|
(Spring 2005) by George Dionne
Rich Ward is a musician that wears many hats. His musical career
started with the hardcore rap-rock group Stuck Mojo. A chance meeting with
professional wrestler Chris Jericho led to the formation of Fozzy; an eighties
heavy metal cover band that recently morphed into an original metal band.
Recently Ward put the finishing touches on his first solo album. Under the
moniker The Duke, My Kung Fu is Good (read
CD review) explores Rich's pop-rock/vocalist
side.
RIL: How did you get the nickname "The Duke"?
RW: A German magazine called Rock Hard, which is
like Germany’s version
of Revolver magazine, came up with it. They did an interview on Stuck Mojo
a few years back and the main caption was ‘If Zakk Wylde is the king
of rock, then certainly Rich Ward is The Duke’. So ever since then
the guys in Stuck Mojo called me that. At first I thought it was kind of
cheesy and I was like stop calling me The Duke, but when you refuse to accept
it then they hammer it home.
RIL: Why did you title the album My Kung
Fu Is Good?
RW: I didn’t even know if there would be an album. I didn’t know
what it would be. It was just a group of songs I wrote coming out of a weird
transition in my life. And everyone who heard it said man this is singer/songwriter
stuff. You know like Bob Seger, Hall & Oates, or Michael McDonald. My
peers would say that it has kind of a cool seventies rock vibe to it and
I should call this The Duke. The reason I called it My King Fu is Good is
because I was really wary of trying to take it too serious. If I came out
and called it the evolution of whatever, I didn’t want it to be too
pretentious. I’m not an Eddy Vedder, who is a singer who considers
himself an artist. I’m not an artist. I’m a guitar player. I
didn’t do specifically anything miraculous to cure cancer or make anyone
a better person. I’m a singer, guitar player and songwriter who’s
passionate about music and really enjoys being part of a culture of music
that has brought me a lot of great joy over the years. I didn’t want
people to think, ‘Oh God, here comes Rich he thinks he’s some
kind of fancy do-gooder artist’. If I had a little title that was
kind of tongue and cheeky and had a little humor in it then it would shield
me
from the pretentious solo artist label.
RIL: Was it difficult writing material that is so different from your past
work?
RW: Yeah it was, and that was the beauty of this
record. It was really a big challenge for me. I can kind of auto-pilot
writing metal records
because
it’s a craft and a skill I’ve acquired over 20 years of doing
it and really being committed to it. Being able to stretch out a bit and
try some different things was, I wouldn’t say difficult or a struggle,
but at times trying to write changes and coming up with modulations for
bridge sections, trying not to play these lighting fast guitar solos, trying
to
find something that was more Neal Schon-esque or something you would hear
Thin Lizzy do, was a goal of mine and a little bit outside of my comfort
zone. It was good in that it forced me to grow as a writer, a musician,
and as a player. I also knew I would have to try to surround myself with
a different
group of musicians who could bring something a little different to the
plate and ironically in this band I’m the weakest musician in the
group. Maybe not weakest songwriter; none of these guys are really songwriters
per
se. They are all ass-cutting guys who can come in sit-in and play with
anybody. They are those types of guys.
Being in a group of musicians where everybody
has perfect pitch and everyone is a schooled player and say, ‘can we
go to the dominant 7th on this chord’? And I’m like ‘dominant
7th’? How does that have anything to do with something I learned off
of “Highway to Hell”? I’m a self-taught rock and roll guy
and it’s been a great education being around really schooled players
who frankly are honest with me and that’s the way it should be. In
all the bands before, whether it was Stuck Mojo or Fozzy, there was no lack
of skill and talent, just a little lack of flexibility. Everybody had a specific
talent. These musicians that I’m playing with are very wise in
the way of crafting a chord progression.
Once I created the blueprints of the
songs, it was nice having input from some really well trained and wise
musicians that I could go to for advice. Ironically, this being the first
solo record
I’ve ever done, it was the most band effort I’ve ever been involved
with. In Stuck Mojo and Fozzy I’d just write the album and hand it
out. Everyone learned their parts, showed up in the studio, and we’d
do the album. There was a lot more input, and I have to say I was real
lucky to have a good group of guys to lean on for The Duke.
RIL: You're known predominantly for your guitar skills, yet on the new album
you focus more on vocals and melody. Do you think that some fans of you past
work may be disappointed that this is less of a guitar oriented album?
