{"id":22121,"date":"2014-07-25T00:00:11","date_gmt":"2014-07-25T00:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=22121"},"modified":"2014-10-20T21:16:20","modified_gmt":"2014-10-20T21:16:20","slug":"feature-john-garcia-08-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-john-garcia-08-14\/","title":{"rendered":"JOHN GARCIA – His Bullets\u2019 Energy (August 2014) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

JOHN GARCIA – His Bullets\u2019 Energy<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nAugust 2014<\/span><\/p>\n

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Coachella Valley, California-based stoner rock frontman John Garcia cut his teeth in Kyuss, a tenure which lasted from 1987 until 1995 under various monikers, spawning four full-lengths; Wretch<\/em> (September 1991), Blues For The Red Sun<\/em> (June 1992), Welcome To Sky Valley<\/em> (June 1994), and \u2026 And The Circus Leaves Town<\/em> (July 1995). The past two decades, John has lent his vocal talents to the likes of Vista Chino, Hermano, Unida, and Slo Burn. Albeit musically active since the late 80s, it wasn\u2019t until 2014 that a solo outing properly took shape.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been wanting to do this record for many years \u2013 actually, since I was 18 years old,\u201d John admits. \u201cI got tired of saying \u2018Yes\u2019 to other projects. I finally decided to say \u2018No.\u2019 A band like Vista Chino wanted me to do another record, and I had to say \u2018No.\u2019 Hermano wanted me to do another record and I had to say \u2018No,\u2019 and Unida did as well. I just kind of got exhausted. I had this group of songs that I had been collecting throughout the years, ever since I knew I wanted to do a solo record. I got tired of looking at these songs every morning. I wanted to give them respect. These were songs that were really, really close to me and my gut. I wanted to stop neglecting them really, and really stop neglecting this project. Out of pure exhaustion and out of just pure love for the songs, that\u2019s what the driving force behind the solo record was.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Garcia<\/em>\u2019s oldest composition happens to be \u2018Her Bullets Energy\u2019. \u201cThis is an extreme, but I wrote \u2018Her Bullets Energy\u2019 when I was 19 years old living with Nick Oliveri in Palm Springs,\u201d the composer informs. \u201cThey\u2019re not obviously all that old, but they range from throughout all of my career. Like I said, these are songs that are not B-sides, that are not leftovers. These are not songs that are just scraps; these are songs that were very personal to me. I just knew that these were songs that would not fit into some of the projects that I was doing at the time, whether it be Kyuss, Slo Burn, Unida, or Hermano, or whatever it may be. <\/p>\n

\u201cI kept these for me because I knew that eventually one day I was gonna get to it, and here we are. When I wrote that song at 19 years old, if someone were to tell me that at 43 I was gonna release it and have Robby Krieger (guitars) from The Doors play on this track, I would\u2019ve told them \u2018You\u2019re fucking out of your mind,\u2019 and that that was absurd. Here I am at 43 though, and just got done finally letting that song see the light of day. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels good, and I\u2019m very appreciative of the fact that I still can be doing it, and somebody like Robby Krieger being involved just made it all that more special. Then you have a song like \u20185000 Miles\u2019 which Danko Jones wrote specifically for me and this record, and that song\u2019s about ten years old. Then you have some songs like \u2018My Mind\u2019, which is literally just a couple of years old. They range and vary from different parts of my life, but \u2018Her Bullets Energy\u2019 was the extreme at about a little over 20 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robby Krieger\u2019s guest appearance on \u2018Her Bullets Energy\u2019 came at the suggestion of producer Harper Hug. \u201cHe said \u2018I hear a Spanish flamenco guitar on this track,\u2019\u201d John remembers. \u201cI said \u2018That\u2019s great. I agree with that. Let\u2019s talk about it more,\u2019 and as the conversation progressed he suggested Robby Krieger, and I just about fell over in my chair. I said \u2018Yes. Do you think he would do it?\u2019 He goes \u2018I know Robby. Let\u2019s get him the song, and let\u2019s see if he likes it. Let\u2019s see if he would do it.\u2019 Lo and behold, we got him the track. That was the first piece of the puzzle, and the second piece was if he liked it and if he would do it. The next thing I know, we\u2019re in his studio recording his track for that song. I got to tell you, what a moment for me, and again a moment I will never forget. I can\u2019t thank him enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

