Fozzy – Chris Jericho

When he’s not showing off his 1004 moves and breaking the walls down in WWE, the “Ayatollah of Rock ‘n’ Rolla” Chris Jericho is touring the world with his heavy metal band Fozzy. Since their fifth album ‘Sin and Bones’ last year, Fozzy have been touring almost constantly, including a spot on Soundwave Festival earlier this year, and they’re already coming back in December to spread the disease with Steel Panther and Buckcherry.

In preparation for that tour, Metal Obsession got to speak with Chris Jericho about the upcoming tour, cover songs, ring entrance music and selling guitar riffs.

Metal Obsession: How did your recent US tour with Saxon go?

Chris Jericho: It went great. It was 5 weeks long, but it was our second time across the States for the ‘Sin and Bones’ tour, the first one being with Shinedown. We were playing to different audiences each time, but both of them were great to us. It’s cool to get through two tours of the States on the same record, and I’m glad that we get to do the same thing for Australia again. It’s a good indication that ‘Sin and Bones’ was a big success, and the fact that people keep wanting us to come and play these songs for them, so we will continue to do that.

Metal Obsession: You mentioned touring the States twice on the same record. You got to play Soundwave Festival earlier this year on the ‘Sin and Bones’ tour and you’re already coming back to Australia in December. What made you want to come back so fast?

Chris Jericho: Well we’ve always had a great fanbase in Australia. We toured here in 2005 and again in 2010, but it wasn’t ‘til we did Soundwave earlier this year that we really saw what an amazing fanbase we have. Because we were playing during the day, and we would have around 8,000 people there during our set, and the band that was on after us would literally have 25 people, not even exaggerating. It was really sad to see, but it made me realise how good of a fanbase we have.

So we wanted to come back as soon as possible, after such a great tour, and when we got offered to come back with Steel Panther nine months later, we had to take it for sure, because we really think there’s a long way we can go in Australia, we can build a bigger fanbase and make it a home for us for many years to come.

Metal Obsession: Have you ever had the chance to tour with Steel Panther before?

Chris Jericho: We haven’t had a chance to tour together. We’ve done a couple of festivals together, we did Download Festival in England last year and they were awesome, but we’ve never actually toured together before. We’re really excited about it though. The reason why is because obviously Fozzy, Steel Panther and Buckcherry have different styles of music in a way, but the bottom line is that all three of these bands are important, and their mission is to give everybody in the crowd a good time. With these three bands, there is no doubt that people are going to leave with big smiles on their faces, and that’s why we do this.

Metal Obsession: I read on the Fozzy Facebook page that you got to sing ‘Dirty Diana’ on a Michael Jackson tribute album. How did that go?

Chris Jericho: It was really cool. ‘A Metal Tribute to Michael Jackson’ isn’t the most original of names though [laughs]. But yeah, I did ‘Dirty Diana’ for that, and it was fun. I think with Fozzy, we have so many original ideas that we probably won’t do too many covers from now on, maybe just for a B-side here and there. But ‘Dirty Diana’ was a very metal song, and we drop-tuned it to C or D so it was heavier, and it turned out great. I’m a big Michael Jackson fan, so it was a blast to do that song, and to be involved with the project was an honour, and to hear the way the song came out was even better.

Metal Obsession: I’ve noticed that you haven’t done many covers on the later albums, but you have done a lot of them on the earlier ones. Do you have a favourite?

Chris Jericho: Yeah, on the first couple of albums, there were a lot of covers on there. I really liked ‘Prisoner’ by Iron Maiden from our first album, as well as ‘Eat the Rich’ by Krokus, we still do that one live to this day. Even on the new album, we did ‘Fairies Wear Boots’ by Black Sabbath, which actually turned out amazing. That might be my favourite cover that we’ve ever done.

We’ve certainly done some different ones over the years. We did a cover of ‘Metal Gods’ for some Judas Priest tribute years ago, that one turned out really good. Whenever we do covers, it’s not a throw away track, we put a lot of time and effort into it, because we want to put our own stamp onto it, but also be faithful to how the originals sound. So we’ve had some good fun doing covers over the years.

Metal Obsession: You’ve been in and out of the WWE since 2005 due to more Fozzy commitments, and it seems like your schedule this year is bigger than ever. Do you plan on returning to wrestling soon?

Chris Jericho: No, I really don’t have any plans. I’d love to say that I would, but I’ve been real busy with the band, and lots of other projects that are kind of on the go. I still love wrestling, but it’s not my goal to be a full time wrestler at this point. We’ll have to see when the next opportunity is right for me and the company, and if it works for both sides then I’ll consider it. But until then, I’ve got plenty of other things going on to occupy my time.

