DAVE NAVARRO Is 'Really Excited' About New JANE'S ADDICTION Music

Stephanie Lazarus of Gibson.com recently conducted an interview with JANE'S ADDICTION/ex-RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS guitarist Dave Navarro. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Gibson.com: What's happening with the new JANE'S album?

Navarro: We're in process of recording and I just tracked some stuff with the Epiphone [guitar] about two weeks ago. I wanted some bright percussive acoustic coloring underneath some dirty distorted rock guitars to kind of widen it out a bit and have the notes be a little more articulated. So I used it for that. And, you know, Duff McKagan from GUNS N' ROSES is in the band now, so we had a real creative burst over the past few months working with a new guy and having an all-new energy on board. I'm really excited about it.

Gibson.com: Are you enjoying working with them again?

Navarro: Oh, yeah, yeah. One of the fortunate things for me is that having been in and out of this so many times, after a point you realize, this is what I do, this is the home that I'm gonna be in. At the end of the day, we may have taken five or six-year hiatuses, but we've never really broken up. And the beautiful thing now is we're all really unified as a band, but we also have our own personal identities and directions and lives and interests so we all have plenty of time to do JANE'S ADDICTION, for the most part, full-time and also be able to do other projects that interest us individually. We didn't have that luxury in the old days.

Gibson.com: You seem to do a little bit of everything — writing, directing, reality TV, Internet radio. Anything you'd still like to do? Act, produce, learn to surf?

Navarro: I've done plenty of acting stuff and television production and film production, but music production, I don't know about just because I feel if I'm going to spend that much time in a recording studio I'd rather have it be on music that I'm making. Is there anything else I want to do? You know, those things present themselves to me as I go along; I'm fortunate that way. Very few of those things you listed are things that I went after because I was interested in them. They were opportunities and they were of interest. Who's to say what's next. I probably don't know right off the top of my head.

Gibson.com: Why did you recently stop doing the weekly Internet radio show, "Dark Matter", on Indie1031.com?

Navarro: I still love doing radio and I plan to continue doing it. I just wanted to take some time away from it so I could focus on the record. Right now, we're deep in the record and the writing process. And that's a labor of love (the show): we don't get paid, we do it because we love it and we love interacting with people. It's a call-in talk-radio show, a lot of music, a lot of bands, and in-studio performances — everything from undiscovered indie groups to Chrissie Hynde. I am also working in CAMP FREDDY, my other band, which is a huge cover band that I do with a lot of different artists. So between those projects, which are all musically fueled, and focused on guitar playing, it's difficult to get a free moment. It's definitely something I'll revisit once I come up for air.

Gibson.com: Do you talk to anyone from the [RED HOT] CHILI PEPPERS anymore?

Navarro: When I have the opportunity. As much as I don't speak to them often, whenever I have the opportunity it's always a great thing and a happy occasion. Chad Smith still remains one of my favorite people of all time — in my top ten favorite human beings to have existed.

Gibson.com: Will there ever be a CAMP FREDDY album?

Navarro: We talked about it for many, many years, but the logistics of something like that really doesn't translate to what we're about. We're a live band and we're about the fun on stage and whoever's gonna get up with us — we don't know from night to night. And when you go into a studio to record songs that have already been recorded, it's difficult to recreate that kind of energy and spontaneity, so it's unlikely at this juncture.

Read the entire interview at Gibson.com.