Over the last two-plus decades, JOHN GARCIA‘s voice has set the standard for the sound of the California desert. His work in genre-progenitors Kyuss speaks for itself — loudly, and with much fuzz — and subsequent outfits Vista Chino, Unida, Slo Burn, Hermano. His contribution to the legacy of rock n roll is relentless not historical. The legendary singer brings his solo act to Australia again, this time bringing the acoustic guitars for a very intimate run of shows. We speak to John about the tour and his latest record, “The Coyote Who Spoke in Tongues”.
Andrew: How’s things been? We’re looking forward to seeing you in Australia again, exciting stuff!
John: I’m doing great! I’m really looking forward to the acoustic tour and very excited. Overall family is healthy and we’re all healthy and things are moving and grooving.
Andrew: Good to hear! Have you been on the road much in recent times?
John: No I don’t do too much touring at all. As a matter of fact this is a special tour and we only have four shows down in Australia so we’re stoked and excited and ready to come down.
Andrew: When was the last time you were in Australia? It wasn’t too long ago wasn’t it?
John: Yeah I think it was with the solo act and it was great. Anytime I get a chance to go down to Australia I’m really stoked, the food, the people, the environment, the wildlife, beaches, everything is a huge, giant change from normality here in California so super stoked to come down.
Andrew: Do you have any particular favorite spot or things you like to do in Australia?
John: Not really, the beaches here in Southern California are great beaches but there’s something about the beaches in Australia that are much different. There’s something about the seafood and the overall vibe of Australia, Currumbin, Surfers Paradise, Byron Bay are of course some hotspots for me. Brisbane is a rad place, I have a special place in my heart for Brisbane as my wife and I spent quite a bit of time there. Just driving for us on the wrong side of the road is a little bit different but it’s rad, we had an unbelievable time on the east coast of Australia and Brizzy is by far one of my favorite places. As a matter of fact I told my wife if there was ever a time we we had a bit of extra bread and we could have a second home, it would be near Byron or Surfers Paradise or Currumbin so we really dig it there.
Andrew: Yeah those are certainly nice areas. Do you remember the first time you came to Australia and what was some of the best memories from that trip?
John: Metallica brought us down there and we played quite a few shows opening for them and they gave us a huge start so hats off to them obviously. But there’s something about Australia that to me is very special. It’s more than Europe, it’s more than South America, there’s something about Australia and that continent that I have a real special place in my heart. It’s a rad place to play and although it’s not a huge market for me, I certainly enjoy playing down there. Aaron [Groban, guitars] and I are looking forward to coming down there and playing Geelong and Brizzy and Sydney and Melbourne, not to mention a couple of New Zealand dates. We’re really stoked and excited about coming down there so all good things.
Andrew: Well we are looking forward to seeing you again and this will also be the first time you are bringing the acoustic set, I know you had a new album that came out a year ago and that was pretty much an acoustic album. Will the majority of the material be from that album or will you be trying to mix the set up a little bit?
John: Yeah absolutely we’ll be mixing the set up for sure. We’re about ready to start recording the new electric record so we’re going to play some of the new electric record and some old classics and some newer stuff so it’s going to be kind of the best of. Apart from the normality of my life now here in Palm Springs, it’s a welcome break which both Aaron and I are both looking much forward to. It’s a special thing, it’s not like going over to Europe or Canada or South America. Australia is different, it’s a little bit more special.
Andrew: The album that came out last year “The Coyote Who Spoke in Tongues”, some of the tracks were re-workings of older material. How do you feel about that album now about year later and what kind of feedback have you been getting from the fans and critics and things like that?
John: Yeah this record is not for everybody obviously. To turn a song like “Green Machine” into something on opposite sides of the spectrum, it’s weird for some people and blasphemy for some people. Some go, ‘Oh you turned the song into a ballad’. It’s not a ballad, it’s a different take, it’s a different version. So you turn something so heavy and so mean like the song “Green Machine” into what you hear on the acoustic record, it’s totally different. It’s not for everybody and I don’t expect everybody to get it, being in this business you learn to take the good with the bad. People have critiqued and criticised the record up and down for turning these songs into what they call a ballad, they’re not ballads. Songs like “Green Machine” and “Gardenia”, they’re not ballads, it’s just a different take on them and it is what it is. But Aaron and I plan to come down there and do what we do and there are going to be different takes on the songs versus on the record but we look forward to it, I think that Aaron and I are up to the task and it is what it is.
Andrew: Yeah it’s a great album and I actually loved it. There are certain songs like “Space Cadet” for example that naturally lend themselves to the acoustic setting but “Green Machine” certainly was an interesting one but I love that version because it is so different to the original and I think for me personally it makes the album more enjoyable to listen to I guess. Did you try to make that album as different as possible or was it something you wanted to try and experiment with?
John: Yeah a little of both. Experimentation, being explorative and exploring new versions of some of these songs and different views from them. Me being in my early 20’s versus me being in my late 40’s and different takes on these songs, it was something that was very challenging to do. I keep going back to that word “challenging” but it’s not something that I think too hard upon, something that I don’t sit down and ponder upon where I go, ‘Let’s do a totally different take on “Green Machine”. It was something that came very natural, you take a song like that and take it to the other side of the spectrum and you take a song like “Gardenia” and take it to the other side of the spectrum versus “Space Cadet” and me wanting to do that song over again versus me just wanting to do “Rodeo” all over again. It was something that was a big challenge to do these songs acoustically, when we come down there it’s going to be one guitar and one vocal, that’s it and there’s nothing to hide behind. There’s zero to hide behind and I like that challenge to be able to go, ‘Right, am I going to be able to sing this OK?’ or, ‘Am I going to be able to do a different version?’ Every night is going to be a little bit different for Aaron and I and again I think we’re up to the task and it’s something that we look forward to. Getting questions from journalists and having to really examine what this acoustic record was and is and us coming down there, it’s really trying to decipher and look at some of these question and go, ‘Alright I haven’t really been asked these questions before but it’s just something that comes very natural’. We want to be able to explore and change the aspect of some of these songs and that’s our whole thing.
Andrew: And you mentioned before about working on a new album, is it too early to say how that’s coming along or how are the songs shaping up so far?
John: It’s coming along great! There’s two studios that we recorded in Palm Springs and both of them are shut down so Aaron and I along with a couple of my other close friends and producers have opened up a studio up in the high desert near Joshua Tree and it’s the beginning stages of the new electric record. So we’re stoked on it and Aaron and I when we come down to Oz plan to play some of these new tracks acoustically so it’s going to be a special little show. Not only are we playing past and present but we’re also playing brand new songs that we plan to release this year, so stoked to be doing it.
Andrew: Fantastic, that’s great to hear! We are looking forward to seeing you in Australia again, it’s always great to have you in the country. Thanks for your time, really appreciated and looking forward to the new album as well.
John: Cheers brother, thank you man!
Destroy All Lines in association with Ego presents:
JOHN GARCIA
For The First Time Ever Performing Acoustically In Australia!
April 2018
TOUR DATES
Thursday, April 19: Barwon Club, Geelong 18+
Friday, April, 20: Cherry Bar, Melbourne 18+
Saturday, April 21: Factory Floor, Sydney 18+
Sunday, April 22: The Brightside, Brisbane 18+
Tickets: Destroy All Lines
