John Garcia
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John Garcia

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2014 sees the release of his first ever, self-titled solo record and, speaking from his home in Palm Springs, California, he couldn’t be happier. “The amount of freedom that I have as a solo artist, since being in bands with other musicians, is truly liberating.” he emphasises. “I’m in a good spot, and I don’t see myself deviating from my current position any time in the near future. I love where I’m at, I love the music that I’m performing live and writing.”

The album is a little more of a straight up and down, kick-arse, bluesy rock‘n’roll album, than what many of the man’s fans may have come to expect from him, which is exactly what he set out to do with it. “I wasn’t looking to change the face of rock‘n’roll with this record, at all,” he states. “I wasn’t trying to be a mad scientist, what I wanted was something very simple – I wanted something that was very heavy on the music and melodic on the vocal side. When you have something that’s heavy, and then something that’s melodic goes on top of something that’s heavy and mean, sometimes it marries well and sometimes it doesn’t. But I specifically set out to do exactly that.

“And my producers Harper Hug and Trevor Whatever made it a reality. And so did all the musicians on the record, so I’m very thankful and very appreciative. To have it finally see the light of day, it’s a dream come true and it’s a big relief.”

And Australia, always a very good hunting ground for Garcia and his myriad bands, can think itself very lucky, being the first place on the planet to experience the new record in a live sense. His first solo tour on the back of the new album comes to Australia in mid-September. “I’m really excited about getting down there,” he enthuses. “It’s a great time for us, the band’s excited, and although it’s only four pretty exclusive shows, to have the world tour start in Australia was very fitting. I love your country, love the people, love the food, love the seafood, and it’s just a pleasure to be going back down there again.”

The main focus of the tour will be the new solo record, however, in news that is sure to please his longtime hardcore fans in this country, John is apparently not about to completely ignore his illustrious back catalogue on this Aussie jaunt. In fact, he is very likely to pull out some hidden gems from his past.

“It’s mainly on the solo stuff, but on the flip side of the coin, I’m proud to say that I’m going to playing past and present,” he reveals. “Some Slo Burn songs, some Kyuss songs that even Kyuss and Vista Chino never played live. I’m really going to concentrate on some of these untouched, untapped pieces that never had the chance to see the light of day, live. And man, I’m looking forward to it.

“It’s gonna be a long set, and again, it’s playing past and present, it’s going to be a best-of John Garcia type of set. And I’m proud to say another desert band is coming with me, Waxy. They’re opening the shows, as well as (Melbourne-based stoner rock outfit) Mammoth Mammoth. They’re opening, then Waxy and then my band, so the California desert is coming to Australia.”

We have plenty of desert here of our own! “Yeah, I know, and I love what I’ve seen of the Australian desert,” he says, “but it’s the Californian desert that inspired this sound.”

For the long term, Garcia will place his side projects on hold while he focuses closely on his solo venture. “Vista Chino’s parked in the garage, Unida’s parked in the garage, all my projects are parked in the garage, I’m solely concentrating on my solo project. And I feel good!

“Making this record was a real eye-opener for me, it showed me what I could do outside of the context of my other bands. I’m not sure who’s going to be playing with me on this project moving into the future, it could be a whole bunch of different players. I’m not saying the other bands are all done, like I said they’re parked in the garage at the moment and this solo thing is where my head is right now.

“I’m just enjoying it so much, I can’t wait to get to Australia and I can’t wait to do another record.”

BY ROD WHITFIELD