When Chris Jericho first launched Fozzy, he was simply seeking to have some enjoyable. But after a pair of years, he realized it was one thing extra critical than only a covers band.

“Everything’s changed to a much bigger perspective than we ever thought about when we first started out,” the wrestling legend tells UCR now.

Fozzy is presently within the midst of their twenty fifth anniversary tour, whereas Jericho continues to dabble in a range of initiatives exterior of his time within the ring for AEW, together with his return to the silver display this week (Oct. 11) within the newest installment of the gory slasher movie collection Terrifier. 

During a latest dialog with UCR, Jericho shared his ideas on the Fozzy milestone, together with some of his favourite underrated Kiss songs and a bit of wrestling speak.

It’s laborious to imagine we’re sitting right here speaking concerning the twenty fifth anniversary of Fozzy. I’d love to listen to your reminiscences of the early days and the way it ultimately crossed a line and have become one thing else for you.
So I’ve at all times been taking part in in bands since I used to be about 13 or 14 years previous. Way earlier than I ever received into wrestling, I used to be taking part in in rock and roll bands. My highschool band was referred to as Scimitar, you understand the curved sword that Sinbad makes use of. We performed [iron] Maiden, Metallica and Megadeth covers and we additionally had so much of our personal unique stuff. I at all times liked taking part in. I used to be a bass participant in [the band] and I sang. I nonetheless continued to at all times dabble in music. About ‘97 or ‘98, I really started thinking that I wanted to put together something and do a tour and play some shows and focus more on my band stuff. I missed it, because wrestling came along and that kind of kept me really busy, but I still liked playing. There’s nothing like taking part in with different musicians and taking part in a tune that you just wrote or a tune that you just word. It’s like, “Wow, that sounds really cool.”

I simply occurred to satisfy Rich [Ward] backstage at a WCW present in San Antonio. He was there doing a little work with Diamond Dallas Page and Stuck Mojo. We simply began speaking and actually hit it off. I used to be like, “Man, I really want to do something and put together a band.” So he was like, “Why don’t you come to Atlanta? I’ve got this side project thing I do with anybody that’s in town called Fozzy Osbourne and we just play covers and have fun. That’s basically how it started. We did a couple of shows [using that name] and it really worked. Right out of the gate, it was something that had interest, because Stuck Mojo was really popular on the underground scene and Jericho was popular in WCW. I was just about to jump to WWE, so it was really good timing to put together a band. For the first couple of years, obviously we had the storyline, which was kind of a Spinal Tap / Blues Brothers / Traveling Wilburys type of thing. I remember the day we decided to switch. We did the Howard Stern Show and at the time, Howard [had a band] called the Losers and he claimed that his band was better than any celebrity band.

That’s when I was like, “We’ve got to go in there as ourselves. We can’t go in there as characters and we’ve got to play an original. So that’s the day we decided, “Let’s do all original stuff, drop the storyline and characters. That was 2002, so for two years out of 25, we had a different kind of vibe. Then we started doing all of our original stuff. 2010 is when Rich and I said, “Let’s make this a full-time thing and really go for it. Fast forward to 2017 when the Judas record came out, that’s when we became a radio band. Here we are now with seven top 10 radio singles and a gold record. Suddenly, everything’s changed to a much bigger perspective than we ever thought about when we first started out.

I wondered how much you had it in your sights at the time that Fozzy could ever be something like that.
I mean, you never do anything half-assed. Right out of the gate, we did a mockumentary about Fozzy that was on MTV that ran, I don’t know, 20 times. Ozzy [Osbourne] and Zakk Wylde and those guys, when they were on tour, loved watching it. So we always kind of had some mainstream acceptance going on. But when we really started getting played on the radio — when Judas broke on the radio and went to number 5 — I never realized how important rock radio was, until we started getting played. Suddenly, it changed everything and became this really big, massive success. We’d done well, but before that, it was a completely different thing when Judas began. I think that’s when the modern era of Fozzy started, which is where we are right now, where the band is bigger than ever. I mean, we just drew the biggest crowd we’ve ever had on our own, the most tickets that we’ve sold ever as a headlining band, in England. It blew us away, how the band continues to build.

Watch Fozzy’s ‘Spotlight’ Video

Each time I talk to Bruce Kulick, he is over the moon about what you’re doing with your Kiss tribute, Kuarantine. Fans appreciate that you’re out there keeping that era of Kiss music alive. For you, what’s a song or even songs from that era you’d consider underrated?
We’ve recorded so many of them. “Heart of Chrome” is wonderful. “Turn on the Night” could be an enormous hit, however Paul mentioned that within the ‘80s, radio considered Kiss to be dinosaurs and they didn’t play Kiss on the radio so much. I believe “Heaven’s on Fire” is one of the most effective written songs of the ‘80s, period. But if you just go through the records, Revenge, “Heart of Chrome.” Hot in the Shade, “Silver Spoon,” we’ve performed each of these songs with Kuarantine. Crazy Nights, “Turn on the Night” and “Good Girl Gone Bad,” which simply went Top 10 for us, is a good tune that nobody actually is aware of. “Who Wants to Be Lonely” is wonderful. “Uh! All Night” is wonderful.