The singer has accredited Robby\u2019s guest appearance with having improved the solo outing as a whole. \u201cI give credit where credit is due Anthony,\u201d he submits. \u201cHarper had this great idea, and what an honour. It\u2019s the only acoustic track that I did on the record, and look. I wasn\u2019t looking to change the face of rock \u2019n\u2019 roll \u2013 I wasn\u2019t looking to become the new Doors at all. It was just a great idea that my producer had, and I definitely think it added something. It made the track that much better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Her Bullets Energy\u2019 isn\u2019t to be confused with the similarly titled \u2018His Bullets Energy\u2019, it should be noted. \u201cThere\u2019s two songs,\u201d John clarifies. \u201cOne of them is \u2018His Bullets Energy\u2019, and the other one is \u2018Her Bullets Energy\u2019. The relationship between the two is after playing that for so many years, it eventually morphed into something that was much heavier, and that\u2019s where \u2018His Bullets Energy\u2019 came into play. I like them both equally, and that\u2019s why I put them both on the record.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lyricist was an ardent fanatic of The Doors. \u201cI was very lucky, very fortunate, to have seen Ray (Manzarek, keyboards) and Robby share the stage together with the Doors Of The 21st Century,\u201d he muses. \u201cThat was with Ian Astbury singing (The Cult), who just happens to be one of my idols as well. So yes, I was a fan, a 100%.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of The Doors\u2019 six studio platters, John cannot select a favourite. \u201cWhether it be LA Woman<\/em> (April 1971) or Morrison Hotel<\/em> (February 1970)…,\u201d he ponders. \u201cLA Woman\u2019s gotta be right there at the top, but I\u2019m just a fan of their entire catalogue, so I really don\u2019t have one favourite.\u201d<\/p>\n

The interviewer\u2019s favourite happens to be The Soft Parade<\/em> (July 1969). \u201cNice,\u201d the mainman responds. \u201cWhen you have an incredible group of talented musicians between John (Densmore, drums), Ray, Robby, and Jim (Morrison, vocals), it\u2019s almost impossible not to like if you\u2019re a fan of music.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Doors arguably achieved quite a lot during their 1965-71 tenure, especially when one considers the untimely passing of singer Jim Morrison in July 1971 at the age of 27. \u201cYeah, exactly,\u201d John agrees. \u201cThey weren\u2019t around very long at all. I\u2019ve gotta tell you, Anthony. To even be in the same room as Robby Krieger was pretty amazing; it was again, just a moment that I\u2019ll never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guitarist Robby Krieger is 68 years of age, but \u201cseemed very healthy, and very much into his craft,\u201d according to the solo vocalist. \u201cHe looked and sounded amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In light of the passing of keyboardist Ray Manzarek in May 2013 at the age of 74, hopefully Robby will see a few more years. \u201cYeah, that was a shame,\u201d John laments. \u201cLike I said, boy, I was lucky enough to see Robby and Ray share the stage together in the desert up in Lancaster. That was really cool, really awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Returning to the topic of the frontman\u2019s solo outing, meanwhile, the composition of \u20185000 Miles\u2019 emerged roughly a decade ago following touring commitments with Danko Jones. \u201cWe had long conversations about family, and long conversations about me wanting to do this solo record,\u201d he recalls. \u201cOnce the tour was done, I don\u2019t know. It must\u2019ve been about a month, a month and a half, maybe two months later. He sent me this song called \u20185000 Miles\u2019. He goes \u2018I wrote this song for your solo record, and it\u2019s about how you always used to talk about getting back home, and seeing your family.\u2019 What an honour, what a privilege. What an unbelievable show of kindness and love. I love that guy. He\u2019s an amazing friend, an amazing individual. He\u2019s a great singer, a great songwriter. Of course, I knew immediately upon hearing it that it was gonna go on the solo record, so big thanks and massive props to Danko.\u201d<\/p>\n

