Eric Johnson: All About Venus Isle | Exclusive Interview

Eric Johnson stood at the edge of uncharted terrain after the success of 1990’s Ah Via Musicom. On the back of mainstream rock chart hits “High Landrons,” “Righteous,” “Trademark,” and “Cliffs of Dover,” the LP racked up platinum status. The latter became the song every bedroom guitarist had to learn; in the process, “Cliffs of Dover” netted Johnson a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Meanwhile, in sharing the stage with the likes of Rush, Joe Satriani, and B.B. King, the Austin native earned a legion of new fans.

What to do for an encore was the predicament Johnson faced as he prepared to record his third studio album. Never content to rest on his musical laurels, he envisaged an inspired conceptual song cycle that would showcase the breadth of his talents. However, a series of issues intervened, including a bout with tinnitus, exorbitant recording costs, and personal tragedy. Moreover, Johnson’s perfectionist tonal tendencies were at their apex — with the guitarist reportedly toiling over endless combinations of guitars and amps.

Venus Isle would finally see release on September 3, 1996, six years after Ah Via Musicom — and a decade after his major-label debut, Tones. Despite the hardships encountered, the resulting LP showcases Johnson in a glorious light. The songwriting is mature, the arrangements are brimming with texture, and the production is rich. Songs such as the title track, “Battle We Have Won,” and “When the Sun Meets the Sky” reverberate with hopeful and uplifting messages. In fact, the album’s positive lyrical themes are arguably more resonant amid today’s turbulent times.

Of course, Johnson’s guitar playing on Venus Isle is otherworldly. There are marathon pentatonic-based runs and majestic solos. There are tasteful harmonic passages, koto-inspired flourishes, and luxurious harp harmonics, plus tasty slide playing and lush chordal flavorings. And the tones? Clean or dirty, the guitars are sumptuous throughout — and everything is delivered with EJ’s unmistakable touch.

With Venus Isle turning 25, we caught up with Johnson to revisit the writing and recording of this fan-favorite LP. As an added bonus, he also shared some news regarding his next album.

Eric, Ah Via Musicom was obviously a huge success for you. It stayed on the Billboard album chart for more than a year, and you won a Grammy for “Cliffs of Dover.” Was there a palpable pressure to up the ante in the wake of Ah Via Musicom’s success?

Eric Johnson: Yeah, I did feel some pressure. But I think it was self-inflicted. I had a real strong vision. I wanted to make a conceptual record to the best of my ability. I wanted to attempt to have a little bit more depth and reflection with some of the songwriting.

Ultimately, six years elapsed between Ah Via Musicom and Venus Isle. Can you talk about the obstacles you encountered?

EJ: It was a crazy journey making [Venus Isle]. We started off recording in Austin at this rehearsal studio. Some of that stuff actually ended up as good, if not better, as what went on the record. But, at the time, I was convinced I had to be in a really expensive, fancy studio to get a great product, which, of course, I don’t feel that way anymore. We basically recorded the record pretty much in its entirety [here in Austin]. And then I went to LA and redid it again.

That would have been A&M Studios in Los Angeles. What went wrong?

EJ: We did a bunch of tracks, and it was pretty much a nightmare. I just never could get a good guitar tone. It was a real learning experience for me. You can go to the fanciest place in the world and spend a lot of money and have all this catering and stuff — and all this great equipment — and you can still not get anywhere near the sound you might get in your living room. You know, it doesn’t always follow form that bigger is better or more expensive is better. We spent a lot of money recording it in Hollywood, but the tracks just sounded really flat, and the guitar tone was not happening.

I salvaged what I could and pieced it together, and then I re-recorded stuff at [Saucer Studios] that I put together in Austin. That was six to eight months of a dead start, but we finally got the wheels turning. And then I kept trying to conceptually get a certain thing that wouldn’t follow suit to Ah Via Musicom. I was in a phase where I was pushing really hard because I was concurrently trying to learn more about music and trying to up my own musicality.

You also weathered a bout with tinnitus.

EJ: Yeah, halfway through the record, I damaged my ears. Fortunately, thank God, they got better, and I’m OK now. But I had a period of about two years where I was having serious ear problems, and so that also slowed things down. Then the [album] was running over budget so much, I had to stop a number of times and go on tour to stay alive financially. It was just a lot of different things going on. I think I ended up spending three and a half years of recording time on the album.

