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Shortly
before their show in York, we catch up with guitarist Billy Grey from
Fozzy to find out how things have been going with the band and what's
next in the land of Fozzy.
MM
- Hi Billy let's start with the change in the line-up since you were
last in the UK, Shaun has left the band and replacing him we have
Paul.
BG - Yeh we’ve got Paul Di Leo.
MM
- Was it mutual decision when Shaun decided to leave the band?
BG - Yeh Shaun just got a
little tired of travelling and he’s got a lot of stuff going on at
home. He owns some property back home and I think he decided it
was time to settle down with his wife. Everybody is still friends
with him; there is no bad blood or anything like that.
MM
- So how did Paul get the job with the band?
BG
- Paul was in Adrenaline Mob with Rich, so when Shaun left he was
definitely the first choice.
MM
- What does Paul bring to the band, because he’s a different styled
bass player to what Shaun is.
BG - He’s a more
aggressive bass player. The energy is great, the stage presence is
great, we love him to death. His playing is fucking awesome.
His track record speaks for itself, you just have to look at what he's
done, he’s done quite a bit.
MM
- Has this change in line-up put the brakes on the follow-up to 'Chasing
The Grail' at all?
BG - No! It definitely hasn’t put
the brakes on it at all. The writing is going well and it should
be out for around May or June (2012).
MM
- Excellent! So are there any new songs that you’re incorporating into
the set yet?
BG - No, we won’t play anything live
until its all done.
MM -
Tonight is the eighth date of the tour, so how’s things been going so
far?
BG - Things have been
going great. We’ve been in the UK for the past week and we've
got a few more shows left, all the shows have been fantastic so
far. The UK is like a second home to Fozzy.
MM
- That’s a point I’d like to raise with you, with a lot of bands
today, touring seems to be a bit of an issue. Some bands just
don’t tour, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with Fozzy.
BG - Like I said, the UK is a second home for Fozzy. Fozzy has
always done well over here, considering we’ve never had any tour
support from a label and we’ve always done it all on our own.
We've been able to play over here. The UK’s been pretty cool for
Fozzy.
MM
- So do you see yourselves as a fan orientated band?
BG
- Oh yes, very much so.
MM
- There’s quite a crowd in the venue already and the doors have just
been opened.
BG - Yeh the fans have been packed in
every show, packed in enough so you're burning up on stage. It's
not a rock show if it's not like that.
MM
- The band have just released a double CD, with both the 'Live' album
and 'Chasing The Grail'. What was the thinking behind that?
BG - It’s a good thing for the fans. You have the live
record and you also get a copy of The Grail also. It showcases all
the past stuff on the live disc and as a bonus you’ve got The Grail in
there as well. We just did it for the fans.
MM
- So the new album, does it take up where 'Chasing
The Grail' left off, with that same heavy vibe?
BG
- Yeh, it's going to be the same sort of heavy, or even going beyond
that.
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MM
- The Grail was my first taste of Fozzy the band and I was so impressed
that we went to see you guys last year at Middlesborough and we were
simply blown away by the live show. So with the release of 'Chasing The
Grail' the band are seen as the real deal by the media now.
BG - Very much so, they
see us now as a “real” band. We’re definitely taken a lot
more seriously now, it's got us a lot of attention.
MM
- A lot of bands started life like Fozzy as a covers band, but with
Fozzy it started out a bit of a laugh, a side project between tours, but
then it just grew and grew. Did you ever think it would become
what it has today?
BG - I think it will grow even more once
the new record comes out. We will just keep on building it and
building it, because it is a band.
MM
- After this tour where does Fozzy go from here?
BG - We’ll
probably play a few shows in the States, the NAMM convention out in
California. A few sporadic shows over here, then we’ll start
recording the new record. We'll back over here in the UK for
around Summer / early Fall, something like that. |
MM
- Back to the UK that’s good because the bands fan base has really
started to grown over here.
BG - Yes it sure has.
