Dave Navarro has been open about the tragic reasons he stopped playing guitar for a year, but in a new interview the Jane's Addiction star revealed what inspired him to pick it back up after so long.
“I started listening to Steely Dan in my house, and it was like, ‘That is some weird playing!’ I started learning Steely Dan stuff, which I never really did a deep dive into. And then I just got into playing guitar every day. Steely Dan, Steely Dan, Steely Dan," he recalled during a visit to the Kyle Meredith With... podcast. "[Then I] turned into Eddie Van Halen. I was like, ‘Oh, I’m just gonna go deep dive Eddie Van Halen.’”
“I think a lot of it has to do with years of loving the guitar and then getting sick to death of it, and not touching it for a year; then hearing something inspiring, and falling in love with it again… then getting sick to death of it.” Navarro admitted. “I think that once you fall back in love with it, you’re like, ‘Let’s f***ing go!’”
Last month, the Jane's Addiction guitarist admitted that his year-long hiatus from his instrument came after he was diagnosed with long COVID and his good friend and NHC bandmate Taylor Hawkins died. In another interview, Navarro revealed that he and Hawkins recorded an album before his untimely death that he hopes "sees the light of day."
Navarro is currently on tour with Jane's, marking the band's first tour with its classic lineup since 2010. See a full list of dates here and listen to his full Kyle Meredith With... interview below.