Metal Obsession: Excluding your own song, who has the best and worst theme song in the WWE?

Chris Jericho: I’m not sure. If you go back to a few years ago, Shawn Michaels’ was always great whenever you heard it, and Steve Austin’s was always awesome. The worst one was Billy Gunn’s ‘I’m An Ass Man’, that one was awful [laughs]. Nowadays there are just more generic songs, like Dolph Ziggler’s is kind of generic, and Wade Barrett’s is generic. I like songs that have a bit more focus, like Big Show’s, or mine, where there seems to be more attitude of the person, “The Game” Triple H’s theme for example. And now they’re just picking random songs and assigning them to random superstars.

I think there’s a new superstar named Bray Wyatt or something like that, and his theme song really suits the vibe that he brings as a performer. But a ring entrance song is really important; it has to suit your attitude and fit your character, and if it doesn’t, if it’s just a random song, then it’s the fuckin’ worst! It has to give you some kind of vibe, or some kind of fire. It’s like the opening song of a concert; if the band kicks in with a great opening song, that’s going to set the tone for the rest of the show. If they don’t, once again, it sets the tone for the rest of the show. You really have to make sure you pick the right song to be your entrance so it’s a good tone.

Metal Obsession: I don’t watch WWE much anymore, but I agree with you. Most theme songs nowadays don’t fit the attitude of the superstars like they did 10-15 years ago. Even both of the feature shows, Raw and Smackdown, the theme songs for them are very lame now.

Chris Jericho: That’s what I mean, it’s really important. You have to put some thought and work into the music. I was always very conscious of that. Every song I’ve ever entered the ring to made me feel a certain way, and if it didn’t, it wouldn’t last more than one or two matches. It had to be right, or else I didn’t want anything to do with it.

Metal Obsession: Although the song you’ve used for over a decade as your WWE entrance is great, did you ever think about using a Fozzy song in the recent years of your career?

Chris Jericho: There was a time where I thought about changing my entrance song, but it never happened. And at this point, my song is my song, there’s no reason that I’d need to change it. I think it fits perfectly with the character I play in the WWE, and I wouldn’t want to mess with that.

Metal Obsession: Is it true that you beat Bill Goldberg in a real fight?

Chris Jericho: I wouldn’t say that I beat him in a fight, but I can definitely say that I won in whatever kind of fight you’d say it was. I didn’t knock him out with one punch or anything like that, but I did message him in a physical altercation, shall we say [laughs].

Metal Obsession: Before this interview, I was reading an article on Ultimate Guitar about Metallica auctioning off their unused riffs. Whether it was a joke or not, what would your opinion be if it actually happened?

Chris Jericho: Wow, man. Well I guess, if you want to use it then use it, but I think it’s sad that someone would have to buy other peoples riffs, even if it’s from one of the greatest riff writers of all time. If you’re in a band and you’re not writing your own riffs, then there’s a problem! But if it’s true, they’ve probably got a lot of riffs, I guess they should use some of them on their own to make a new record. But if they have too many, then that means the one that they use will hopefully be great! [laughs]

Metal Obsession: I hope so!
That’s all I have to ask. Is there anything else you’d like to say?

Chris Jericho: Nah, man. Just that we’re excited to come back to Australia. We have an amazing fanbase there, and it will be the perfect pre-Christmas bonus to come see Steel Panther, Fozzy and Buckcherry. We’re super stoked about it!

Steel Panther – Spreading the Disease (S.T.D.) Down Under tour
With special guests Buckcherry and Fozzy

FRIDAY 6 BRISBANE, RIVERSTAGE – Licensed All Ages
www.ticketmaster.com.au
BUY NOW ↪ http://bit.ly/SPANTHER13bris

SATURDAY 7 SYDNEY, HORDERN PAVILION – Licensed All Ages
www.ticketek.com.au
BUY NOW ↪ http://bit.ly/SPANTHER13sydn

SUNDAY 8 MELBOURNE, MYER MUSIC BOWL – Licensed All Ages
www.ticketmaster.com.au
BUY NOW ↪ http://bit.ly/SPANTHER13melb

TUESDAY 10 ENTERTAINMENT CENT. THEATRE – Licensed All Ages
www.ticketek.com.au
BUY NOW ↪ http://bit.ly/SPANTHER13adel

THURSDAY 12 PERTH, METRO CITY – 18+
www.oztix.com.au
BUY NOW ↪ http://bit.ly/SPANTHER13pert

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