Chris Jericho of Fozzy talks to Mark about coming back down under, the new album and so much more.
Mark: Hi, Chris, how are you? When we looked at the line up for Soundwave, one of the big names that stood out for us was Fozzy. We are very excited that you guys are coming over, how do you feel about it?
Chris: It feels great, man, we have Soundwave, and that will be our third tour over there, we were there just a couple of years ago. This will be our opportunity to play on a big stage with so many great bands; we have been trying to get to Soundwave for a few years now. I think now, we are a well-oiled machine, live, at this point, as are most of the bands on the bill, but I think we are going to be one of the surprise bands, as a lot of people have never seen us. It happened to us this year when we did another festival, Uproar, and we were the kind of surprise band of the day as far as people were concerned, we heard them saying Fozzy were amazing! So, we are very excited to come over there.
Mark: That’s one of the great things about festivals; you get to play with bands that you have heard of but not really listened to, or just find bands that really stick out. It will be fantastic for people over here, who don’t know Fozzy to see the energy that you guys have. You have just finished the Uproar Festival?
Chris: Yeah, we played with Shinedown and Godsmack.
Mark: I guess the other big news besides the fact that you have a new album out, is the signing with Century Media Records. How is that going?
Chris: Yes, that was huge for us; it is the best record label we have ever been involved with. I think that’s why we have done so well; we finally have a great record company behind us supporting us, doing what they have to do to get us out there. Even looking at the other bands on that label, it’s great to have that backup.
Mark: The video for “Enemy” is getting a lot of airplay over here, and Sandpaper is a great track too, how did that song come about?
Chris: Sandpaper? It was just a cool riff that Rich wrote, and I added some lyrics to it, and I wanted to do a call and response thing so I called (M) Shadows (of Avenged Sevenfold) who is a friend of mine and he really loved the song and did a great job of singing and he did some cool arrangements for it as well. So, it worked out well, it was an honour to have him from a professional and a friendship standpoint.
Mark: we think the new album “Sin and Bones” is definitely the best thing you have done, you just seem to get better and better, is that how you feel? Are you ready to get up and run with it now?
Chris: Yeah, we wanted to do that after “Chasing the Grail” came out, as that put us on a whole new level, and under a different spotlight, so we wanted to continue the momentum, and after 2 years we wanted to make sure that this was the best record we had ever done. We wanted to focus on what we saw as we did best as a band, and what we did differently. A lot of bands don’t do heavy riffs and melodic choruses, so once we set that template it all fell in to place from that. We wanted it to be the best thing we had ever done and wanted people to feel the same way.
Mark: I like the quote, don’t know if it was you that said, “Our music is heavy, but ultra-melodic!” What I really love about the new album is the fact that there is a lot of variety on there, you have the “bluesy” “She’s my Addiction”, and then a couple of epic songs, “Dark passenger” is probably one of our favourites. Then there’s the last track “Storm the Beaches” which has a lot of people talking about it, with the epic D Day scenario, where did that idea come from?
Chris: I always love long songs, like songs by Rush, Dreamtheatre etc., who have at least one on every record. And I love the fact that a band can do that, you can do a three minute song and have it played on rock radio, and then do a twelve minute song about war. I always write lyrics based on song titles, and it was just in my head that it was very heavy metal. I was doing some research online and saw a letter written by a soldier who was active in Europe, and it was a letter home to his mum, so I started writing lyrics about that. It’s a historical song where people can learn things about the war. It’s like the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner; people learn that and find out different things.
Mark: Yeah, it is a fantastic track. Just to change tack a little bit, I have been asked to ask you a couple of wrestling questions, by some of our readers! Why do wrestling and rock and roll go so well together?
Chris: Because it’s what I’ve always done! I didn’t wake up one day and say, hey, I want to be a rock star, I have been playing in bands since I was twelve years old, and I wanted to be a wrestler and be in a rock band! You have to create dreams and reach your goals, so I went about making those come true. When I started wrestling, I wanted to be the Paul Stanley of wrestling; I wanted to be the ultimate front man where I could lead the crowd, and once I had achieved that I just used the same tactics to start Fozzy. I have so much passion for both these things.
Mark: I believe you ended up with 30 championships?
Chris: You know people know more about that than I do!
Mark: The other question I am obliged to ask was which rock star would you most like to get in the ring with?
Chris: I would never want to get in the ring with another musician, because I respect anyone who can put together a band! There might be a couple of pop stars I wouldn’t mind having a bit of a spar with! Or even better rolling around with, like getting hold of Rihanna, and showing her a few holds!!
Mark: Good answer! As someone who has had two very successful careers, do you think you could ever give one away? I know you came back to wrestling again, earlier in the year, but will there come a point where there will be a final curtain?
Chris: I don’t think of things that way you know, I just do what I do, I do what feels right. About three or four years ago, I started doing songs, and all my scheduling was around Fozzy, and then I went back to wrestling for about six or seven months.so, I can’t say I might decide later to go back to wrestling or I might decide not to! When the time is right I will know. I will never be one of those guys who has a huge retirement ceremony, people crying and waving goodbye, I don’t like that shit, I’ll just go and people will wonder what happened to me!!
Mark: You have a huge amount of energy, we saw you here on “Dancing with the Stars” what was that like?
Chris: It was great, it was an amazing challenge, and one of the hardest things I have ever done, but something I really enjoyed. I am really glad I took a chance and did it.
Mark: You also did a game show, which we didn’t get over here, was that fun?
Chris: I just woke up one day and was offered this game show, so it just sort of happened. I auditioned for it, and got it, and it was a blast. I can see myself in the future actually hosting a show!
Mark: If you could have been a fly on the wall for the recording of any album, or any musical moment in time, what would it have been and why?
Chris: One of two things: I would have liked to have been there when Cliff Burton laid down the bass tracks on “Master of Puppets”, or to have been sitting in the apartment with John Lennon and Paul McCartney watching Saturday Night Live in 1975 debating whether they should go on the show or not. It would have been a cool conversation to listen in on I’m sure.
Mark: And finally Chris, the easy one: what is the meaning of life?
Chris: Have a good time all the time, enjoy what you do.
Mark: Thanks you so much for your time Chris, see you on tour next year.
Chris: Cheers man, looking forward to it, it’s gonna be a blast.
