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The Duke's Views
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Mojo,
Mohawks and Music for a Living
-- Posted by The_Duke on Thursday, October 28 2004
Hello music
lovers all across the fruited plain. It's your ol' pal
The Duke and, as your host, I would once again be honored
to share with you a few little nuggets of joy and entertainment.
Today's topics are Mojo fever, high fashion and music
as a way of life!
As you can
imagine, I get a steady stream of emails about Stuck
Mojo and most of them inquire about the demise and/or
the future of the band. A few people have expressed
some confusion as to how I could write music that was
so heavy and then turn around and write mellow songs
for my solo project (The Duke). Now that we have released
the Mojo DVD, a lot of Mojo fans have found their way
over here to The Duke site for the first time and are
shocked by the perceived change in my musical direction.
Don't get me wrong, I've only been blasted by one Mojo
fan who claimed that seeing me smile in one of the video
clips here made him physically ill. After kindly responding
to his “feedback,” he has a clearer understanding
about what drives me and no longer has to speculate
on my motivations pertaining to hair length and musical
diversity. My hope is that with this installment of
the Duke's Views, I can finally put to rest any speculations
concerning me, the music I created in the past, now
and in the future.
The author
of the email that I referred to earlier seemed to be
fixated on my hair and how “gay” it looked.
I explained to him that having a gay haircut was not
my attempt to cross over into the world of high fashion.
I was just sick of having long hair. If you have not
experienced the misery of having hair down to your waist
for more than half your life then maybe you can't relate.
Take it from me, when you have to constantly keep your
hair up in a bun because it gets wet when you sit on
the toilet, and when you roll over in bed it gets caught
under you and wakes you up, and when you take a deep
breath to sing three feet of hair gets sucked down your
wind pipe and chokes you, the whole experience gets
old after a while. The saddest part of this story is
that for the last couple of years I kept it long because
I thought that it made me look cool and I thought that
it helped to define who I was. I was a poser! I kept
that up for at least a year or two after I wanted to
cut it and just so I could say I had long hair!
Ok, so when
I finally cut it off to my shoulders, I liked it...fooorrrrr
a few months anyway. So then I got a Mohawk. That was
easy, but it grew out in only three weeks and then I'd
have to get it cut again. That's way too much work so
I decided to stop f#@king with it and just wear a hat.
I literally haven't cut it in a year and it grew out
like you see it on the Duke home page. That was four
months ago and I still haven't cut it. The point is,
I don't care about my f#@king hair-do! Whether it looks
cool or gay, it's in God's hands now, because I refuse
to spend anymore energy on it. So I hope that this clears
up the “Hairgate” scandal.
Next, let's
address the “Rich, you sellout mother f#@ker”
conspiracy. In my career, I have only made one decision
solely based on money and it came back to haunt me.
That was when I passed on the first few deal offers
for Sick Speed because I wanted more money and, honestly,
I thought that I would get it.
As for my
decision to play in a cover band with a wrestler and
call it Fozzy Osbourne, that was based on fun (a concept
seldom found in the music biz). When it later became
apparent that some money could be made while doing it
then, obviously, I found that appealing. It wasn't until
the new album, “All That Remains,” that
I wrote a “Rich Ward” record. I liked the
first two Fozzy albums and I'm proud of them, but I
did not treat them with the same respect that I did
Mojo or Sick Speed. As for Sick Speed, that band was
just my desire to write “rock” music. I
wanted the music to revolve around the melody and not
just the riff. On the last couple of Mojo albums I experimented
with inserting more melody on top of the big riffs and
I thought those records were our best records. But to
offset the balance any more would have changed the band
too much. So, I just created a separate band to accommodate
my desire to write more rock influenced music. Seems
reasonable to me, but not to everyone I guess.
People ask
me when was the point that I started liking more “mellow
music?” Hell, I've always liked what some would
consider mellow music! When Mojo would tour, our CD
player on the bus would frequently play Genesis, Bad
Company, Pink Floyd, Queen, AC/DC, Journey, U2, Kansas,
Rush, Bob Segar, The Police, ZZ Top, Styx and Super
Tramp. Over the years, my taste in music has always
been pretty constant and usually pretty black and white.
Some music speaks to me and some doesn't. I love Morbid
Angel and I love Peter Gabriel. I can't explain it,
that's just how I am.
The concept
behind the music that I write for the Duke project originated
from a conversation that I had with Zakk Wylde. He told
me that he would play acoustic guitar exclusively for
short periods of time. Primarily to write new stuff,
but a byproduct of playing on the bigger acoustic strings
was increased hand strength and speed. We both agreed
that a truly great song could be performed with only
an acoustic guitar and a voice. Most songs need a big
drum sound and loud guitar amps to give them a vibe
and to justify their existence. A great song may benefit
from these additions, but it's existence doesn't depend
on them. That's where the experiment started for me.
I put the Les Paul down and picked up an acoustic guitar
for the first time since I recorded the intro for “Propaganda”
on Mojo's first album “Snappin' Necks.”
Zakk's advice has made me a better songwriter and guitarist
and, even though I've picked back up my Les Paul, my
acoustic is never more than an arm’s reach away.
