Interview John Garcia

Artiest: John Garcia

Geïnterviewde: John Garcia

Interview afgenomen in: Muziekcentrum Trix

Label: Napalm Records 

12 november, de wapens zijn weer maar eens begraven dus kan er gevierd worden. John Garcia treedt op in Trix, maar niet zonder Festivalblog.be eerst te woord te staan. Vermoeid en met enige vorm van tegenzin zien we elkaar in de backstage. Gevolg van zijn ‘mood of the day’ is een inkorting van het interview met tien minuten. Wat blijkt, John Garcia is een patriot en na een oorlog/geschiedenis gerelateerde openingsvraag zijn we vertrokken voor een intense en gedreven babbel met een nederige, gemoedelijke Garcia . Geen gepraat over de tour, de nieuwe cd, de Kyuss-geschiedenis. Wel over (muziek)geschiedenis, frustraties, het gemis van het thuisfront en dierengeneeskunde. Een relaas:

Maybe I’ll start with a non-musical question. Yesterday was November 11th , the day we remember the ending of the first world war. I saw on your Instagram-account an picture of your grandparents, who both served in the US army during the second world war. Is history important to you?

Military has always interested me. My grandfather was in the Marines, my grandmother in the Coast Guard and my grandfather on my dad’s side was driving a tank in the army, who fought in North Africa. It interests me, and still does. I read about it but I don’t collect a bunch of war memorabilia or anything like that. And I think if I wouldn’t have been into music, I would have been into military.

Are you patriotic?

Very! The Fourth of July is family time, us declining our independence of 1776. You know it’s big in the US, it’s a really big, huge holiday. It’s fun with the kids and I get a kick out of them. Watching the fireworks together, it makes me happy to see my kids happy.

Funny, because here November 11th is also a holiday for everyone, but it’s no big deal.  

Very interesting question, I like that! I don’t consider myself as an artist, but as a singer in a band it’s always nice when you don’t get the question “How’s the tour going”. Well the tour is going fine, it’s going good. What else can you say. So it’s refreshing to get a different question.

I hear you saying that you’re a family man. On Facebook you sometimes appeal your fans to come and see you before or after a show, for me it seems you’re a humble, down to earth kind of guy.

It’s very awkward to sit here and talk about me, it doesn’t feel right. But if people want to know about me, then I let them know that I’m as normal as you can get. I’ve mopped floors, I’ve done dishes, I’ve changed diapers, I’ve done all kinds of jobs, I’ve dug ditches and I’m a father and a husband. You know, I’m a simple guy and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that! I don’t think that there’s something wrong with reaching out for somebody and telling them “thanks for coming”. It’s because of them that I’m here, it’s because of the people who buy the records , buy the merchandise, support me, that I am here. It’s my way of saying thanks. Because I still enjoy it and without the help and support of these guys I might as well go back and do in veterinary nursing. And I’ll do that anyway, I might go back and work in a hardware store because I want to water the plants in the gardening section. Talk to people and have nobody know about anything about me. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I don’t get the whole rockstar thing, and that came of age. I never used to be that way. I think when I was a young kid, I was an unappreciative, egotistical cocksucker. I didn’t like me back then. So I’ve grown up over the years. The change started when Kyuss broke up and I had my first child, I’ve became more appreciative to the people who buy the tickets and stuff because, again, they’re the reason I am able to come here.

Do you say; today it’s still a passion doing this, but the day performing is not a passion anymore I’ll quit?

I’m super passionate about it. I’m so passionate that I leave my family for six weeks and that’s not easy. So I still love music, I still love performing on stage, I still love singing. So it’s still fun for me.

You live in the desert, when you’re touring for six weeks, going from one city to another do you miss the space, the quietness?

Yeah, tremendously! I miss it a lot. It’s hard being on the road, you miss your family, you miss your animals, your daughter, your son, your wife,… It’s hard, I do miss it. You have to drive dirt road for a mile before you get to my house. You know, I see three cars in one morning. That’s my rush hour traffic. I look at my land and that’s a busy morning out there. I like it that way. We eventually want to move down to Palm Springs. It’s hard, because the kids want to ride their bike and they can’t do that because it’s kind of hilly and rocky. They want to ride a skateboard and they can’t. So the simple things of a sidewalk and regular concrete street to ride on, they don’t have that.

So the next time we do an interview I’ll bring my dog.

You can, sure!

A couple of years ago you did some guest vocals on the Arsenal record ‘Lotuk’. Where we heard a different kind of John Garcia, voicewise. And now you got ‘Her Bullets Energy’ on your new records, which is more feminine and intimate than ‘His Bullets Energy’. Is it the ‘family man’ we hear on those tracks?

It’s an interesting perspective, I appreciate that. I like challenges and that was certainly a challenge for me. I like singing like that to, but that’s not easy. It’s a lot easier to ‘sing’ than to really ‘sing sing’. It was a challenge and I like that and when I heard Arsenal it was a challenge for me and I like the music. So it was very obvious.

Will we see sometime in the future an intimate John Garcia project?

Maybe. I don’t know, I change my mind so quick these days. But it’s still fun.

You already did several guest vocals, also on the latest Steak record. Who are one of the opening bands on this tour. Is there like a non-rock artist you would immediately do a guest vocal for?

It’s got to make me feel, it’s got to touch and move me. I’ve got to feel  it. I get offers all the time, and when I listen to it and I like it, I most likely do it. But if I don’t, then “sorry, stop digging it”.

It hasn’t got nothing to do with genre?

No, if it touches me then I most likely do it. And I want to do it.

Is there a band you like, no one would believe?

I listen to Terence Trent D’Arby..

I saw him once with my mom.

