Ultimate Guitar recently caught up with Rob Zombie guitarist John 5 to discuss his solo album and Zombie's next record . Following is an excerpt from the interview.

UG: I understand that the (new Rob Zombie) music has been done for a while since you commented (back in the spring of 2018) that the writing process was a bit different.

John 5: "That is correct, yes. It was really cool because Rob had these vocal ideas and melodies and lyrics that were phenomenal. I came in and put music to that. It was really great because he didn’t have to worry about (shifting his ideas around) – his ideas were there and I had to play around with his melodies. So he thought it was cool and really liked it. It was a different approach, but it was a great approach. It allowed us to get a little more experimental because his parts were done, and I wasn’t going to walk over his vocal melodies and lyrics and all that. It was a really good way to do it and the album is super heavy and really catchy so I’m super excited about it."

UG: Will there be any banjo featured on the new Zombie album?

John 5: "There is banjo. There’s a song called 'Howdy' and it’s a monster – there’s some banjo in there. There is all sorts of really cool picking. I love that stuff, it’s a totally different style of playing but its entertaining for me and I think people enjoy it too, to go from something that super heavy into some banjo pickin’. It's really a lot of fun. So, there’s some banjo, some mandolin and I even played a little lap steel on there as well. I won’t be doing the lap steel live though because I’m not great at it. I was going to do this thing where I would switch all the instruments but, man, that is not easy, let me tell you."

Read the complete interview here.

John 5 And The Creatures will now kick off their North American Invasion 2019 Tour on February 26th in Mesa, AZ. The complete routing is as listed:

February
26 - Mesa, AZ - Club Red
28 - Albuquerque, MN - Launch Pad

March
1 - Lubbock, TX - Jake's
2 - San Antonio, TX - Rock Box
3 - Houston, TX - Scout Bar
5 - Austin, TX - Come and Take It Live
6 - Dallas, TX - Trees
7 - Oklahoma City, OK - 89th Street
9 - Indianapolis, IN - HiFi
10 - Akron, OH - Empire Concert Club
12 - Sellersville, PA - Sellersville Theater
13 - New York, NY - Iridium
14 - Poughkeepsie, NY - The Loft at The Chance
15 - Teaneck, NJ - Debonair Music Hall
16 - Hampton Beach, NH - Wally's
17 - Lebanon, NH - Lebanon Opera House
18 - New Bedford, MA - Vault at Greasy Luck
20 - Quebec City, QC - L'Anti Bar & Spectacles
21 - Montreal, QC - Piranha
22 - Ottawa, ON - The Brass Monkey
23 - Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace
24 - London, ON - Rum Runners
26 - Thunder Bay, ON - Crocks
27 - Winnipeg, MB - Pyramids
28 - Regina, SK - The Exchange
29 - Calgary, AB - Dickens
30 - Edmonton, AB - Starlite
31 - Vancouver, BC - The Rickshaw Theater

April
2 - Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe
3 - Portland, OR - Dantes
5 - Sacramento, CA - Holy Diver
6 - Los Angeles, CA - The Whisky
7 - Anaheim, CA - The Parish at House Of Blues
11 - Las Vegas, NV - Count's Vamp'd
14 - San Diego, CA - Brick By Brick

John 5 And The Creatures - comprised of world-renowned guitarist John 5, bassist Ian Ross and drummer Logan Miles Nix - released a brand new music video for the new track "Zoinks!" yesterday, January 1st. The full video - featuring an innovative blend of classic 2D hand drawn animation, 3D computer generated imagery and a live action performance - clocks in at just over eight minutes.

In the tradition of Scooby Doo and Groovie Goolies, the video is written and directed by Disney animator Brett Boggs (Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph), with live footage shot by Matt Zane. Watch the full video below, and download/stream the track here.

As previously announced, the video features a cameo from Nikki Sixx voice acting as himself, as well as additional voice acting from Susan Olsen (known for her role as Cindy Brady on The Brady Bunch), and Fred Coury. Coury also is credited for scoring the video alongside John 5.

Just like 2017's Season Of The Witch, Invasion - produced and mixed by Barry Pointer and scheduled for release during the summer of 2019 - will be entirely released via a series of music videos. Now that "Zoinks!" has been unleashed to the world, John 5 is announcing the release dates for his next two music videos.

John 5 adds that his new album will feature a very special guest. He says, "My new album will be out this coming summer, and will feature a very secret, special guest that I will reveal in the coming weeks. Up first, on February 1st, we'll release the next music video for the track 'Crank It'. Then, on March 1st, we'll release the video sequel to 'Zoinks!', for the track entitled 'I Am John 5'. This video, like 'Zoinks!', will also be animated and directed by Brett Boggs."

John 5 adds that the "Crank It" video is directed by Israel Perez and produced by Nicole Hatley, with art direction by Cody Varona. Wardrobe and masks are provided by Forgotten Saints LA, with additional masks by Scott Blake.