99.9% of the record\u2019s cuts are fictional in nature. \u201cThey\u2019re love tragedy stories, because they\u2019re so personal to me,\u201d John divulges. \u201cThere\u2019s a little bit of my life in there, so technically that wouldn\u2019t make them a 100% fiction. Technically that would make some of it non-fiction, but I think that\u2019s true \u2013 at least for me. When composing these songs and when writing these songs, when I write the first line down, I just become the song\u2019s slave and the song writes itself. I have nothing to do with it; once that first line is written, it just comes out. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re tragic songs, though. They\u2019re about inner conflict with one\u2019s self. A lot of it is tragic love \u2013 like I said, 99.9% of it. I\u2019m not a poet; I don\u2019t claim to be a poet. I\u2019m not a Jim Morrison \u2013 I don\u2019t do that. I write what comes out, what comes natural to me. I wouldn\u2019t ask the listener to sit there and try to decipher, because they\u2019re abstract stories. Did I print the lyrics? Yep, absolutely. I printed the lyrics. I want people to take what they read, and take what they listen to, and make it their own. That\u2019s what I want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Erstwhile Kyuss and Queens Of The Stone Age bassist Nick Oliveri lent parts to the tune \u2018All These Walls\u2019. \u201c\u2018All These Walls\u2019 is an old Slo Burn song originally called \u2018Cactus Jumper\u2019,\u201d the musician tells. \u201cHe came in, and he just put a brand new bass line to it. It\u2019s a pleasure to have Nick onboard, and all the musicians that have played on the record. I\u2019ve been very fortunate to have surrounded myself with really good ones, and Nick was part of that. I\u2019m very honoured and thankful that he was able to come in and do a bass line on a track. It was great. He was in and out of there; he came in, knocked it out in about an hour or two, and then played a show down in Palm Desert that night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional personnel who performed on John Garcia<\/em> include Tom Brayton and Mark Diamond. \u201cTom Brayton, what an amazing drummer, a fantastic drummer,\u201d John compliments. \u201cMark Diamond from The Dwarves, he\u2019s a great writer. I love playing with him \u2013 he was a big, instrumental part of this record. I had Nick Oliveri, Dave Angstrom from Hermano \u2013 he was a big, big part of this record \u2013 Dandy Brown from Hermano, Damon Garrison from Slo Burn, Chris Hale from Slo Burn. You know about Robby Krieger and Danko Jones. So again, the musicians on this record were handpicked for each specific song. Again, just very lucky and very fortunate to have been in the studio with such great musicians.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recording sessions took place at Thunder Underground in Palm Springs, California. \u201cHarper Hug and Trevor Whatever have a great, great studio,\u201d the songwriter enthuses. \u201cI\u2019ve known Trevor for over 20 years, and I\u2019ve known Harper for about five years now \u2013 five or six years. They are the producers of this project, and they\u2019re just amazing individuals \u2013 very talented and very passionate \u2013 and they cared. They cared about the album. I love Thunder Underground, and I\u2019ll tell you why I love Thunder Underground. It\u2019s a real recording studio; it\u2019s not a house with a ProTools rig in it, and you call it a fucking studio. It\u2019s not that. Everybody and their mother now will say \u2018Come on up to my studio. I\u2019ve built this studio.\u2019 What\u2019s your studio? It\u2019s a fucking room with four walls and a ProTools rig in it, and maybe a tape machine and some decent equipment. That\u2019s fine. Call it your studio. <\/p>\n

