ROB ZOMBIE guitarist John 5 has released a cinematic music video for his solo song “Land Of The Misfit Toys”. The clip is set in 1980 and tells the tale of a young John Lowery who stumbles into a haunted house and becomes possessed by an entity. This entity gradually turns him into the guitar-shredding face-painted icon we all now know as John 5.
“Land Of The Misfit Toys” is taken from John 5‘s brand new solo album, “Sinner”, which was released on Friday, October 29 via Big Machine Records and is available everywhere now.
Speaking on the new track and accompanying video, John 5 shares: “‘Land of The Misfit Toys’ is my favorite track on the record. It’s a real epic and the longest track on the new album.
“I was watching a documentary on David Foster and how he would produce, arrange and build songs which really influenced me on the arrangement and production of this track.
“The camera that was used to film the video for ‘Land Of The Misfit Toys’ was the same camera that was used to film the new ‘Matrix’ movie that is coming out in December, which is pretty cool.
“The video tells the story of the 10-year-old John Lowery (played by my producer’s son), who stumbles into this haunted house and becomes possessed by an entity that causes him to start playing guitar and wearing the makeup. At the end of the video, he fully becomes John 5.
“Everybody knows that I’m a big fan of horror so this was a really fun video to make alongside director Chantal Savage.”
Commenting on “Sinner” and the incredible reaction to it, John 5 continues: “I’m so excited that the record is finally out. We had such a great time making it.
“I didn’t want to punch in with this record so each track is a full-performance. So if I started from the beginning and messed up, I would start again at the beginning until I got a great take all the way through. With a lot of time on my hands due to lockdown, I was able to really practice and focus on making the record the very best it could be.
“I’m so happy that the fans really love the album because I do this for the love of the guitar and the love of music and without the fans, it wouldn’t be anything. So thank you again to the fans. I will see you all on the road soon.”
The first single from “Sinner”, the epic “Qué Pasa”, revolves around a distinctive vocal refrain. Originally built with a sample, John opted to have it reworked by Grammy-winning MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine.
“Sinner” was produced and mixed by Barry Pointer at Riott House Studio in North Hollywood. Drums were engineered by ex-GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist Gilby Clarke at Redrum Recording in Los Angeles. The LP also features a guest appearance by original KISS drummer Peter Criss on a cover of “Georgia On My Mind”, a 1930s classic by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell that’s become famous thanks to Ray Charles decades later.
John 5 has worked with a varied range of artists, performing as guitarist for some of the biggest headlining rock bands in the world such as ROB ZOMBIE and MARILYN MANSON, as well as playing session with Paul Stanley, Rod Stewart, LYNYRD SKYNYRD and more. Slash has called John 5 “one of the most mind-blowing guitarists around,” and Rob Zombie has dubbed him “a fucking shredder.” John 5 has released nine solo albums to date, as well as a remix album, and has written music for the likes of Avril Lavigne, GARBAGE, Ricky Martin and others.
