Creature Feature

Backed by his band the Creatures, supreme shredder John 5 unleashes the horror themed Season of the Witch, and explains what made it one of the most demanding projects of his impressive career.

- Steven Rosen

“I WAS LIKE A FIGHTER TRAINING FOR THE FIGHT, which is being in the studio,” John 5 says about the mental and physical preparation for Season of the Witch, his ninth solo instrumental album containing arguably some of the most complex, challenging and madly creative licks the Telecaster devotee has ever conjured. “It would be about three weeks of complete and utter training for hours and hours every day of just one song. I would get these complicated songs down so well and I would know every single part and every harmony, then go into the studio and knock a song out in about two hours.”  Supported by his band the Creatures on bass and drums—Ian Ross and Rodger Carter, respectively—the guitarist rolled out one song and an accompanying video each month over the course of half-a-year in an attempt to stay in lockstep with the new digital streaming paradigm of not only listening to music but watching it on sites like YouTube. Produced by John 5 and recorded at Carter’s own Doghouse Studio in Woodland Hills, California, Season of the Witch is a strange and sprawling tableau of guitar techniques ranging from bass-styled slapping on “Here’s to the Crazy Ones,” artful and exotic string bending on “Behind the Nut Love” and some of the sickest and most startling country picking you’ve ever heard on songs like “Hell Haw” and “Black Grass Plague.”

What was the preproduction process like prior to entering the studio?