 I’ve seen him in Paris once. It was fucking amazing. That was when the record ‘Neither Fish nor Flesh’ came out and I really like him as a vocalist, he’s awesome. Also a lot of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Rat Pack stuff, Johny Cash, a lot of 70’s disco, a lot of R&B stuff. I listen to a lot of radio back at my house. There’s a radio station, KDES 98.5, that I listen to. They used to play a lot of R&B stuff, they’re switching their program into a lot more 80’s stuff, and I don’t like that. Actually it’s all about melody, I don’t care who it is. I have no guilty pleasures, I don’t care what people think. “You like that music? Yeah, so what!”. What if I like to listen to Dolly Parton? Who gives a fuck. Who are you to tell me, what I have to listen to. I mean, I don’t listen to Dolly Parton, but people trip up that I listen to Terence Trent D’Arby. I like Terence Trent D’Arby, I like Rufus Wainwright to. I’ve seen him play twice, I’ve met him once to. I dig his melody, I dig the monotone in his voice.

I can relate to that, I once went to a basic pop-concert (Mika, for those who want to know) and three days later I was dancing on one of the biggest Techno festivals in Europe (I Love Techno). And now I’m sitting in front of you.

I am a fan of music, that’s for sure

(in the meanwhile, John got some text messages)

I’m sorry that’s my wife’s texting me, if i don’t text her back I’ll hear it afterwards (laughs). She knows that when I’m not texting back, I have a soundcheck or something. I told her I had some press, so she want to know what time is showtime tonight. You know, it’s all about communicating with my wife. I love her to death and my kids to, so this thing (shows his phone) is precious to me.

Is there a question, no one ever asked you, but you always wanted to answer?

You know, I’m a fan of singers, I like singers. And I sometimes want to ask “who do you think is the best rock ‘n roll singer of our generation is?” And then I think to myself, if someone would ask me that question, what would I say? So when I think Rock ‘n Roll, the first person I think about has a range and the most amazing voice, and it is Chris Cornell. He’s a fucking amazing singer, that guy is  the best singer. And there’s also Ian Astbury and Glenn Danzig but Chris is a badass singer, I respect him a lot. Honestly the younger Ozzy is also very unique. It’s typically always about music, some people ask me how the tour is going and I’m like “Fuck, I already know how this interview is gonna go”. I genially like it when it’s more off a conversation. As two guys who just chat around, depending on my mood or whatever. It’s tough out here you know, I’m 44 years old and I’m not spring chicken anymore. I can still exercise, and I do. I treat my body right, but it’s still tough. When you’re waking up on the bus, and you still got no sleep. I need to take a sleeping pill to go to sleep because I’ve been thinking about things and my mind goes bzzzzz. And I manage myself, I don’t have a manager. I do most things by myself, so there’s lot to work out. It’s hard work, I can’t just kick back and relax and watch a movie. I want to, and I want to hang out with my wife and skype with her. Last Friday it was great, because I had some facetime with my son.  He goes to kindergarten, and had a ‘show and tell’ and had to bring something starting with the letter ‘C’. So he took the camera and during I phoned with him we picked out a little car and he took it. So that was his ‘show and tell’ and that was fun for me. I like that. So it’s weird talking about your record, talking about you. There’s nothing worse than false humbleism, there’s nothing worse than false modesty and I am that guy. I am a simple guy and there’s nothing wrong with it. I guess I can go back to work when I get back. If I want, I go back to work next week and work with my wife all the time, and I just may. We met in veterinary hospital, I was the head technician in the critical care unit and she was owner’s right hand, that was fun for me. I miss the normality. Then it’s awkward, it’s always a constant fucking battle. Because, when I go back to work, I miss this. And when I’m here, I miss that. It’s always constant conflict. It gets tiring sometimes

I find it also more comforting just to chat around, then to just read questions and wait for answers. Actually, my girlfriend got a call this weekend at 6:30 am: there’s a problem with your horse, there’s blood all over his stable. He was bleeding out of his nose and there was a little of panic going on. Today I was preparing this interview and said to my colleagues at work, maybe I should ask John Garcia about it. So, now I’m asking, what could be the problem?

Well I never did lot of bovines and equines (cows and horses) or a lot of exotic or large animals. I mostly do dogs and cats in the veterinary I work. But that’s interesting, I’m not a horse doctor, but if there’s blood coming out of the nose, I would immediately think that there’s a mass or something in the lunges or in the passages. That’s the first thing I would think of. Did they find out what it was?

Actually till now they didn’t, her veterinary is on holiday and will return tomorrow. But her horse seems fine. But he’s becoming old, so she rather not go to surgery if it isn’t really necessary.

Yeah, when you get old, shit just stops working like it once did. Like my knees, they don’t function like they used to do. And then you got to deal with it.

I still got two questions left. This one you don’t have to answer. Is there something you want to ask me?

Who do you think the best rock singer is?

It’s a hard one!

It’s a tough one, I know

There’s one man, who maybe isn’t the greatest singer of all time, but he’s capable of doing all kinds of genres with his voice, I would say Nick Cave. Because he did The Birthday Party, he did Grinderman, all the work with The Bad Seeds. Yeah, it’s my musical hero. But if you really mean a rock singer, I have to think harder.

Interesting isn’t it, I let you think about it. Thanks man, good deal, I appreciate this!

I have still one thing for you, but you got to earn it. It’s a bottle of Chimay, which can be yours if you got 3 out of 5 questions about Belgium right…

I’ll do my best...

Garcia had drie vragen correct en kreeg zijn fles blauwe Chimay. Achteraf zou blijken dat hij ze cadeau gaf aan zijn bassist die net die dag jarig was. Wat begon als een interview met klamme handen eindigde met twee gelukkige mensen. Het vervolg van de avond mag u gerust hier nalezen.

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