\u201cThunder Underground is a real recording studio specifically made for one reason and one reason only, and that is to make records. That\u2019s what they do; they make records. To be able to leave my front door, go to Thunder Underground, and be there in 20 minutes \u2013 downtown Palm Springs \u2013 stay there from ten o\u2019clock in the morning until five or six o\u2019clock in the afternoon just in time to get home for dinner, barbecue, jump in the pool, and then hang out with the kids, that\u2019s fantastic. I didn\u2019t have to go to Los Angeles \u2013 I didn\u2019t have to go to anywhere else. <\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people think I\u2019m from Palm Desert, but I\u2019ve never lived in Palm Desert. As a matter of fact, I hate that fucking city. It\u2019s lame, it\u2019s not the desert. Palm Desert is not the desert; it\u2019s the Beverly Hills of the Coachella Valley \u2013 that\u2019s what it is \u2013 and I\u2019m not Beverly Hills material or Palm Desert material. That\u2019s not me. My claim to fame is… Not claim to fame, but what I love is Palm Springs; I lived there, and grew up there. I grew up anywhere from Indio to Palm Springs and everywhere in-between, so to be able to leave my front door and be in Thunder Underground in 20 minutes was a big plus, and it was a real recording studio. It was just a pleasure to work with Trevor and Harper.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Trevor and Harper\u2019s major contribution was generally caring about the project. \u201cThey cared about the songs, they cared about me, they cared about tonality, they cared about drum takes, they cared about the sound of the cymbals, they cared about the positioning of the microphones when we recorded solos, they cared about the lighting, they cared about the sound,\u201d John lists. \u201cThat\u2019s it, man. They were passionate. They wanted to make this record just as good as I had envisioned it, and they did. I\u2019m very happy with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Understandably, John Garcia<\/em> bears similarities to the singer\u2019s previous musical concerns. \u201cThere are some similarities there,\u201d he recognises. \u201cObviously as the singer for Kyuss, Hermano, Unida, Slo Burn, and all of those different acts I\u2019ve been in throughout the years, there\u2019s gonna be the similarity of the voice there. It\u2019s just a different type of energy. I think every record that I\u2019ve done has a different type of energy, including all of the Kyuss ones that I did. It\u2019s just a different part of where I\u2019m at in my life. The engineers and producers have a lot to do with it, and so I go back to the verbiage of giving credit where credit is due, having Harper Hug and Trevor Whatever be a big part of how conceptually this record was done. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted it to be a very simple record. We didn\u2019t want it to be this progressive rock record; we wanted it to be a very simple, classic rock record. Again, I wasn\u2019t looking to change the face of rock \u2019n\u2019 roll or anything like that, but how it differs? I think that for me, there\u2019s a sense of freedom in it \u2013 freedom that I\u2019ve never had before. There\u2019s a sense of liberation in there. It\u2019s another sense of being exploratory and being explorative. I\u2019m not gonna write a thesis on how I think it differs from Kyuss\u2019 Wretch<\/em> or \u2026 And The Circus Leaves Town<\/em>, or Welcome To Sky Valley<\/em>, or \u2026 Only A Suggestion<\/em> by Hermano (July 2002), or anything like that. I think it\u2019s just a different energy \u2013 that\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n

John generally cuts material as part of a group entity. Within a group entity, each member tends to have an equal vote, whereas as part of this solo endeavour John has the final vote. \u201cThat\u2019s exactly what I mean by freedom, and being liberated,\u201d he reiterates. \u201cThis is all me. I\u2019m very happy with where I am right now, really, really happy where I\u2019m at. I\u2019m not planning on deviating from this position at all. There will be no Vista Chino any time in the near future; there\u2019ll be no other things that I\u2019m doing in the near future. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis car is running and I\u2019m gonna take it out for a nice, long ride, and again, I love where I\u2019m at. I love the freedom to be able to do this. I\u2019ve got a long, super-extensive tour that I\u2019m doing in November and December over in Europe \u2013 I\u2019m doing over 25 shows in Europe. It starts off in Australia in September. I\u2019m gonna be back over there the following summer doing all of the festivals and another summer run, and then I\u2019m gonna do another solo record, and I hope to have it out… I\u2019m in a good place right now. Like I said, I plan to stay here for quite some time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cover artwork duties fell to two individuals. \u201cThe illustration \u2013 the actual ram piece \u2013 was done by a very talented artist out of Melbourne, Australia, a gentleman by the name of Sam Yong,\u201d the wordsmith credits. \u201cHe\u2019s just an amazing illustrator, a fantastic artist. The other artist that was involved in working with Sam was a gentleman named Jared Connor. He has a great website, mexicanchocolatedesign.com. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey just pulled it all together. Once I saw the cover, I knew that it was a perfect visual of the music. I\u2019m proud of my desert; I literally live up a dirt road where you have to take it a mile and a half to get to my place. This is where I was born and raised, so I\u2019m very proud of my desert. To have an indigenous animal like the bighorn sheep be a part of that and an open desert road be a part of that was very fitting. Sam Yong drew that ram specifically for this, and he just did an amazing job. Just two great, great artists working together in conjunction visually. When you\u2019re playing the music and looking at the cover, in my eyes it fits perfectly. Hats off to them, big thanks to them. They deserve every ounce of credit, so yeah, great artists.\u201d<\/p>\n

