“I was all about Eddie Van Halen and George Lynch. But John Sykes really got me – he changed my world through his tone and vibrato”: How Fozzy’s Rich Ward took a shred attitude and funk-metal mindset to invent Stuck Mojo

Before landing what he feels is the gig he’s always wanted in Fozzy – alongside Chris Jericho, “one of the greatest frontmen of all time” – Rich Ward made waves with rap-rock and nu-metal pillars Stuck Mojo.

Looking back on those days, the Duke of Metal tells Guitar World: “Stuck Mojo was my first love. It was a decade of my life, and I put everything into it.” His devotion showed in records like Snappin’ Necks (1995) and Pigwalk (1997), which were polarizing yet defining moments. 

But they took a lot out of Ward, who folded the band in 2000. “There were no family vacations, birthday parties or being home for Christmas,” he says. “My entire life was Stuck Mojo. I miss it sometimes; it was and is part of me, but I had to let it go.

“I mourned that band like I would a family member. So periodically, we check in and get together for reunion shows. But we’ll never do another record – the legacy of Stuck Mojo means too much to me. I’ve got to protect that.”

Outside his rap and nu-metal antics, he’s long been perched beside WWE superstar Jericho. “At this point, Fozzy is everything I need from a band,” Ward says. “I love my bandmates – we’re brothers, and I love the music we make.”

He adds: “My weakness is Chris’s strength. I’m super myopic and focus on production, guitars and music; but Chris likes to think about how to position Fozzy for greatness. So it’s always about, ‘How do we evolve?’

“A lot of older bands are afraid of making new music. We aren’t. I prefer to play the new stuff – it’s our best stuff. That’s just one of about a million things that make the partnership between Chris and me great. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

What came first for you – rock music or guitar?

“I’m an ‘80s kid, so I was kind of both! I was all about Eddie Van Halen and George Lynch, and all those guys who were huge then. But John Sykes really got me – he changed my world through his tone and vibrato. He was the total package. Since then, I’ve been attracted to players who were true rock stars in terms of body language and playing.”

The Sykes connection checks out – his aggressive style is all over what you did early on in Stuck Mojo. Was that where you were coming from?

“Yeah, I was looking for something dangerous-sounding and adventurous. I came upon the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Faith No More, and that melding of funk with metal really got me.

“I wanted to do that with a Les Paul plugged into a Marshall stack. The idea of no rules appealed to me because rock music was like the Wild West back then.”

And the result was your pioneering rap-rock and nu-metal. 

“We were doing it before that kind of thing even existed. I mean, Anthrax had touched on it a bit, as had Aerosmith with Run-DMC, but it really wasn’t happening back in ’89 when we formed Stuck Mojo.

“I was lucky that the other guys in the band were adventurous and down with a guitarist who had no interest in being the next flavor-of-the-month boring rock band.”

That must have been interesting from a guitar perspective, as there was no template.

“I tried my hardest to figure out how the guitar intersects. I spent hours, days, and weeks learning riffs, getting my right hand to where it needed to be, and how to swing a beat but also play behind it.

“I worked hard to develop my vibrato, learn tunings and create motion and harmonic tension in different areas. Knowing there were no rules helped me as a young player because I was working with a blank slate.”

What was your main rig back then?

“It was a Les Paul through a Marshall JCM800. I mainly stayed in drop C, which I learned was the secret sauce for Stuck Mojo. This was the era of Jackson guitars and huge rack systems, and many people liked Mesa/Boogie stuff, too.

“So coming in with an old Led Paul from the ‘70s – which I feel have the best necks – and a JCM800, and then drop tuning, riffing, and grooving was kinda insane.”

Stuck Mojo’s second record, Pigwalk, was instrumental in kicking off the rap and nu-metal era. I don’t suppose you knew an entire movement was on the horizon.

“Oh, no way. We had no idea. I used my ’76 pancake body maple neck Les Paul and the JCM800. It had Greenbacks and interacted well with my Ibanez Tube Screamer.

“As for the Gibson, I love the ’75 and ’76 Les Paul guitars because the neck profile was great. Most Les Paul necks are too chunky for me, but not the mid-’70s ones. They were sturdier, and the headstocks broke less. I took that, tuned down, added heavier strings, and there you had the sound of Pigwalk.”

Was it the same setup on tour?

“Yep. I carried the JCM800 with three heads on tour as backups. They were unbreakable – and such beautiful amps. They worked and sounded great, and they kept me honest. There’s a lot of headroom and they're not to be trifled with.

“When I traded my rack system for a Marshall in ’89, I learned quickly that I wasn’t as good as I thought, because the JCM800 is unforgiving. What you put in is what you get out. It was like riding a wild horse, and I loved it.”

What was the deciding factor in packing in Stuck Mojo in 2000 and forming Fozzy?

“I wasn’t wise enough then to realize what made Stuck Mojo special. The problem for a lot of young bands is they break up because of stupid shit. I was living hand to mouth in a small one-bedroom and needed my girlfriend to help pay for it. I was tired. And things in the band weren’t great. 

“While I didn’t get into music to make money per se, the struggle got hard because I couldn’t cover my bills. We had massive tours with Type O Negative and Pantera and started to get a bit of money, and by 2000, Stuck Mojo was a headliner – but the unit was broken. It’s hard to be around someone that you’re creative with all the time. 

“We needed time away; the most minor details were bothering us. Combine that with financial issues, never seeing your girlfriend and whatever else, and you turn on each other. I hate how it all went down, but it wasn’t just me – it was all of us.”

Was Fozzy a breath of fresh air then?

“It was. I met Chris Jericho in ’98, and we instantly became friends. We loved the same music – the kinship was there right away. The way we saw life as free spirits bonded us. Whenever Stuck Mojo would get off tour, I’d meet up with Chris and do covers of ‘80s rock.

“One day he said, ‘We should start a real band,’ and we did. It’s been the best time, man. There’s never been tension; it’s all unicorns and rainbows, which is rare. But it made it easier to break up Stuck Mojo – Fozzy wasn’t only fun, but it began to do well.”

What’s the secret to the chemistry between you and Chris?

“Our partnership is incredible because Chris is a five-star frontman entertainer. I would put him in the 1 percent of all frontmen in rock ’n’ roll history. Standing next to him is a dream for any guitar player, you know?

“It’s like David Coverdale and John Sykes, or David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen. It’s that special and it’s been a dream. It’s been 23 years of perfect marriage.”

Stuck Mojo has reunited now and again, though. Will we see more of that?

“We’ll probably do a reunion show as we’re coming up on the 10th anniversary of the last one. We aren’t about to get an apartment together or roam the Earth touring, but getting together to play the songs we wrote and recorded together matters. Stuck Mojo was an important part of our life, and it’s cathartic; we need to do it.”

So, no regrets?

“No – because things have come full circle. My life is like pop culture; it’s cyclical. I’m having fun. I can do the dream gig with Fozzy and revisit something that defined a huge part of my life in Stuck Mojo.

“Nostalgia is a powerful thing, man. I’m 54 years old, and with over half my life behind me, it’s fun to go back and watch a movie that I know the ending of, you know? I love stuff like that. The fact that I get to play music from the era I love, man, it’s cool.”

• Fozzy’s 25th anniversary tour begins in September.