The project evolved in terms of the title and songs. It was originally titled Long Path Meadow, and then it morphed into Travel One Hope. Why did you change directions?

EJ: Well, I have a song called “Long Path Meadow.” And I might be calling that the name of a record in the future. I didn’t end up putting that song on [Venus Isle], so I said, “Well, maybe I shouldn’t call it that.” And then Travel One Hope, I wanted to use that. But the general consensus was it was a little too obtuse. Like, “What does that mean?” I had a song called “Venus Isle,” so I thought, “Well, maybe I’ll just name it that.”

Were there other songs that were shelved?

EJ: There was a song called “Love Will Never Say Goodbye” that I kept a basic track of and overdubbed on, and it’s going to be on my new record. It’s leftover from that period. As far as other stuff, I don’t know. I started ditching songs, rewriting songs, and writing new songs to fit the record concept.

Let’s run through the tracks that did wind up comprising Venus Isle. First up, can you shed some light on the concept behind the title track?

EJ: The meaning behind “Venus Isle” is: Here we are; we have this human form on the planet. And we’re here just for a certain amount of time. The island part was the human body, and Venus was love. So, our whole opportunity is just to realize and create and give love while we’re here in this human form. And there’s no better service we can do to others or ourselves.

The song’s introduction features a pastiche with multiple guitar layers, atmospheric vocals, and various effects. What was your thinking in setting up the album in this fashion?

EJ: It’s just kind of an overture thing to start the record and create a mood. I was always fascinated with the intro that Jimi Hendrix did to “Wild Thing” at the Monterey Pop Festival. If you hear it, you notice all these shorting-cord noises. And I just thought, “That’s right up there with Igor Stravinsky. That intro is so amazing.” (laughs) I just love it. It’s so left of center of your typical guitar thing, and then you place that in 1967, and it’s just unbelievable. I’m so thankful for that kind of influx in my inspiration.

When I did [the “Venus Isle”] intro, I wanted to try to get some cord shortings, so I literally took a cord, and we razor bladed it to where barely any strands were hanging on. As I moved around, it would kind of short out. And then I recorded a guitar track. So, it’s kind of going, “[imitates chord shorting sound]” (laughs).

You have previously cited “Battle We Have Won” as an important song for you. As a matter of fact, you pleaded with Capitol Records to release that as the album’s first single. Pardon the pun, but why is that a battle you didn’t win?

EJ: To be really honest, making Venus Isle was a very traumatic time for me personally, in terms of working with people, the recording process, studios, and trying to come up with something that was worthwhile but didn’t sound just like Ah Via Musicom. I was being challenged in certain ways, which is fine. Everybody is. That’s part of life, and it’s OK. It’s actually how we hone the metal, I guess you would say.

But that song was really important to me because of the lyrics and because it says something that I wanted to say. You know, once you become Andy of Mayberry, it’s tough. Sometimes, record companies and people want to know you’re supposed to do [one] thing. I really wanted to release [“Battle We Have Won”] as a portrayal of the record. But I was told, “No, you’re an instrumental guitar player, and you’ve got to do this, and you’ve got to do that.” That was one of the challenges of learning what [I was] up against. But there are ways around it. Interestingly enough, and probably more importantly, is how people feel. Over the years, that is one of the top songs that people have emailed me or sent me things saying it really meant a lot to them. So, in a way, I ended up succeeding. Maybe I didn’t get it released as a single or I didn’t get to posture myself as much as I wanted to as a singer/songwriter. But I did accomplish that with some listeners, and that’s more important because the rest of it is so temporal anyhow.

“All About You” is another vocal song, but there are lots of guitars, including some soaring lead passages. In general, how did you approach your leads for Venus Isle?

EJ: Usually, I would work out some of the basic parts, and then some of the solos would be improvised. And then I would go back after I improvised it, and I would fix certain little sections that were kind of static or not really doing something. But I would leave whatever happened naturally that was interesting.

Lyrically, is there a specific person that this song is directed toward?

EJ: I wrote that about my father. He was going through some hard times.

“SRV” is a tip of the hat to Stevie Ray Vaughan. Obviously, you got to know Stevie given you were both from Texas. How did he inspire you along your own musical path?

EJ: I still learn from him. Just from his musicality and listening to him, it still affects me and inspires me. I think he’s one of those artists that was a great guitar player. But he had the whole package. He put on a good show; he looked great onstage. I’ve always thought Stevie was as good a singer as he was guitar player. I’ve always loved his voice. And he had great songs.

