Right up there with other leading ladies of Heavy Metal and Hard Rock during the 1980s such as Lita Ford or Doro Pesch, Janet Gardner is a voice to be reckoned with. Building a career as the leading voice of the all-female band Vixen, they would rocket into charts with songs like “Edge of a Broken Heart” and “Cryin”; both off their debut self-titled album dubbed one of the ’50 greatest hair Metal albums of all time’ by Rolling Stone.
An intricate part of Vixen’s success as a guitarist and the powerful voice in front of their songs, Gardner dipped in and out of the band in the early 2000s, before taking the lead yet again for nearly a decade between 2012 and 2019. All good times for fans, to the surprise of many Gardner decided to bow out of Vixen in 2019… but what would follow would be something extremely delightful.
A brave move, Gardner would boldly embark on a solo career that showed she was not only a strong singer, but also a great songwriter. Releasing a list of albums over the last six years under her own name, most recently she put out No Strings; the second to bear her name, along with co-songwriter Justin James. An invigorating, inspiring time for Gardener, she recently sat down to talk about the early days of Vixen, working as a solo artist, writing with her husband Justin James, keeping healthy, and more.
Cryptic Rock – You have built a very successful career in Rock-n-Roll. Leading Vixen, you have also forged a solo career in more recent years. How would you describe your incredible musical journey?
Janet Gardner – As long as I can remember I have just been in love with music since I was really little. For me it just sort of grew into seeing other people and saying, “I want to do that” to practicing, learning, and getting out there. It’s definitely been a building process and a roller coaster. There have been huge ups and terrible downs… it’s been a crazy ride. The bottom line is I just love doing it and I can’t live without it! So, that’s what keeps me going… it’s my extreme love of it.
Cryptic Rock – It is great that you are still going strong because you clearly have a lot more to give with your solo material. You had success with Vixen in the ‘80s and it rode out for a while. You put a lot of hard work to get the band to that point. What was that like for you?
Janet Gardner – When you’re that young, that age, anything risky doesn’t really seem that risky. You’re just following your heart. Back then you really didn’t think of the consequences of failure. You didn’t think – what if it doesn’t happen? What if we don’t get signed? What if we don’t make it to where we want to be? You don’t really think of that at that point in your life. It is only later that you start thinking, “Man, I have responsibilities, children, etc.” You rethink things a little bit as you start to get older. Back to the beginning though, it was pretty carefree. It was… let’s just go for it, don’t look back. don’t hesitate! I think that is why we were able to pull it off.
Cryptic Rock – Interesting. Vixen continued on, you released a few more records, and there were reunions here and there. In recent years you decided to step away from Vixen and concentrate on your solo material. Was that a difficult decision, or do you think the time was right to focus on your solo music?
Janet Gardner – It’s very complicated and there were a lot of things happening in my life and in Vixen. I think I knew it was time to put that away and focus on what Justin (James) and I were working on together. Of course, we are married, have children, and a lot of other stuff going on.
It was definitely time for me to make that move. I’m very happy, don’t regret it, and I love writing with Justin. We just have the right amount of music in our lives. We have a lot of stuff. Without music both of us would be dead. (Laughs) However, with too much, we would be stressed, it would be too much, and our family obligations would suffer. It’s all about balance and I think we’ve really achieved that together. I am very happy.
Cryptic Rock – That is great to hear; balance is key in all aspects of life. You released your first solo record around seven years ago, and you followed up with a few more records. Now you have a brand-new record in 2023 and your second official as the duet of Gardner/ James. How did it come to be that you two would write music together?
Janet Gardner – We were nervous. We thought – we have such a great personal relationship, what if doing this drives a wedge between us, or, what if we don’t have that kind of chemistry? It is different making music together, so we put it off for a while. I was still working on stuff with Gina (Stile) from Vixen; I was doing my thing and Justin was doing his. We moved into a new home, and we set up a studio in an extra room especially for that.
It happened accidentally; Justin was down there playing and recording something. I heard it and I was inspired, so I picked up guitar, started playing some chords over what he was doing, started humming some melodies, and it just turned into a song. From then on, we were inseparable in the studio. We were down there constantly writing, recording, and reworking things. It was extremely exciting and very productive.
Granted, it’s not always happy and perfect… there are disagreements and moments. We are both very sensitive to each other’s feelings. We pick out battles very carefully so the other person doesn’t feel like they are being run over.
