 5 this is the best way he feels he can repay the fans for all their support and loyalty over the past four years. 'You'll notice the tour is also free, and this is also me paying back to the fans and saying thank you for the support, for buying the albums.' Although starting initially on a short tour, John 5 hopes he can extend it further in time. 'I'm starting this one on the west coast to see how it goes, to get my feet wet. And then we'll go further, with the East coast and then further to the rest of the world. But this is to get my feet wet.'
John 5 has certainly proven that he is one of the most diverse, adaptive and listenable guitarists of recent years and he continues to astound fans both new and old. So what does the future hold? 'Well we're working on the new Zombie album and that's keeping us busy, and I'm still working on the new Lynard Skynard album and hopefully that will be done soon. And I've just worked with Filter. So it's really busy and there's so much more work I am doing at the moment. It's work, work, work but I'm loving it.'
Interview extracts exclusive to the official John 5 myspace page
Image by Gabrielle Geiselman and used with kind permission.
Praise for John 5
'an underrated guitar giant' - Steve Vai
'John is a fucking shredder' - Rob Zombie
'He's a stand-up person' - Marilyn Manson ( mansonusa)
'If there was ever a musician who was an honorary member of Shred Guitar Society... Mr. John 5!' - Paul Gilbert
'It energizes ya and has everything ya wanna hear. And just when ya think ya got it all, he busts out this over-the-top country chicken-pickin'!!' - Bumblefoot
'Cool Tone. Cool Groove. Cool' - Yngwie Malmsteen
'Kick ass chops on top of supoer hooky tunes. 5 out of 5 for Mr 5' - Greg Howe
Praise for REQUIEM
the Guitar Center patrons and over-caffeinated teenagers at the bus stop arguing over the best shredder of 2008 will be hard-pressed to find anyone more skillful or relentless. Just play "Heretic's Fork," "The Judas Cradle," "The Lead Sprinkler," "Scavenger's Daughter," or any of the other torture devices listed on the album for further proof. - Jason Lymangrover, All Music Guide
Join us at the Official John 5 website and read more about one of the most impressive shred guitarists of recent times, join other fans at the forum for discussion and grab artwork and much more: www.john-5.com . 10th place in 2007's BT Digital Music Awards Peoples Choice for Best Official Site.
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Fanclub members receive:
Original Toe Tag Membership card.
Autographed Fan Club only 8x10 color photo.
Exclusive Fan Club only tee shirt.
Exclusive Fan Club only sticker (one out of two) Collect both designs.
A chance once a month to have John answer your questions.(subject to touring and work schedules). The first 25 people to join the fanclub will in the first Q&A with John. You will be notified by email if you are one of the first 25.
Entry to an exclusive part of the website, where you can find fan club only items for sale, discounts, new merchandise announcements, giveaways and more.
An exclusive email newsletter filled with info on What John is up to, contests, fan spotlights and other surprises.
An exclusive email newsletter filled with info on What John is up to, contests, fan spotlights and other surprises.
IMPORTANT: You must put the email you want to use for fanclub business in the message part of order form, otherwise you will not be able to receive newsletter, secret web page & other important info. Also you must be a member of the forum and must give your forum username to the store when joining the fanclub. This is to be able to enjoy the FULL benefits of the fanclub.
Fan Club membership for one year starting June 3rd, 2008.
For more information on the fanclub, and information on how to join, please go to: The Official John 5 Fanclub
Page layout designed by Nineteen76-Designs . Photography by Gabrielle Geiselman . Requiem album artwork by Piggy D . Header, banners, promo design by Nineteen76-Designs . Biography by Nineteen76-Designs. Contact table by Guilty By Design Nineteen76-designs would like to thank Norsefire for help in coding the new flash top banner.
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