As for my
motivations for pursuing a life of making music, it's
never been about money. It's never been about the girls.
It's never been about the party. It's always been about
the music. The great thing about having pure motives
is that your level of success never enhances or diminishes
your sense of accomplishment. Would I like to make more
money? Sure I would. I always thought that if I worked
hard, while maintaining musical integrity, than hopefully
I would make enough money to make ends meet. Over the
years I've had numerous opportunities to make more money
such as being offered guitar duties in a few successful
bands and I've always turned them down. Not because
I didn't like the band's music because, in several cases,
I really liked the band. I just want to play the music
I write. I've always started my own bands for this reason.
Of course there are some exceptions, but I don't think
Zakk Wylde, Kirk Hammet or Eddie Van Halen are sweating
losing their jobs to me. Thanks to most of you, I've
been lucky enough to continue to play music and to make
a living doing it. When the day comes (and it will)
when I can't make enough money playing music to cover
my basic cost of living, I'll get a job selling widgets
long before I'd play music that I can't be 100% inspired
by. You can be sure that after a long day of selling
those little shit-widgets, I'll grab a guitar and continue
to write and record music that I can be proud of.
As for the
future, the next year will be my most ambitious to date.
The new Fozzy album will be released on January 18th.
It is the most progressive and musically indulgent record
that I have ever written and will certainly help to
dispel the stigma that Fozzy has carried since the days
of wigs and tight pants. My next priority is to finish
the Duke album. Over half of the record is already tracked
with Rick Beato (Shine Down, Ben Taylor) taking on producer
duties on half the record and yours truly on the other.
If the stars all line up properly, I will mix this with
Andy Sneap in jolly ol' England and have have it ready
for a mid-spring release. I have also been working with
Allison Irby, an amazing, 18 year-old singer from Atlanta.
She made a guest vocal appearance on the Fozzy album
and she gave me chill bumps with her performance. I
am currently writing and recording demos for her in
my rehearsal studio. Yeah, she's an R&B singer,
but she wants to be a rock singer. With her voice and
the right riffs (she came to the right place) she could
be the next big thing. I'll update you as this story
develops.
Now, Mojo.
I've spent the last four years explaining to people
why I didn't want to do another Stuck Mojo record. The
bottom line is that I just didn't want to do another
record with Bonz. As I mentioned before, I don't do
this for fame and wealth. And even though there were
lots of financial incentives for me to keep going through
the motions, I just didn't want to put on a fake smile
and get back on the bus with Bonz just so that I could
make some money. Drugs and alcohol abuse had made him
completely impossible to live with on the road. His
political philosophy and mine were drifting further
apart. And, musically, I became unsatisfied with working
with him and was tired of hearing him rap the same way
on every song. For the record, Bonz is a very intelligent,
likable and kind man and I would not have played with
him for ten years if this was not so. Unfortunately,
the substances that he did from the time he woke up
until the time he went to bed, made Bonz someone that
I didn't want to be around.
Hey, I don't
stand here without admitting a role in our destruction.
Around 1999 I started alienating him from the writing
and the business process of the band and started to
treat him like an employee. When I realized that he
wasn't just a recreational user, I never reached out
to him and to try to get him treatment. I turned my
back on him and waited for him self-destruct. Bottom
line, I could have been a better friend to Bonz, but
I wasn't. I have made some friends in the music business,
but having friends was never my goal. I would rather
be in a band with someone who works hard, respects the
business and honors the opportunity to make music, than
to play with my “buddies.” Consequently,
I have seen a number of musicians come in and out of
the old rehearsal space door. Being “all business,
all the time” has cost me some friendships that
I miss.
The time
that Bonz, Corey, Bud and I spent in 1996, 97 and 98
were amazing. I rarely reminisce about the “old
days,” preferring to keep my focus on what I am
doing at that very moment. But, while going through
hours of video footage and old photographs for the new
Mojo DVD, I had a chance to reflect on some of the good
times.
Bonz has
called me periodically for the last 6 months or so to
talk about the future of Stuck Mojo. He appears to have
successfully dealt with the lifestyle issues that made
our relationship so challenging previously. After a
couple of conversations, we recently agreed to put our
“stuff” aside and to write a new record.
At this time I can't make any promises other than to
my commitment to write the best Mojo record ever. The
plan is for me to write the music and the vocal melody
sections and for Bonz to write all of his rap sections.
Until the “Declaration of a Headhunter”
record, this was the formula that we used to write all
of our music. Because of political differences, we will
stay away from lyrical concepts that we can't agree
on and try to find common ground with a message that
both of us can agree on without compromise on either
side. The Mojo lineup will include Bonz, Bud, myself
and Fozzy/Duke bassist Sean Delson. The band has completed
it's obligations to Century Media records and is currently
speaking to several labels about releasing this new
album. So, until a deal is reached, a release date can
not be set. For now, touring for this album will be
limited to album release shows and European festivals.
Thanks to
those of you who have sent me thousands of letters and
emails over the years. Your support and encouragement
has made this decision easier for me and I'm honored
for the opportunity to write another album for some
of the best and most loyal fans that any band could
have.
The
Duke
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