A music video was filmed for the track \u2018My Mind\u2019. \u201cA director by the name of Douglas Quill did it, and I thought he did an amazing job,\u201d John reckons. \u201cFantastic locations out here in the desert, filmed in the desert, so it was very fitting. There\u2019s some performance, but it\u2019s a concept. It\u2019s a narrative; it\u2019s inner conflict with one\u2019s self, one\u2019s ideas. So yeah, you\u2019re gonna see some of me performing. It\u2019s a narrative, conceptual record, of course. Like I said, inner demons if you will. Again, I think he did an amazing job. There might be a couple more music videos. We\u2019re hoping that Robby Krieger will be involved in \u2018Her Bullets Energy\u2019. We might do one for \u2018The Blvd\u2019; we\u2019re working on that and talking about that pretty much as we speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

On February 12th, 2014, it was disclosed that the mainman had inked a solo album contract with Napalm Records. \u201cThey had first option to pick up the record, and I like my label \u2013 I like Napalm,\u201d he endorses. \u201cThey\u2019re just as passionate about the record as I am. Some artists are in constant battle with their label over creativity issues and what not, but Napalm has given me a lot of freedom to do a lot of things that you see and hear on the record. It\u2019s a great label to be on, and they treat me with a lot of respect. So yeah, a great label to be on, and again, they\u2019re passionate about the record. <\/p>\n

\u201cOf course they want record sales, and that\u2019s what I want too, or else I wouldn\u2019t have released the thing. The flip side of the coin is that if I was into it for the money, I would\u2019ve quit a long time ago, but it\u2019s always great to be able to create something and to release it, and to have other people feel what you feel when you play these songs. That\u2019s why I\u2019ve been doing it for so many years, because I\u2019m still passionate about it, and I still love creating and getting it out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

No compositions were penned following the album contract announcement. \u201cI\u2019ve gotta tell you, though,\u201d John adds. \u201cThere was one particular song that I didn\u2019t write that I wanted to cover, and that was this song called \u2018Rolling Stoned\u2019 by Black Mastiff. I loved that song so much that after the deal was signed, I said \u2018I love it so much, I wanna do it. Let\u2019s do it,\u2019 and we wound up doing it. I\u2019m a fan of that band. Bob is a great singer and a great lyricist. I like their style, and I love their tunes. They\u2019re an emotionally heavy band, which is right up my alley. That was a last-minute submission if you will.\u201d<\/p>\n

The vocalist\u2019s interpretation of \u2018Rolling Stoned\u2019 bears similarities to Black Mastiff\u2019s original rendition. \u201cI think they\u2019re very similar; I think they\u2019re very, very similar,\u201d he critiques. \u201cMine starts off a little bit different and is a little bit elongated, but that\u2019s just my take on their song. I wanted to give it massive respect and I think that I did that, but it\u2019s still very, very similar. There are a few slight little changes here and there, but I wanted to keep the integrity of the song alive, and I think I did that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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John has pooled together a group of musicians for live performance reasons. \u201cWith the live band, I wanted to be able to rehearse in the desert,\u201d he discloses. \u201cI didn\u2019t want a guitar player from over in Europe. I didn\u2019t want a drummer from Canada, and a bass player from some place else. I wanted desert locals so I could rehearse with them like I\u2019m going to tonight, where I don\u2019t have to fly anybody in, or where I have to fly to Holland to fucking go and rehearse. It\u2019s ridiculous, and I got tired of it quite frankly. It was a point to get all desert musicians, starting with and introducing guitar player Ehren Groban. If you don\u2019t know who Ehren Groban is, you soon will. He\u2019s a great, great guitar player from the desert, a local guy. Another local guy on bass, Mike Pygmie, he plays in this band called You Know Who \u2013 a desert local band, a great band. He\u2019s on bass. <\/p>\n