The listing goes on and on. “Under the Gun,” I imply, you may simply throw some on the market and so they’re in all probability fairly good. People don’t notice how technical Kiss is as properly. Those songs from the ‘80s have a lot of pretty difficult parts. There’s been some of them that we’ve dropped, as a result of they’re laborious to play dwell. “Love’s a Deadly Weapon” is tough to play. “Thou Shall Not,” a terrific Gene [Simmons] tune that nobody actually is aware of from Revenge is tough to play dwell. Then we added “All Hell’s Breakin’ Loose,” “Let’s Put the X in Sex,” what a enjoyable and goofy tune that’s, however it’s f–king nice. It’s a lot enjoyable to play dwell. Kuarantine’s an entire different factor and we love doing it, as a result of it’s simply enjoyable and the music is nice and there’s limitless assets. We might file one other 50 songs from these information and nonetheless have some left over to do.

READ MORE: Top 10 Songs Kiss Never Played Live

On the wrestling aspect, once you develop a gimmick just like the Learning Tree, how lengthy do you battle the temptation to vary or abandon it?
It’s probably not temptation, it’s simply understanding when to do this. I believe the temptation is to attempt to maintain onto it somewhat bit longer, as a result of it’s at all times laborious to reinvent, however you must do it. You know, Learning Tree occurred, form of as a f–k you to web haters that then caught on and the people who hated it, now they like it. Some of them that hated it, hate it much more, however that’s okay. That’s the thought, proper? I by no means have an issue taking an opportunity and reinventing.

It’s Kiss, it’s the [Rolling] Stones, U2, Led Zeppelin, Guns N’ Roses, any band that has that longevity modifications. You’ve received to vary up your stuff and take a look at new issues, except you’re AC/DC, during which case you may play the identical tune 100 completely different occasions and so they’re all nice. I’m an enormous AC/DC fan. But most bands and performers can’t final 40 or 50 years by doing the identical factor. You have to vary it up. I’ve by no means had an issue doing that and I don’t have an issue doing it now. I do know when to do it — my intestine intuition tells me — and then you definately give you one thing completely different. That’s the problem.

Watch Chris Jericho and the Learning Tree

READ MORE: Why Did Chris Jericho Leave the WWE?

How a lot do you assume AEW wants one thing like The Bloodline, a gimmick that hits nationally to take issues to the following stage? How shut do you assume the Devil was to being one thing like that?
Everybody wants a narrative like that. You know, we’ve had variations of these tales that basically resonated. I believe the Swerve Strickland / Hangman Page story is a good instance of that. But that’s the key. You write a narrative and other people prefer it and it connects or it doesn’t. But those that work, you deal with them. The ones that don’t, you give you new concepts. That’s the key of wrestling. It’s storytelling. It’s not about flashy strikes, bangers and all of that kind of stuff, it’s about telling tales and about creating one thing that folks really feel and other people relate to. If you are able to do that, they’ll be super-interested. That goes for something. It goes for a terrific film, a terrific rock and roll band, you title it in leisure and present enterprise. If you may join with the viewers, you’ll at all times have a gig, if you may make folks really feel one thing and get enthusiastic about what you’re doing, they’ll at all times be there to help you.

In WWE, the little guys virtually by no means received over. In AEW, it appears to be the other. Why do you assume guys like Brian Cage, Powerhouse Hobbs, Lance Archer, even Wardlow, for essentially the most half, aren’t discovering themselves featured? Meanwhile, folks like Brian Danielson, the Young Bucks and Orange Cassidy have all had big pushes.
The guys you simply talked about all actually know their characters and so they all join with the viewers. The guys you talked about previous to that, it’s not that they don’t join with the viewers, however the enterprise has modified. Size actually doesn’t make a distinction and it by no means actually did. In the early days after I first began, possibly it did. But I used to be [doing] Main Events in all places i went and I’m 5”11. I used to be 220 on the time and this was the times of your six foot eight behemoths. It’s nice to be large, however you must be entertaining and perceive. Hulk Hogan was the most effective for that, however Randy Savage was my top and he was much more thrilling. It’s at all times been about storytelling, character and connecting with the viewers. Now, it’s simply extra prevalent. Guys aren’t as large anymore, it’s simply the best way the enterprise has modified. It’s nonetheless the identical because it’s at all times been although. You have to attach with the viewers and if you are able to do that, you’ll recover from.