RW: Of course, the fact I signed to Spitfire was not
mistake. There is a rapport and relationship with the people at Spitfire
Records, that’s
why I signed with them. They’re not going to send Rob Gill who is the
head of A&R there, who I’ve been friends with for 10 years, down
to Atlanta and sit in the back of the studio and suggest ‘well maybe
you should try doing more acoustic guitar in this’ or ‘maybe
turn the piano up’. I didn’t want that. I wanted to do my record.
I had a real idea the way I wanted it to be. I were to take it to a major
label or even a major indie label, I knew I would have to deal with that
battle somewhat. Spitfire allowed me the flexibility obviously to do what
I want. The downside of it is I’m signed to a metal label who wants
to market me to the metal fans who already know who I am.
Of all the feedback
I’m getting from my website, I probably get 500 to 600 emails a week
from fans responding about Stuck Mojo or The Duke. Most of them are 100%, ‘man
this is great’. ‘I listen to all kinds of music, I love Stuck
Mojo but I also love Pink Floyd and I really dig Steve Vai records’. ‘This
is really fitting into my listening repetour’. I’ve been lucky
to have a group of fans that have a wide variety of tastes. Every once in
a while I have a couple of knuckle heads that say ‘you sold out’.
I was making more money before; I don’t know what they were talking
about. I made more money in Stuck Mojo. This is strickly a desire to so
something different.
I have to be realistic too. I’m in my thirties, and the
pop industry doesn’t like guys in their thirties. They like neat dudes
and chicks that look good, that they can have professional songwriters come
in for. They can tell them what clothing line to wear and how to wear their
hair. Frankly I don’t fit that mold. I know the inner workings of a
record company too much, and most major labels don’t want to deal with
guys like me that know of the inside. I understand how much money they make
licensing music out to markets in Europe and Japan. I feel like I’m
in a great spot here and I have a great fan base supporting me.
RIL: A lot of songs on the new album appear to be based on
your personal experiences. "Used
to Be" was one that stuck out for me. What inspired it?
RW: I got married in October of 2000, and by February
of 2001 I realized I was in trouble. I married a girl that I was completely
infactuated
with.
She worked for WCW, she was a wrestler, she was famous, and I thought
this is the way it’s supposed to be. Two people in the entertainment
industry, she’ll understand why I’m busy and why I’m
always on tour. A lot of times, women that work 9-5 jobs have a hard
time understanding
that I’m going to spend a lot of time on tour. It’s difficult
and stressful on a relationship. So when WCW folded as a company and
she lost her job, she decided it was a good time for me to retire from
music
as well. I’m a loyal hound dog. I stuck through it for two years,
trying to be the husband that I wanted to be. It just wasn’t working,
and a lot of songs came out of that. It wasn’t that I missed the
way it used to be in my relationship, I missed the way it used to be
in my head. I missed the way of being in love and being married, and
being
a good husband. That mindset is what I really wanted, especially after
years of being the typical rock guy.
It was sad for me that the relationship
didn’t last. That’s where they lyrics came from. I felt cheesy
writing these love songs too. I used to rag on guys that wrote these
songs when I was in my twenties. I don’t really think it’s
an issue of age; it’s an issue of wisdom and life experiences.
When you grow up on the road you grow up a littler faster. The first
few years of Stuck
Mojo I lived in my rehersal space, which had no bathroom, shower, or
sink. I had to go out and shower with a hose over a fence for three years.
I
didn’t have a car. It made me hungry and passionate. It made me
want it more. All of those things are choices. I could have gotten a
job. I
could have put 50% into working and 50% in the band. I didn’t want
to do that. I wanted everyday that I woke up to be nothing but playing
guitar, writing songs, passing out flyers, and trying to be a successful
band. I don’t even mean on a National level. I just wanted to be
a successful local band.
Ultimately it was a contest for us. We wanted
to be the best band in Atlanta, and if anyone said anything about
Stuck Mojo we’d go up to their stage and punch them. We had a whole different
mind set. I’m glad I went through that, but I look back and see
I was a moron. That was the foundation of how I got to where I am. I
learned
it wasn’t always about me. That’s why I quit Stuck Mojo.
It all boiled down to that fourteen year old boy that stared at his Iron
Maiden
poster and just wanted to play music. It wasn’t about me this time.