MM
- It's definitely paying dividends, to keep coming back here, not like
some bands who leave it three or more years to come back and play, by
that time some of the fans have already drifted away.
BG
- We’ve been back the UK four times in the last twelve - thirteen
months.
MM
- The band seem to go to different places each time, different cities,
different towns, different venues.
BG - Yeh, as far as
touring goes this year we’ve been all over Europe. We've done
some festivals in the Summer, then back over to the UK. We’ve
been to Australia, then did some shows in the States, some in Canada
too. We did UpRoar with Avenged Sevenfold, so overall it's been
really cool.
MM
- So has Fozzy taken over you life, has it become a bigger animal than
you would have thought?
BG
- It’s definitely become a bigger animal in my life. I have
another band called Dangerous New Machine which I do back on the States,
but Fozzy’s been pretty busy this year. I'm kept busy with both
bands.
MM
- So what sort of music does Dangerous New Machine play?
BG
- Have you heard of Breaking Benjamin? We’re kind of like
that. They have a different vocal style but a similar guitar
sound. Modern hard rock/heavy metal.
MM
- Does all of the band have input on the new Fozzy album?
BG - Yeh.
MM
- I know Rich is predominately the main writer.
BG
- Yeh Rich is the main writer, but we all have input on the new record.
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MM
- Now let's have a little insight into Billy Grey as a musician.
How long have you been playing the guitar?
BG - I’ve
been playing almost twenty years now. I’ve been playing quite a bit
and I’ve done quite a lot of touring over those years. I started
out with Classic Rock back in the day. I loved Van Halen and Randy
Rhoads, now it's Tom Morello and Rage
Against The Machine and stuff like like.
MM
- So what’s your favourite guitar?
BG
- I have a couple. I have a Gibson Les Paul and a company called Epiphone
have hooked the band up with some great guitars. They are owned by
Gibson, so they're pretty much the same thing, so I use those. I
also have a company called Halo Guitars out of Northern California which
I really enjoy playing their guitars. Those are my top guitars.
MM
- So when did you first pick up the guitar?
BG
- I was eleven years old.
MM
- Do you come from a musical family?
BG - No I don’t!
I’m the only one. My family never understood why I talked about
music all the time. It was Van Halen or Iron Maiden, if it
wasn’t heavy metal I wasn’t much of a conservationist.
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MM
- Can you remember the first band you played in?
BG -
The first band? Let me see, when I was in school we had this band called
Disciples Of The Watch, and we played the school gymnasium in seventh
grade. The first band I played with in a club was a band called
Sleaze Patrol. Those were the first two bands I was in.
MM
- Do you have any tips or guidance for any young guitarists coming
forward?
BG - Just enjoy playing. Enjoy it and
have fun with it. To really do it and be good, some people are
born with it, but some take a little longer, so just keep on practising.
Keep on having fun, once it’s not fun, it's no good.
MM
- So do you do anything with your guitar before you go on stage?
BG - Yeh I clean the strings. I hate it when they’re all
dirty, but I change them every two days on tour. I really make
sure it's clean, oh! and in tune! (laughs)
MM
- There are hundreds, even thousands of new bands coming through each
year, but what do you think has been the major changes in the business?
I know the internet has been probably the main thing.
BG
- Yeh the internet definitely. You know what else, there is a lot
of talented kids coming through and the competition is definitely
getting stiffer. I’ve found that.
MM
- Yes, Andy Warhol’s fifteen minutes of fame has never been so
prominent, these day’s everybody wants to be famous.
BG
- Yes they do. The YouTube sensation. The Internet puts
people out there. Because there
are so many good bands out there these days, if you don’t keep playing
and keep touring, they (the fans) WILL forget you.
MM
- Any final words to round things off Billy?
BG
- Yeh, just keep rocking with the Fozz, and keep an eye out for us
coming to your town. Also look out for the new record in the
summer time.
We'd like to thank
Billy for taking the time out to chat with us tonight and cannot
recommend you check out this band too highly. They're great on CD,
but live is where they really come alive.
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