Page 28 - Black Velvet Magazine Issue 106

BV106 pg 26-33 fozzy centre.qxp_BV106 pg28 14/05/2022 00:23 Page 3

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t’s crazy,” guitarist Rich says when we live. People react to the passion and energy that of each other, and how to get the best out of the
“Icongratulate him on the gold certification the band exudes. But it’s not just the band – process, and I think we’re just peaking, which is
of ‘Judas’. “We’ve just had a fantastic little run. Rich, Chris, plus their bandmates Billy Grey (gui- fantastic to say. I know it’s always easy for
Usually, my experience for a lot of my favourite tar), P.J. Farley (bass) and new drummer Grant bands to pat themselves on the back and say
bands is the building, they’re at the process of Brooks, have a great team around them – in- ‘This is our best record,’ but I think part of it, for
… whether it was Iron Maiden or Judas Priest or cluding their long-time manager Mark and newer us, is that it isn’t because we’ve, all of a sudden,
Dio, whoever it was, you have those early producer Johnny Andrews. decided that we’re brilliant or that we’ve all de-
records until they build it up to that one point “It's important for there to at least be a pro- cided we’ve had some epiphany that we’ve been
where they had their breakout moment and then ducer or a manager or someone that can help bestowed magic powers, it’s just been a work in
it’s about kind of maintaining momentum. But, keep things on track,” says Rich. “And we’re progress. And it is trial and error. Sometimes you
for most of my favourite bands, there’s that point lucky that our puzzle has just worked and that I make missteps and you learn from those and
where, at least for albums, it was never quite as can be that musical resource and drive there, you come back stronger, and I think that’s been
big as it was for whatever that breakout moment and then we added our new producer Johnny the Fozzy story 22 years later.”
was. We just seem to have our own trajectory at Andrews, who brought a whole new life to the
this point, where… I never would have thought band, and our manager has been with us from istening to ‘Boombox’, it really IS a fan-
that, 22 years into our career, we would be mak- the very beginning. He actually managed Stuck Ltastic album. After the exhilarating hard
ing some of the best music we’ve ever made, Mojo from the infancy of that band as well, so I rock opener ‘Sane’, released as a single a year
and then, all of a sudden, we’re now getting a have been with him now for 30 years. And we earlier, but still sounding incredibly fresh and
gold album this many years into our career. It’s just have this fantastic team. And that’s, a lot of new, we have ‘I Still Burn’. ‘I Still Burn’ is said to
remarkable, and I think part of it comes down to times, what it takes. Any relationship is difficult, be Fozzy’s mission statement and is ‘the story
just staying with it and being passionate about but when you put the right team on the pitch of the dreams, the passion and the fire that lies
music.” every day, your chances of being successful are within all of us to be the absolute best we can
Rich credits Fozzy frontman Chris for his obviously going to be much better.” be…’ That sounds quite motivational, don’t you
conviction to the band, and his contribution, not think? And, in our current times, something that
just on stage, but also behind the scenes. fter the success of ‘Judas’, released five many music listeners could do with.
“Our vocalist, Chris Jericho, he doesn’t need Ayears ago, Fozzy knew they had to fol- Rich tells us, “I can only speak for myself in
to play music. He makes a fantastic living being low up with the album of a lifetime. We ask Rich that I need inspiration. The world is complex and
a wrestling superstar, and he has podcasts and how they did that, and if ‘Boombox’ IS the album challenging and painful, it can just be so hard to
television and movies and he does so many of a lifetime. navigate, because, although there are lots of
things, the last thing he needs to figure out is “I think so,” Rich replies. “I think part of the self-help books, we’re all different, so one self-
how to generate more income. He’s content. He problem, if there was a problem with ‘Judas’, help book may work for you but not for me, and
has a fantastic life, but he’s so passionate about was the beginning of the relationship with myself so we’re all just in a process of trying to figure it
music that it has just been the engine behind this and Chris with our new producer Johnny. It was all out. And that’s, I think, part of the joy of life;
band. And he has such a great insight into the the first album that we had done with him and it’s the journey and the highs and lows. I know
business side of things. Even though I’ve been we just had to learn each other’s process.” when I’m looking for something to make sense
making records since the mid 90s and I’ve been Rich uses a sports analogy again. of stuff, I like it when I hear something that just
successful on my own with Stuck Mojo… and “Any time that you’re going through those puts a smile on my face. And sometimes it’s an
then I put out a solo record and I’ve been doing kind of growing pains of trying to figure out old Motown love song, and sometimes it’s a
things on my own, it’s still fantastic to be in- where each one of our roles is, for people who good 80s rocker, you know, from Blizzard Of
volved with someone who understands things have never been in a band, a lot of times, an Ozz, and then sometimes it’s a Peter Gabriel
from a completely different perspective. And I easy way to look at things is kind of like a sports song and sometimes it’s a movie.
