Fozzy won war for musical diversity

Chris Jericho reckons Fozzy’s mix of styles on last year’s Do You Wanna Start A War helped them appeal to a wider audience.

The frontman and wrestler says it’s been their most popular record – and he puts that down to doing what they wanted with their music.

Jericho tells Examiner.com: “We wanted to focus on writing great songs and not worry about if they’re too heavy, too poppy, too dancy or too ballady.

“I think a lot of bands put themselves into a box: ‘We’re a heavy metal band, so we must play heavy metal,’ or, ‘We’re a pop band so we must play pop.’”

He continues: “When you think of some of the greatest bands of all time, whether it be the Beatles or Queen, they always had records with a lot of diversity – but they’d still sound like the Beatles and Queen.

“What we decided between 2012’s Sins And Bones and this one was, ‘Let’s just focus on writing some great songs.’ Maybe some are a little different from the norm, or different from what we’ve done in the past.

“I think that opened up a lot of diversity for us, and I think it’s why this is the most popular record we’ve done.”

The band head out on a 10-date UK tour next month – and Jericho says they feel like “conquering heroes” when they return to the country. “We consider that our second home and we’re always stoked to go back,” he reports. “It’s almost like we’re conquering heroes returning. We say ‘hi’ to old friends and make some new ones.”

Jericho hosts TeamRock’s World Rock Chart show every Sunday.

Fozzy UK tour dates

Mar 04: Belfast The Limelight 2

Mar 07: Nottingham Rescue Rooms

Mar 08: Wolverhampton Slade Rooms

Mar 09: Manchester Ruby Rooms

Mar 10: Glasgow Garage

Mar 11: London Underworld

Mar 12: Bristol Marble Factory

Mar 13: Exeter Lemon Grove

Mar 14: Southampton 1865

Mar 15: Brighton Concorde 2

Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.