Being out on the road with the Boss must have given Tom Morello some inspiration. The former Rage Against The Machine/Audioslave guitarist plans to release his first solo rock record in the near future.

In an interview with Billboard, Morello said that working with Springsteen inspired him to make “the craziest guitar record that anyone’s ever heard.” “The idea is that [the record] is the Hendrix of now,” Morello said. The outspoken guitarist has been recording on his own for years under the guise of The Nightwatchman, but those records haven’t gone far from the realm of folk music.

Morello credits Springsteen with inspiring him to combine his careers as songwriter and guitar player. “The first time I ever sang with an electric guitar in my hands was ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad’ in Anaheim in 2008,” Morello said. The performance not only initiated a relationship with Springsteen that led to Morello playing on two of the Boss’ albums (Wrecking Ball and the upcoming High Hopes), but it also encouraged Morello to reconsider his long-held stance on keeping his songwriting and guitar playing in separate worlds. “I realized there might be a way to combine all the things I do as a songwriter and a guitar player, and this record is going to be that.”