Cryptic Rock – Comprising… just like a marriage. It sounds like the collaboration has reinvigorated you in a way. Which leads us to the new album, No Strings, which has a lot of great songs. What has the writing and recording process been like for this new album?
Janet Gardner – It’s always been kind of back and forth between Justin and I. This album in particular, most of the songs started with him with some sort of guitar riff. He would get to a certain place, play it for me, and say, “What do you think?” The same thing as when we first started. He would be down there playing, I would be doing something else, hear something he is playing, and yell at him from upstairs, “What was that? Play it again quickly and record it before it goes away!” That is how it started.
Justin was definitely more motivated on this one than me. He prodded me a lot which is fine… I just wasn’t in as big of a hurry. A lot of times I have to listen to it quite a bit, go on walks with the earbuds in, listen to the vibe of the song, and then try to get the melody and lyrics together and whatever chord changes that need to be done to make the song work. Then when we got to the point of mixing and mastering one of our goals this time was to make it sound better. We wanted to raise the bar a little bit; get the production cleaner, clearer, and have it do more justice to the songs themselves.
That is where Justin went nuts! He did so much research… we got some new toys for him to clean up the mixes a bit. He worked his butt off on the mastering. The mixing, I get involved more in with the balancing of instruments, what parts need to weave in and out, and things like that. The sonic stuff, I leave that to him. I will comment on it and tell him if I think it’s too bassy, kind of shrill, or kind of high and it’s going to kill people’s ears. He worked very hard on this and he should be really proud… because I think it sounds better than any of the other albums we have done.
Cryptic Rock – It does sound really good. The songs are strong too. There is a cohesiveness to this album and there is also a diversity too. Was that important?
Janet Gardner – For sure! That’s why we try not to set restrictions on style. We do what we naturally love which is Hard Rock, blusey Rock… things we have grown up with and come to love. At the same time, you want to reach a little bit here and there for different sounds, vibes, tempos, lyrics, subject matter, etc. You try to definitely push the boundaries a little bit every time and I hope we’ve done that.
Making it cohesive… yes, it’s important, but these days people pick and choose what songs they like anyway. On one hand you have to make it you, something that makes sense together, and something that flows if you listen to the first song all the way to the last song… you want it to make sense. However, if it doesn’t, it’s not the end of the world; because people are going to pick what they like anyway.
Cryptic Rock – Very true. It is also kind of sad how music has become so fragmented and how it is consumed by people. The album structure is so important to the fabric of Rock-n-Roll.
Janet Gardner – I agree with that completely. I love buying a full collection of something, looking at it, holding it, reading it, and putting it in the player. That’s a ritual that is gone pretty much. I loved that growing up. I loved getting vinyl, pulling it out of the sleeve, looking at it, finding a booklet, or a poster! There was a mystique back then. That is kind of all you got to know the band and go see a show. You didn’t know what they had for breakfast everyday or what they were doing minute by minute like you know now. That’s sadly gone. I miss that… I really do.
Cryptic Rock – It is extremely true. That is something that hopefully can come back in some way. It brings something to the music and gives you an appreciation for the music that is lost in the modern world. You have released No Strings on CD. Are there any chances of releasing the album on vinyl?
Janet Gardner – We would love that. Frontier has talked about it. We received a long email of what you have to turn in for them to do vinyl. We turned it in… we’ll see what happens. (Laughs) I don’t know if there are any plans for it or not. We talked about it, but haven’t heard anything. I guess we’ll just keep our fingers crossed.
Cryptic Rock – Hopefully that comes to fruition. You have a handful of shows lined up. Are there any plans for anymore shows in support of the new album?
Janet Gardner – We’ll see what comes in. From here until the end of 2023 there are a couple of shows. There may be a couple more coming up. In 2024, we have a few things in the works overseas. Hopefully in the second half of 2024 we can come back and do more in The States. We are really excited about the shows that we have. Most of them we are playing on a package with other bands and we love doing that. We are looking forward to it.
Cryptic Rock – That is very good to hear. Listening to No Strings, you can hear that your vocals sound as great and strong as ever. After all the years of recording and live performances, how do you keep your voice in shape?
Janet Gardner – There are times where I just do not sing at all for maybe a month or two. I will not practice, not sing, and just rest my voice. I also try to stay physically as fit as possible, because that makes a huge difference. As you carry your voice around with you 24/7, it’s not like a guitar where you can put it away safely for a while… it’s part of you. I think it’s being as health conscious as possible and resting my voice. Then when we start recording, I’m singing everyday for a few hours a day, then take a couple of days again to rest.