\u201cThen we have Greg Saenz, who\u2019s the drummer for You Know Who and The Dwarves. They\u2019re all desert locals, and great musicians. Like I said, rehearsals have already started. We\u2019re rehearsing Slo Burn songs, we\u2019re rehearsing Kyuss songs, and obviously John Garcia \u2013 some of the record, obviously. When we go on the road, we\u2019re gonna be able to play some older Kyuss songs that even Kyuss and Vista Chino never played. Songs like \u2018800\u2019 and \u2018Phototropic\u2019 and \u2018Tangy Zizzle\u2019, \u2018Catamaran\u2019, \u2018Thong Song\u2019 \u2013 songs that for some reason, Kyuss never even played. I\u2019m very proud to announce that. I haven\u2019t played any Slo Burn songs since 1997-8, so I\u2019m going to inject those into the set. I\u2019m really excited about it, and so are the guys. Again, all desert locals, all fantastic musicians, and I\u2019m very happy to have them onboard.\u201d<\/p>\n

The frontman previously travelled to Holland as part of the Garcia Plays Kyuss project. \u201cI had a Dutch drummer and a Dutch bass player when I was playing in Garcia Plays Kyuss, and then I had a guitar player from Antwerp, Belgium that had to make the trek there,\u201d he shares. \u201cLike I said, it\u2019s nice to have all desert local guys, but that was back in 2010, early 2011 \u2013 somewhere around there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The chances of John\u2019s live musicians performing on his sophomore solo full-length, and all of his solo outings from hereon in, \u201care good,\u201d he views. \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019m looking for. I wanna be able to use these. I wanna be able to use Mike, Aaron, and Greg and not have to have the moons align just right to schedule, like with the musicians I recently had on the record. It was tough, Anthony. It was rough to schedule everybody according to everybody\u2019s schedule. It was tough, so the chances of us being together as a unit is very good and that\u2019s the intention, is to do exactly that. To have these specific three guys be exactly that; the guys that I go to, my go to guys. They\u2019re great, they\u2019re talented. That\u2019s why I picked them, and so I\u2019m very lucky. Very, very lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tracks have been authored in preparation for a second studio full-length effort. \u201cWhen I had that collection of songs that I was talking about and I kept them in my vault, my safety deposit box \u2013 which actually was literally a cardboard box (laughs) \u2013 I had 44 songs, so I\u2019m gonna pick and choose,\u201d the musician reveals. \u201cI\u2019m also gonna write some new ones with the guys that I\u2019m playing with right now, so it\u2019s gonna be a little bit of both.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although a fresh set of compositions of course, John\u2019s second solo affair will not deviate from his signature musical style. \u201cMy career has always been somewhat rock-oriented, so it\u2019s gonna be a rock record,\u201d he assures. \u201cI\u2019ve gotta tell you, I\u2019m curious. I\u2019m curious in regards to what it\u2019s gonna sound like myself, and that\u2019s okay. It\u2019s good to keep it fresh that way, so good things. Good things in store.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prospect of a second Vista Chino full-length is seemingly a number of years away, judging by the composer\u2019s overall tone. \u201cProbably, if at all,\u201d he confesses. \u201cI don\u2019t know, I really don\u2019t know. I\u2019ve gotta tell you Anthony and you\u2019re the first person that I\u2019ve told this, but I doubt it. I doubt if there\u2019ll be another Vista Chino record. I seriously, seriously doubt it.\u201d<\/p>\n

John\u2019s colossal doubt as to the prospect of a second Vista Chino platter causes one to wonder why. \u201cBecause I\u2019m happy where I\u2019m at, and again, I just feel this sense of freedom,\u201d he replies. \u201cI could get out of music altogether \u2013 I could go back into veterinary diagnostics. I just might do that as well, but then on the flip side of the coin, I\u2019ve learnt over the years to never say never. That\u2019ll have to be an open-ended question there, one we revisit maybe down the line.\u201d<\/p>\n

To clarify however, no internal strife exists within the Vista Chino camp. \u201cThat\u2019s it,\u201d the singer confirms. \u201cNo internal strife. I see drama, I turn the other direction, I go the other way. I\u2019m too old for drama. I don\u2019t want anything… You know what I\u2019m concerned with? My drama in my life Anthony is what type of fishing bait I\u2019m gonna use when I take my kids fishing next weekend. That\u2019s the drama in my life, and I wanna keep it that way. It\u2019s all good things and that\u2019s what I try to do, is keep my eye on the ball. What is the ball? The ball is what\u2019s important. What is important to me? My wife and my kids. <\/p>\n

