By Shaun Christie
From his days spent jamming with an early incarnation of the Red Hot Chili Peppers to sharing the stage as the fourth member of rock behemoths Them Crooked Vultures and engineering the Arctic Monkeys ‘Humbug’ album- Alain Johannes has a musical history to turn every guitar slinger green with envy.
His guitar prowess, which was showcased during his time with Queens of Stone Age and his band Eleven, is at the forefront of his soon to be released solo album ‘Spark’. His solo debut ‘Spark’, which should be available around Sept/Oct, is a musical representation of how he dealt with the sadness, grief and anger after the loss of his beloved Natasha, his wife and musical partner of 25 years.
The delicate balance between immense grief and great appreciation for the time he spent with Natasha make ‘Spark’ a compelling listen. While the subject matter is tinged with sadness there are moments of sheer beauty which bring a positive spin to the tracks. Alain reminisced that he felt as if his wife “was sat beside me as I made this record.”
Much like ‘Spark’ the man himself was extremely open and honest during an August 2010 interview with MishMash Magazine.
MishMash: Hello Alain, You just got back from playing in Tokyo with Them Crooked Vultures, how was it?
Alain: It was amazing. It was my first time as well. I have nearly gone so many times with Chris Cornell on his solo tour, and with Queens of the Stone Age but it just didn’t happen, so am glad I finally got to experience it. It was quite mad. [Laughs] We played a theatre called Shibuya AX then headed to the Fuji Rock Festival. It was pretty mental; the weather was hot and humid and had this weird sideways rain. But it was a really beautiful setting at the foot of the mountain.
MM: So what is it like to be a member of Them Crooked Vultures? I imagine it would have seemed quite daunting at first?
Alain: There is great chemistry between us all and that’s developed even more as we have begun playing more and more shows. John Paul Jones has been a hero of mine since I was a kid and Led Zeppelin was a huge inspiration to me. I have worked with Josh (Homme) since about 2000 on ‘Songs for the Deaf’ and I also met Dave (Grohl) during that time. So really it’s a bunch of old friends hanging out with a new friend and just jamming on songs.
Daunting-wise, initially we were just trying to wrap our heads around the music. But I’ve been around a while and can hold my own on that front. [Laughs] I remember one time when we were playing a live show and John Paul Jones was doing his thing and I was staring mesmerized. I suddenly could hear this feedback coming from somewhere and realized I’d taken my hand off the guitar. I wasn’t playing anything and creating all this feedback because I was hypnotized by his playing!
MM: I know what you mean, I saw the Vultures play at the Wiltern and when John played his solo pieces everyone seemed in a trance…
Alain: Yeah he’s a genius. It’s great because now I can go back and listen to the Led Zeppelin stuff and I can pick out the huge influence he had on their songs. Just little things like harmonics which I know came directly from him.
MM: Can you tell us about the inspiration behind ‘Spark’?
Alain: Unfortunately the inspiration behind the album is that I lost the love of my life. My partner of 25 years passed away from cancer in July of 2008. We were this great team and partners in music, friendship and everything amazing about life. I wrote the song ‘Endless Eyes’ for the benefit concert we held in her honor. Afterward I was with PJ Harvey and Jon Brion playing songs on my cigar box guitar and they were really pushing me to take it further down the path. Then the songs started to come little by little.
The songs all came from the prism view of the grieving process. They came from the sheer tribute of love, anger and then frustration and the gratitude. I locked myself away for four days and recorded the songs in somewhat of a haze. I didn’t even realize it but when I finished the record it was November 29th, the anniversary of the day Natasha and I met. That’s also a variation of eleven. [November is the 11th month, 2+9 is 11] Our band was called Eleven because the number just kept appearing everywhere by coincidence. Natasha also passed away at 11.11am and I was just shocked like “Oh my god, seriously?”
It was an intense four days and I really felt like she was sitting next to me making the record with me. It was very cathartic and felt like a release of sorts, but it also fully awakened the whole grieving process. Consequently playing those songs are hard without visiting that space, you know? They are very fragile.
MM: Certainly a standout track for me was the song ‘Spider’ which seemed very vocal driven with a very minimal guitar sound….
Alain: That was the very last song that was written and recorded for the album. It came about because Natasha’s nickname was ‘Spider’. We called her ‘Spider’ because she could play keyboard/bass in a Stevie Wonder style- she was very ambidextrous. It was like her two hands were different people as the bass groove would come from the left hand and the right would play lead while also doing vocals.
I visited her gravesite and knelt down and placed my hand upon her gravestone. A spider jumped up onto my hand and proceeded to walk up my arm across my face then down my other arm. It then crawled back up the other side of her gravestone which has a beautiful etching of her imprinted into it. It was filled with meaning for me so it came over me to write the song and that’s what officially finished the record.
MM: The guitar is definitely a force in this album. You seem to use a lot of styles such as Flamenco and Eastern. Is there a particular style you prefer to play?
Alain: I started really early on. I began playing when I was four years old and started by learning most of The Beatles songs. Though I spoke Spanish at the time so they sounded somewhat different to the originals when I sang. [Laughs]
I remember this Canadian kid moved next door and he had all the cool records. That’s when I got to hear Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder and all that great stuff. I went and got myself an electric guitar and amp. At first I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t getting that feedback that I could hear on all these rock records. But then I realized I had a big old clean amp so wasn’t getting that lovely screeching crazy sound that I wanted! I have always been attracted to finding inspiration for the guitar that doesn’t actually come from the guitar per se. Like a more vocal way of playing or finding different noises. The guitar has almost been tired out but to me it’s still full of possibilities.
When I moved to LA my first band was basically everyone that was in the original Red Hot Chili Peppers, minus Anthony Kiedis. Even though I was ahead of those guys on my instrument, I had been playing since I was a kid and they had just started, something told me to stick with these guys. I really liked hanging out with them. It was great. We got to have all these exploratory jams after school each day and I got to help define the sound of the band.
MM: That’s quite some after school band to be jamming with! For ‘Spark’ I imagine it would have been easy to ask your musician friends to come and play and sing on it. Was it a conscious effort not to go down that route and make it a truly ‘solo’ album?
Alain: I didn’t view it as solo album. It was really the best way for me to communicate the love and the loss. Friends offered to help even with just the engineering of the record but I felt that it would change the energy of it. They are my dearest friends but this was something I felt I had to do on my own. In future though, with what I do next, I definitely see collaborations happening.
MM: You also produced the album. Is that something you like to pursue as well?
Alain: Producing was something that I really forced myself to learn and just happened to be good at. It was also helpful for Natasha and I so we could see both sides of the view because we were both artists ourselves. I may get involved with producing again once the schedule quiets down. Them Crooked Vultures touring has now come to an end but I have the dates playing with and opening for the Queens of the Stone Age on their upcoming South America tour so after that hopefully there will be some time.
MM: Will you be doing your own headlining tour when the albums released?
Alain: I don’t think I’m well known enough to head out on my own headline tour just yet. I could certainly turn up at a pub and play a few songs though. [Laughs] I will be opening for the Queens of Stone Age though on their upcoming tour in Europe and South America. I’m also going to play some shows with Sweethead and Mini Mansions at some point.
MM: So one final question, of all your musical projects which are you most proud of?
Alain: On a personal level, I would say the solo record and my band Eleven but all the projects I have been involved with are very enjoyable. Desert Sessions was a great project to be apart of as well and there’s another one looming on the horizon. It’s all creative but it means more when you are the one writing the tracks.
Alain Johannes debut album ‘Spark’ will be released soon. Go to http://alainjohannes.com for more info.
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