“Lonely in the Night” is a darker track on the album. This one was penned by Vince Mariani, a drummer you played with earlier in your career. How did this song come to be part of the project?

EJ: Vince wrote tons of really nice songs, and I just decided, “I want to do one of Vince’s songs.” When he played me that song, I heard it with strings and having a little bit of an “Eleanor Rigby”–type influence. I just kind of went with that and tried to arrange it as such. And we got the Austin Symphony to play on it. Actually, I didn’t get the song finished until we were back in LA, mixing the record. So, I had to play the solo somewhat quickly.

“Manhattan” showcases your jazzier side. There is a great YouTube video of you playing it live at Musicians Institute in 1984. When did you write that tune?

EJ: I think that was about the period I wrote it, ’84. There were a number of songs that I’d written in that period, like “Cliffs of Dover” I wrote in ’82, I think, but never recorded it until Ah Via Musicom. Some of this stuff was actually considered for the Tones record and then for Ah Via Musicom, but there were too many songs, and we had to pick what to put on. I just knew at that point; I said, “I really want to get [‘Manhattan’] on the record, so I’m really going to try and go for this.” But it really was just a tip of the hat to Wes Montgomery. In fact, the main lick of “Manhattan,” you can hear Wes play almost that exact little lick toward the fade-out of a song he had called “Up and at It” [sings lick].

“Camel’s Night Out” was a tune brought in by bassist Kyle Brock. It features some of your more exhilarating guitar playing on the album. Can you recall your guitar/amp setup for this track?

EJ: I used a Flying V. And I think I used a Fuzz Face and a Tube Driver through a 100-watt Marshall.

This is a song you’ve played a lot live.

EJ: It’s fun because it’s just a straight-ahead rock tune and there’s so much room to improvise. You can play it completely different every night. It’s always fun playing stuff live that’s just wide open.

“Song for Lynette” is a gorgeous piano-based instrumental. It certainly helps cement Venus Isle as being far more than a guitar album. Was it important for you to showcase all sides of your musicality?

EJ: Well, ever since I was a kid, I’ve wrote songs on the piano. I’m certainly not the best songwriter in the world by any stretch, but [piano has] always been a part of my musical repertoire. I love guitar, and I loved Hendrix, Clapton, Beck, and John McLaughlin, and all these great players. You take it all in, and maybe you learn how to play, and people go, “Oh, you play guitar!” And then you ride a wave that has some energy on it, and then people say, “OK, we got you. You’re a guitar player.” I think I have to take a lot of responsibility because I’m the one who went, “OK, yeah, that’s what I do. I’ll just do that.” I didn’t really say, “Here’s this other stuff.” I think I started saying later on, “You know, I like this, too.” I started trying to throw a little bit more of that kind of material on the record.

The album is dedicated to Darcie Silver, a special acquaintance of yours who passed away prior to the album’s release. According to an article by The Washington Post, her middle name was Lynette. Was “Song for Lynette” written as a tribute to her?

EJ: Yes, that’s true.

In the face of struggle, many people find solace through listening to music. Do you find that writing songs helps you navigate life’s trials and tribulations?

EJ: Oh, yeah. I’m very thankful that I get to play music for a living and that I’ve been able to have a long-term career. I love the opportunity to try to do something that maybe will make people feel good for a moment. It’s always been a big deal to me, like if I’d go to see this movie, and it would transform me and uplift me or open up a new stratosphere, I would think, “God, how cool. There’s some medium that just pushed me into some other level of air or consciousness.” And it’s the same with music. When I was growing up, to listen to Beatles tracks, or especially to listen to the Stevie Wonder records from the ’70s, I would get so much inspiration, and it would be such a huge lift. I just think that is an awesome energy source. So, I’ve always gotten a lot of enjoyment from trying to use that energy source to make people feel better. I’m not interested in using that energy source to destroy or to diffuse — I think there’s a place for that, to a certain extent, because it calls attention to issues that need to be looked at. But I just think that life is tough. And people have to go through a lot for the 18 hours we’re awake, and there can be struggles and challenges. It’s not whether you succeed or fail, it’s what you try to do. To try and lift people up is an opportunity to me that’s too valuable to miss.

Speaking of uplifting, “When the Sun Meets the Sky” is one of the album’s epic tracks in clocking at nearly eight minutes. Can you talk about recording this song and what sparked it?

