By Kelley Simms
FULL TIME FOZZY
Fozzy
W
WE Superstar and Fozzy front-
man Chris Jericho is a consum-
mate performer. According to
Jericho, his No. 1 priority is, and always
has been, Fozzy. What initially started as a
cover band in 1999 by Jericho and Stuck
Mojo guitarist Rich Ward, has turned into
an almost two-decade run.
Originally named Fozzy Osbourne with
a slightly comedic story line, the band has
steadily evolved with each subsequent
release since its 2000 self-titled debut
34 illinoisentertainer.com march 2018
Chris Jericho: I don’t think there was really
a direction. The difference was on the last
record our biggest song at the time was
called “Lights Go Out,” which was written
by a guy name Johnny Andrews. We liked
it so much we decided to have him produce
the record and co-write all the songs. The
best thing about “Judas” was, there was a
debate within our inner circle of which
song should be our first single and “Judas”
was one pick out of three or four. If you like
“Judas,” then there’s a whole plethora of
other tunes that you might like even more
waiting in the wings.
album. Now on its seventh full-length,
Judas, Jericho is putting WWE on hold for
for the time being. On the first leg of their
North American Judas Rising Tour, Jericho
& Co. head to the Bottom Lounge on March
28. Mosh: What was the video shoot like for
“Judas”?
Chris Jericho: That was an idea that we got
from a Guns N’ Roses video called “Garden
of Eden,” which was basically a one take
same kind of vibe. We wanted to do a more
modern version of that and creep it out a
bit and make it a little more dark. It was the
quickest video we’ve ever done and it was
the cheapest video we’ve ever done as far
as we recorded it in eight minutes [but] we
slowed the song down which is a four
minute song which ended up being 8 min-
utes long. Any little movement you make
ends up being jittery, and a little bit off, and
a little bit creepy when you play it back at
normal speed. So that took us three takes,
eight minutes each. So we were done and
out of there in 24 minutes, and we had the
finished product about two hours later. It’s
the simplicity of it, but also the strangeness
of it.
Mosh: The first single and title track off the
new album has gotten great response.
What direction did you want to take Judas
in compared to last album, 2014’s Do You
Wanna Start A War? Mosh: Did you use any effects on your
voice during the recording of this album?
What are your thoughts on Auto-Tune?
Chris Jericho: There’s no reason to sing a
wrong note and then just Auto-Tune it
back; that’s just lazy. If the note is