guess that’s where all good relationships start – team, in that you bring a new coach or manager “And, I think, sometimes just escapism, in its
when two people can come together and your or owner or players in, and it takes a while for purist form, in music or movies, or any type of
strengths and weaknesses complete each other. every person to kind of figure out where their entertainment, I think that’s kind of our job as
They fit perfectly like a jigsaw puzzle. I really see spot is and where they can help and where they performers and writers is to create some es-
that with my relation- can lean capism, and also instil a sense of hope or need-
ship with Chris. He on some- ing these kind of breadcrumbs. Obviously,
trusts me as the mu- “If you can just say something nice or do body else musicians have not proven themselves to be the
sical leader of the something nice for someone else it actually en- to help in brightest and the greatest of all time. We seem
group and he as the different to leave a footprint of ugliness and ego and nar-
visionary or concep- ergises us in the process, because kindness is a areas, cissism, and that’s just part of it. When people
tually and the direc- trait that’s infectious. And when we show kind- and I think tell you you’re great hundreds of times every day
tion that we take, and that was after the shows and online, it’s hard for the
it’s been fantastic.” ness, it makes us feel like our purpose on this part of the human brain to take that so many times without
Rich thinks that planet is not just to clock in and go to work, and process us starting to actually believe that we’ve done
part of the success put food on the table, but also just do those little f o r something of consequence, when, in reality, our
they are finally ‘Judas’, real job is to put smiles on faces and give people
achieving now is due things that we can all do.” - Rich Ward was just this incredible experience where their job, or
to the fact that when that get- whatever they’re going through at home, or just
the band first came ting to in daily life, we just have that moment of respite
onto the scene, people weren’t exactly sure how know each other and to feed off each other’s where we can do something extraordinary and
to take a wrestler fronting a rock band. It’s taken strengths and to lean on them in areas where create magic for these people who have spent
some of the general public a while to get to grips we each may have a little weakness of our own. their hard-earned money. They don’t come to
with what Fozzy is, especially as they initially “And the brilliant part about ‘Judas’ is we al- shows for free. People go to work, they work
started out as a fun covers band. Rich calls the most kind of looked at that as our freshmen hard and they put some of it aside every week
band a ‘late bloomer’. album in this new incarnation of the band, be- or every month or every year to go see a con-
“Some people thought it was brilliant and cause Chris and I are more passionate than cert, or to go see a sporting event, or go see a
then others thought it was a little cheeky and we’ve ever been about the band. There’s been movie, and I don’t take that lightly. I wanna say
they didn’t want to acknowledge it as being lots of periods of time where Chris has been a thank you for their investment to my band by giv-
something that was ever going to be something full-time WWE wrestler and we did tours in be- ing them everything I can and being as good as
that they were going to take seriously. And, I tween periods of time that he could take little I can be, and if we have a moment like ‘I Still
think, the longer that we stayed in there, and the breaks off from wrestling, but now he’s with a Burn’, where we can say something inspiring
longer that we worked hard, and that we just new company that only does TV once a week, based on some experiences than we have had,
showed that this was a real passion project for so his obligations are a lot less, and it allows us and some things that have helped us grow, and
all of us, the more that we slowly won them over to really focus in on the band, and the team some things that have helped us get through
- like in Rocky IV when he won the Russians chemistry has just been fantastic. I think ‘Boom- some rough times, if that’s something that can
over,” he laughs. box’ is the best album that we could’ve ever help somebody else, then that’s just extra
The fact that they have a genuine love for hoped to have made and part of that is just the chocolatey goodness on top of the cake.”
music and performing is what really seeps out process. It has been building and building and
and wins over anyone that gets to see Fozzy refining and figuring out how to get the best out
FOZZY