Guitarist RICH WARD Discusses STUCK MOJO's Present And Future

Australia's The Metal Forge recently conducted an in-depth interview with STUCK MOJO/FOZZY guitarist Rich Ward. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

On STUCK MOJO's current status:

"We did a full European tour, three and a half weeks worth in February. Then we came back to the U.K. again and did two more shows and that was in May. We actually have done light touring in the States this summer. We played this past weekend and we're actually playing next week as well. It's just a few shows here and there just to keep our gig legs sharp and also to test the waters a bit. The band stopped playing because Bonz, who is the vocalist, and myself couldn't get along. Most of it came from just being two completely different types of people. He's a hip-hop party guy. The guy is the real deal. He grew up in the inner city. He grew up in that environment. I grew up in the suburbs in a middle class, white neighborhood. We literally see the entire world differently. Politically and socially, everything we do is so different that unfortunately by being on tour together ten months out of the year and then spending two months recording and writing the next record together, we never had a break from each other. So all the little things, the differences we had just built and built and built tension and more tension and more tension until the point where we didn't speak anymore and we just didn't get along. We basically weren't even friends. All we did was show up on stage and played together and when the show was over, we'd go our separate ways. It wasn't the way it was supposed to be. You're supposed to be in a band with your brothers. It's been amazing that we've had so much time apart and we've had a chance for both of us to look at the way things went and to have some perspective on that relationship and we've really been getting along great. The last gig, he and I actually got in my car and rode seven hours to the gig by ourselves instead of riding in the band bus. We went separately just to talk and it was amazing! We're getting along great. I think we're gonna be able to write an amazing record and I think the band is gonna be every bit as great a band as we were to start off with. I think this is gonna be a starting block for the band to take off where we left off."

On STUCK MOJO's future:

"We're gonna have to find the right record company that's gonna understand what it is that STUCK MOJO does. There's a lot of labels who say, 'OK, this band has sold a lot of records and all we need to do is advertise it to old STUCK MOJO fans,' and obviously we want to cater to the fans who have gotten us where we are but there's a huge big market of folks and young fans that have never even heard STUCK MOJO before. We're gonna need a commitment from a record company that's gonna come in and really make that commitment to move the band onto the next level."

On STUCK MOJO's new material:

"We've got three new songs that we've been working on. We haven't played any of them live yet just because they're still in the pre-production phase. We've done some demos for them. Like I said earlier, it's still in the infancy where we're just kinda seeing what type of record we wanna write. Always in the past, anyone who knows STUCK MOJO, every record was a fairly decent departure from the one before. 'Snappin' Necks' was kind of a funk-metal record. Then 'Pigwalk' had some industrial influences, with Devin Townsend [STRAPPING YOUNG LAD] helping with production. 'Rising' had more of a southern element to it and then 'Declaration of a Headhunter' was more kinda progressive metal. So every album kind of lead in a different direction and right now we’re testing the waters and seeing in rehearsals what type of record do we need to do and how do these songs fit and just looking at the overall complexion of the band and what material do we think will make the strongest album, not what will sell the most copies, but what will be the best MOJO record for the fans."

Read the entire interview at TheMetalForge.com.