EJ: Well, I have a demo for that song that we did in Austin that I almost feel captured the song better. At the time, I was like, “No, I can’t use the demo. I’ve got to go get it perfect!” (laughs) I wouldn’t do that now. But the demo version that I had was great, except there was this one mistake in it. I said, “No, I can’t use it.” So, I had to re-record it. But that song to me is just about getting clear and that realization of following your passion or your muse, or just clarifying your intentions and the design of your mind and what you’re trying to do. It’s about chasing that bliss, that dream.

“Pavilion” is a fast-moving instrumental that was also released as a single. What was the genesis of this track?

EJ: Well, it was just a riff that I had. And I liked the riff, so I wanted to write a song around it. It kind of went into different areas, but I wanted to have a bit of a James Bond thing in it. [Editor’s note: The part referred to occurs at 1:46 and 4:21.]

There is a chordal sequence that concludes “Pavilion” and leads into “Venus Reprise.” It is the same chord sequence that ends the album’s title track.

EJ: Yeah, it was kind of a reprise or a revisiting of that overture. I wanted to try to give people an uplifting feeling.

The album was co-produced by the late Richard Mullen, a longtime collaborator of yours. How important was Richard in helping you achieve your sonic vision for not just this album but your music in general?

EJ: I was fortunate to work with Richard. He was the main engineer for Stevie Ray Vaughan, too — he did the first several records. He just had a really great ear, and he really knew how to get a great guitar tone. You didn’t really have to school him or extrapolate a lot to him. He just knew how to dial it in. He had a really beautiful talent.

When it comes to your music, many focus on your guitar work, and rightfully so. But your vocal delivery throughout Venus Isle is impeccable. What was your vocal workflow like with Richard?

EJ: I think we used a Neumann mic. Richard did some type of parallel-compression thing and maybe a delayed reverb — I don’t really recall exactly. [For my vocal takes,] he would always add suggestions if I asked for them, and he had a great ear. He would definitely come up with ideas to make things better.

Eric, your recording philosophy evolved following Venus Isle. You stated a desire to start focusing more on improvisation in the studio. Were the difficulties you encountered with Venus Isle the reason behind wanting to go in this new direction?

EJ: Yeah, a little bit. I think that there are times in the past I’ve made songs where everything is grammatically correct, but they could have a little bit more verve or personal feeling to them. I think it’s fine to try to get as high a watermark as you can, proficiency-wise or technically, but you’ve got to make sure that it has that emotion, that feeling, and that organic quality to it. That’s been something I’ve been trying to think about more.

I’ve always gotten a lot of enjoyment from trying to use [my music] to make people feel better. . . . To try and lift people up is an opportunity to me that’s too valuable to miss.

Around the album’s release, you stated that you were “working to get to a place that I hadn’t been before.” With the benefit of 25 years of hindsight, how do you view that statement?

EJ: I think it’s just always a process and a journey. And, sometimes on that journey, you accelerate, and you make progress. And other times you go down the rabbit hole, and you have to backtrack — or maybe I should say bushwhack — your way back to the main road. And I’ve done a lot of bushwhacking. I guess I’m the Crocodile Dundee of A/B-ing and dinking around and trying to find a better way (laughs).

Fast-forwarding to the present, you’ve recently shared a few snippets from the studio. Can you share any details about your new album?

EJ: When the pandemic hit, I wasn’t able to do any touring, obviously, and I wasn’t able to record with people. I just started digging all these unfinished things out of my closet and found a bunch of basic tracks. And I coupled those with recording a few new things on my own. So, [my new album] is old basic tracks that I redid and overdubbed and finished off plus about four or five brand-new pieces. It ended up being like 22 songs, so it’s a double record. I’m just finishing it up now, and I’ll be hopefully getting it out real soon.

Finally, you’ll be going on the road for the Eric Johnson Treasure Tour in 2022, including a stop here in Fort Wayne at The Clyde Theatre. A couple of years back, you did Ah Via Musicom in its entirety. What are the chances of you playing Venus Isle front to back one of these days?

EJ: That’d be fun. I’d love that. It’s a little bit more involved — I think I’d need a bigger band (laughs).

More Eric Johnson

ICYMI, check out Mitch Gallagher’s in-depth Ah Via Musicom video interview with Eric Johnson, Kyle Brock, and Tommy Taylor. And be sure to catch Eric on his Treasure Tour in 2022.

Looking to capture some Eric Johnson–inspired tones? Browse the variety of EJ-related gear we have here at Sweetwater!