Guitarist Ace Von Johnson reveals most of the new L.A. Guns album is done

Guitarist Ace Von Johnson reveals most of the new L.A. Guns album is done

L.A. Guns guitarist Ace Von Johnson was recently interviewed by Andrew DiCecco for Vinyl Writer Music.

Von Johnson was asked what are the latest developments within the L.A. Guns to which he replied: “Yeah, we’ve got this big package tour, the Sonic Slam, with Tom Keifer, us, and Faster Pussycat. So, I’m really excited about getting back on the road and I know the other guys are. I talked to Taime two days ago on the phone for quite a while, and he is as well. As are the Tom Keifer guys; I see most of his band regularly here in Nashville. There will be another L.A. Guns record sooner than later. I can say that most of it is done. It’s in various stages of production, obviously, but it exists. That’s kinda all I can say about that, I guess, because that’s sort of not my story to tell, per se. But there will be another L.A. Guns record. I don’t know what the plan is, but I would guarantee within the next twelve months, for sure.”

In terms of the blueprint for L.A. Guns‘ latest album Checkered Past, Von Johnson indicated (with slight edits): “That’s a good question. The blueprint, I think, really stems from two things; the core of Phil and Tracii working together, and the fact that the band members have been working together so closely for so many years now. There’s a fluidity to it, where often, we would walk in at soundcheck, and Tracii would be like, “Hey, check out this riff!” And he’d noodle, and we would be like, “Alright,” and jump in. And then a year would go by and I’d get a text … “Check your email,” and it’d be Tracii with this demo version, and I’d be like, “Oh, I know that riff! That’s that thing from eighteen months ago.” So, a lot of it formulated like that, naturally. You gotta understand, it’s Tracii’s band – the guy is a legend in his own right – so he’s cranking out music constantly, just like the rest of us. Like I said, I’ll wake up and there will be an email, and there will be a bunch of songs in my inbox. It’s just a cool thing to be a part of, that I get to sort of ride shotgun, or even in the backseat, of this project.

Then the other thing was, I think that a large part of that stemmed from the fact that we were thrown into this whole like, “Holy shit, there’s a pandemic right now. How do we write an album?” I recorded probably ninety percent of my guitars seated where I am right now, in my office. And I think everybody did their own, respectively. I think Phil recorded most of his at home; Tracii recorded most of his guitars in Denmark, where he lives. So, it was two continents and four states. I can only speak for myself, and for me, with some of the stuff contributed to Checkered Past – as well as, I got this one song I really like for the new record – I’m just writing going, “Does this sound like L.A. Guns?” And aiming for that. Or if [Tracii] sends me something, my mindset is, “For my contribution, how can I make it sound more like the band you want to hear?”

With [The] Devil You Know, I don’t know anything about it because I wasn’t really privy to it. I am pictured and credited on the album as a member, but the album was written and recorded about a year before I joined. I’ve had a couple come up and be like, “Oh, I don’t want you to sign the record. You’re on it, but you didn’t play on it.” I think we bounced back on the third reunion record. If you ask me, of the three records, I personally think Checkered Past is the strongest effort.”

You can read the rest of the interview with Ace Von Johnson at Vinyl Writer Music‘s website.