For every Rich Ward that’s putting out records, there are ten more
guys that are better than me that are playing in their parent’s
basements that haven’t had a lucky break. I’ve been keeping
that in mind. I’m fortunate for where I am.
RIL: You haven't put Stuck Mojo completely behind you…
RW: That’s the great thing about all
of this, having the chance to walk away from it. Stuck Mojo is a band that
I can tour with, but I can
only do
two or three weeks at a time because it’s just like anything else,
you can do it for short periods of time without it affecting who you really
are but…you know, my mom put it perfectly. We were talking about the
Dimebag [Darrell] situation. I was so upset about how that happened. I had
known him for years, we toured together, and he was the nicest guy you could
ever meet. I was just saying that, of all the jerks playing heavy metal why
him? My mom said that it doesn’t matter. If you do something long enough
you will become it, or you will become a victim of it, if it is a negative
thing. Let’s face it, what Dime did and what Rich Ward does isn’t
exactly upbeat, uplifting, good feeling music. We’re putting out negative
vibrations; not to get too metaphysical and cookoo on you.
At the end of
the day, when I play Stuck Mojo and I look into the crowd, I see 1500 people
that want to kill each other. It’s a war zone. After the shows the
sinks are full of blood, usually there’s one ambulance waiting outside.
I can still do that at some level for a few weeks here and there, but that
aggressive nature can become addictive. I have an addictive personality.
That’s why I don’t drink or do drugs. It’s the same why
with my music. I know if I see that aggressiveness and I play that aggressiveness
I know that I have a hard time not maintaining that afterwards. I take it
home with me, I talk to my girl with that attitude, I act aggressive toward
my band mates and my friends, and I just don’t want to do that. I’d
rather just go out and enjoy it as a mini vacation. That’s where I’m
at it right now.
RIL: Does Chris Jericho ever tell you the outcome of his wrestling
matches before they happen?
RW: I usually don’t ask too much about the wrestling stuff because
I started to learn from Chris over the last six years that we’ve
been friends that he’s just been wrestling so much, and it’s
be engrained in him so much, that he just doesn’t want to talk
about it that much. I’m a curious outside and I was a fan before
I met him, so I have to get the inside scoop when big things are going
to happen.
Sometimes I’ll ask him if he’s going to win a Wrestle Mania
and he’ll say ‘nah’. Chris doesn’t really care
about winning, that’s what I like about him. He likes doing the
job. If his job is to go in there and lose to Triple H, his job is to
make Triple
H look as good as possible. He hope that Triple H does the same for him,
and that they both go in there, work hard together, make each other look
good, and at the end of the match one guy my lose to the fans, but it’s
supposed to be a win-win.
RIL: Does the fact that Chris Jericho is a professional wrestler
hinder the progression of Fozzy?
RW: I have to say that the reason that Fozzy enjoyed
a little bit of popularity and success right off the bat was because
of Chris’ name
a wrestler. That helped us. There was a glass ceiling for us, because
no one in the
mainstream press or mainstream rock fan base is going to take us seriously
if our singer is a professional wrestler. The same thing goes for Russell
Crow being in a band. There may be some people that like his movies that
want to hear his band, but generally people are going to poop on it.
There’s
no way Russell Crow is going to have a band that people are going to
want to see. The first couple of years that Fozzy was out, we probably
weren’t
worth coming out to see. We were just there for the entertainment factor.
Chris has a good voice, but it’s like anything else, unless he’s
out there doing it every night and working hard at it, just like he started
out in wrestling, it takes a while. You can’t just go out there
and be a great singer. It takes practice.
We’re just now coming
to the point where Fozzy is a good live band. The band was always great,
but as
a whole, I know when we go on stage Chris is going to give a great performance.
He’s not Bruce Dickinson, but at the end of the day he may be a
better entertainer than Bruce Dickinson. In realitiy Chris is David Lee
Roth mixed
in with a little Sebastian Bach and Rob Halford. It’s kind of cool.
Some night’s he sings great and some nights, depending if he’s
been screaming at the Undertaker all week long, he may have just a good
night. I know now that Fozzy is a good band. The new album is an all
original album and it’s on par with anything that I’ve ever
done. Chris sang his ass off too. I have to say I’m proud of it.
It’s
a record worth buying.
Previous Page |
|
RICH
WARD