\u201cFuck drama. I don\u2019t need any drama in my life. It\u2019s better that way, isn\u2019t it? It\u2019s much better that way. I\u2019m gonna be 44 this year, and I\u2019ve got one more life ahead of me if I live to be, shit, 86. I wanna do that; I wanna be around. That\u2019s what\u2019s important to me \u2013 being onstage and creating is a bonus. It\u2019s still a bonus, and my family and kids allow me to be able to talk to an almost complete and total stranger about something that I just created. On the flip side of that coin, I appreciate that, to be able to talk to you about something that I just created in the past and in the here and the now. That fucking blows my mind, man. I\u2019m not a rock star. I don\u2019t have a cool hat that I put on, and I\u2019m not backstage thinking I am one. <\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m a dad, I\u2019m a husband. Family\u2019s important, and I love creating. I love singing, I love being onstage in front of five people, 500, 5,000, or 50,000. I\u2019ve done them all, and I\u2019ll continue to do that. That doesn\u2019t make a difference to me. I\u2019m very lucky to have two things that I love to do; one, play music, and then two, being able to provide for my family in another form, which is being in veterinary medicine. I love both of those things. They\u2019re fantastic, and to be able to provide for my family by doing some of these things is great. If I was into it for the money, I would\u2019ve quit a long time ago and got back into veterinary medicine, but I still enjoy creating. <\/p>\n

\u201cLike I said, I\u2019m gonna stay for a while. It feels good to create with the people that I\u2019m surrounding myself with. I\u2019m on a mission, and my mission is to stay right where I\u2019m at \u2013 drama free \u2013 and just live my life as \u2013 guess what? \u2013 a simpleton. I don\u2019t care about what people think about this and that, and whatever. People in this business will always, always, always talk shit and I would be stupid to think that they wouldn\u2019t, but who gives a fuck? Certainly not me. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou know who I care about? You know who I care about talking about me? My kids; that\u2019s what I care about, that\u2019s what\u2019s important. Everything else doesn\u2019t matter. It doesn\u2019t make a difference, and who will give a fat rat\u2019s ass in ten years anyway, right? Who cares? I\u2019m in a very good place, and I\u2019m on a mission. It shouldn\u2019t have taken me this long to get to this point, but unfortunately it did \u2013 for me, anyway. Again, I keep going back to that word, but I feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2012 Kyuss lawsuit which pitted guitarist Josh Homme and bassist Scott Reeder against John and drummer Brant Bjork must\u2019ve theoretically caused a level of turmoil, in light of the fact that the solo artist turns the other direction in the face of drama. \u201cThat wasn\u2019t all drama, but we went through the ringer to get that record done (September 2013\u2019s Peace<\/em>),\u201d he concedes. \u201cWe were on a mission though, man. We weren\u2019t gonna let anybody stop us from doing that record, and we did it. We pulled it off, but that isn\u2019t why I don\u2019t want to do Vista Chino. Brant, Nick, and Bruno knew from the very beginning Anthony that the whole reason I got back into music after my ten-year break or whatever was to do a solo record. That\u2019s why I got back into music, so they knew from the very beginning. I don\u2019t think it came to them as a big surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking of Brant, John will not be appearing on the sticksman\u2019s forthcoming solo effort, due for issue in late 2014 via Napalm Records. \u201cI think he\u2019s done with his solo record,\u201d he observes. \u201cI\u2019m sure it\u2019s gonna be a good one.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Garcia<\/em> was released on July 25th, 2014 in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, on August 1st in Australia and New Zealand, on the 4th in the rest of Europe, and subsequently on the 5th in North America, all via Napalm Records.<\/p>\n

Interview published in August 2014.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JOHN GARCIA – His Bullets\u2019 Energy Anthony Morgan August 2014 John Garcia Coachella Valley, California-based stoner rock frontman John Garcia cut his teeth in Kyuss, a tenure which lasted from 1987 until 1995 under various monikers, spawning four full-lengths; Wretch (September 1991), Blues For The Red Sun (June 1992), Welcome To Sky Valley (June 1994), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,1471],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-john-garcia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22121"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22139,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22121\/revisions\/22139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}