I have no idea what would happen if we were doing a tour and if we were playing five to six days a week. We don’t do it like that though; we have so many other things going on. We play a couple of shows for a weekend and then I have the week to rest. I think it’s all about working it, and resting it… that seems to be what works for me.
However, we did a couple of weeks last year in Australia and I thought my voice got stronger as we went. I was concerned, because we had six shows in a row and I didn’t know what was going to happen; I didn’t want to get to day three and my voice be gone. Much to my own surprise, my voice was better by the end of that. Who knows! I think you just try to be as healthy as you can and use your instrument wisely.
Cryptic Rock – Very good point. Constant singing can be really taxing on your voice.
Janet Gardner – Yes, and when you get older, it’s even worse. Back in the day in my twenties, I would have to say my consistency was pretty amazing. I really didn’t have bad nights. As you get a little older, I think you consistently get a little less perfect. There are nights where you feel – you are not feeling that freedom that you love where you just open your mouth and out it comes. You have to stop running around so much or do something a little different to make sure you can deliver.
People are busting on all these singers who are still out there singing, but what do you expect, it’s forty years later, it’s not going to be the same! And if it is, you’re from another planet, you’re a freak, you’re Ann Wilson! I don’t know how she does what she does still, but she does it!
Cryptic Rock – Right, you should expect someone’s voice to change overtime. That is why when you hear someone singing on a modern recording, and it is flawless, it often sounds robotic. It is nice when something sounds real.
Janet Gardner – Absolutely. For me, there are places where you do not want to be machine-like. As a singer, that’s number one, a singer should not sound like a machine. Number two, guitar playing should not sound like a machine. All music from there. But I think it’s probably hard to resist. I know, I’ve been through my battles with it thinking – Ok, I don’t like this note, I’m going to turn it and see what happens. I’ve gone through a whole performance and totally ruined it. Justin would say, “What did you do? You don’t even sound like yourself!” He was right too, I had to re-sing the whole thing; I couldn’t undo every move I had made.
I learned a lesson that day – perform it the best that you can and minimal tweaking… because you’re going to know and feel it. It’s tempting though; you have this tool at your disposal to make it allegedly perfect, but the more perfect it gets, the less emotional it gets. You have to keep it fairly as real as you possibly can and still have it be listenable.
People want to hear everything perfectly in tune now because that is what they hear every day. When you hear something that is out of tune now you go, “eww.” Whereas if you go back and listen to The Rolling Stones or something you will say, “Yea, that’s madly out of tune… but it’s awesome!”
Cryptic Rock – (Laughs) So true. Vixen is an all-ladies band and you were sort of lumped in with Glam Metal back in the day. You toured with Ozzy Osbourne, The Scorpions, and Bon Jovi. What was it like being the ladies on the block kind of in what was the boy’s club back then?
Janet Gardner – I think it was as weird for them as it was for us. They were used to just hanging out with the dudes and the girls were the groupies. It was a little weird for them too thinking – hey, there are girls back here, but they’re not our groupies, they are musicians.
It was great and a great learning experience. Everybody we played with treated us great. The Scorpions were so supportive. We would have talks about music; I would love to talk to Klaus Meine about singing, talking about what you eat before you go on stage, or you don’t have dairy because it will clog up your throat. Deep Purple was the same way. They took us under their wing, they had great advice, and we would stand backstage and watch them in amazement thinking – this is how it’s done! Ozzy was the same thing; he was fantastic to be out there with. We were really fortunate.
It was a great experience for us. Like I said, it was probably as weird for them as it was for us. But it was all in a very positive way.
Cryptic Rock – It is fascinating to hear all this. It is also great to see how far we have come with more females in Rock-n-Roll. We are not just seeing all-girl bands, but female drummers, bass players, and guitarists in all bands. It is not about being a novelty, it is just about musicians. That is the way it should be.
Janet Gardner – Yes, it’s the right musician for the job. It’s amazing to see. It’s great to see so many awesome female musicians in these bands just kicking ass.
Cryptic Rock – Certainly. It is nice to see young girls have other female musicians to look up to and realize, yes, they can do it too.
Janet Gardner – Absolutely. The more great role models out there, male and female, is just awesome. For us, some of the best compliments we received were girls coming up to us after a show and saying, “I’ve got my band together because we wanted to be like you guys. We’re practicing, getting really good, and we’re doing it!” That would be the most exciting compliment you could ever give us that we actually inspired other girls to pick up instruments, get that bond going, and enjoy the musical experience together. I love it!
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