JOHN 5 Says His 'Invasion' Solo Album 'Couldn't Be More Real'

Andy Hall of the Des Moines, Iowa radio station Lazer 103.3 recently conducted an interview with ROB ZOMBIE guitarist John 5. You can listen to the entire chat via the SoundCloud widget below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On when he finds time to compose new material in between his gig with ROB ZOMBIE and touring activities as a solo artist:

John: "It is really crazy; I plan my time so carefully. Like, I go in 15-minute increments of things I have to do. But everything I do I finish and I'm proud of that, and I learned that from Zombie. Everything I say that I'm going to do, I will do, and that's important to me. I never say something that's going to happen that doesn't happen. But it's very, very challenging doing everything and giving it quality as well, but I love what I do. I'm super happy."

On his lack of musical boundaries:

John: "I think I just love music in general. It doesn't have to be this kind of music or that kind of music. It's just music. But that's just how I look at it. People will look at food that way or this, that or the other thing. It's all food and it's all music. That's how I look at it."

On the songwriting approach for JOHN 5 AND THE CREATURES' latest studio album, "Invasion":

John: "To be honest, it's who I am. I sit on the couch and I play this kind of music all day, all the time. It's heavy, it's country, it's bluegrass, it's jazzy, but that's what I do. I sit on the couch and I do this stuff. This album couldn't be more real because it's just who I am."

On how he determines what material is to be used for his solo career versus ROB ZOMBIE:

John: "That's a fine question because something like 'Crank It' and something with that kind of beat is total ROB ZOMBIE. It's just who I am. I'm putting it on there. It's a great question. I'll get into writing mode for my stuff or Rob's and we'll just see what comes out. I don't know. It's just who I am. There's a little bit of Zombie and the Zombie album is a little bit of John 5."

On whether he ever leaves room for improvisation in the live setting:

John: "I went to go see certain bands back in the day, like RUSH or something like that. They played the stuff just like the record. And I always thought that was so cool. I always thought, 'Oh my god, that is cool.' Because some people have their favorite licks, or their favorite drum licks or whatever. I try to keep it exactly like the record because somebody could have their favorite part that I'm not playing that I'm improvising and they're, like, 'Oh, what a bummer.' And I look at music as if it's written on sheet music and you got to play it how it's written. That's what I try to do live as well."

JOHN 5 AND THE CREATURES — comprised of John 5, bassist Ian Ross and drummer Logan Miles Nix — recently embarked on the second leg of the "Invasion Tour 2019".

Released in July, "Invasion" has received rave reviews all around. Fans were able to get a taste of the album throughout the first half of the year via a series of videos released each month. John 5 kicked off the year with the debut video clip from "Invasion", the campy animated "Zoinks!", followed by three equally eccentric videos for "Midnight Mass", "I Am John 5" and "Crank It - Living with Ghosts". A new video for the track "I Want It All" was unveiled along with the release of the album. "Invasion" was produced and mixed by Barry Pointer (Richie Sambora, Joe Perry, Steve Vai, Jackson Browne).