Stuck Mojo

A week after October’s issue of SLUG came out, I got a call from Struck Mojo’s guitarist, Rich Ward. Surprise, surprise after I scolded the band in the last issue for not keeping in touch after their Salt Lake appearance. 

SLUG: So when are you guys coming back to Salt Lake? 

RW: We had a lot of fun playing in Salt Lake last time. It was a small club and no P.A., but it was still cool. We wanted to come back while we were out West doing shows with Type O Negative, but we just couldn’t make it happen. We should be back to Salt Lake around the first of the year, probably with Type O. 

SLUG: Your new album, Pigwalk, was released on October 8. How was it doing the album? 

RW: We did a two month tour of Europe earlier this year. We were able to spend a lot of time with the demos over there. Europe’s pretty boring, the fans are great, but there’s just not much to do in certain parts. We took that time to listen to the demos and work on new ideas for how we would record the album. 

SLUG: You used Deven Townsend (Strapping Young Lad) and Daniel Bergstrand (Meshuggah producer) as producers. What did you think about them? 

RW: They were the best, but I knew they would be. When we were on tour with Machine Head, I heard a copy of the Meshuggah album and I was blown away. The production was amazing. I told the label we have to get this guy. Daniel’s only produced about three albums so I knew it would be good for both of us for him to do our album. Luckily he was completely into the idea. I’ve been friends with Deven Townsend for years. I knew with all of his creativity as a songwriter and studio experience that he could help us out a lot as well. 

SLUG: What are you guys doing now? Are you touring? 

RW: We’re on the road as much as possible. We have a great agent and management, they keep us out on the road a lot. 

SLUG: And that’s something you want to do? 

RW: Absolutely. We love playing live. Of course we have our bad times. On the last run with Type O we had four flat tires in one week? We did a lot of shows down south in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico. We would travel during the day and it was so hot the tired would just peel right off the van. Then once the paper work got screwed up on our trailer so we all got screwed up on our trailer so we all got hauled off to jail because they thought it was stolen. None of that matters though. We can have the worst day in the world, but if the show that night is good it makes up for everything. 

SLUG: Don’t you have two new members on this album? 

RW: Yes we do. The original bass player is really into funk, reggae, and R&B. His influence was cool in the beginning, but Bonz (vocalist) and I really wanted this to be a heavy, straight forward metal band. His new ideas were like experimental jazz stuff, and funk. He wanted to be artsy and cute. We just thought that was crap. We wanted to pound it out and rock, so that’s why he left. Our drummer was a total lunatic. He was the most aggressive person on the face of the earth. He had to be on medication all the time. We got our original drummer back, but he will only be with us temporarily. He hates touring, which made him leave the band in the first place. We’re auditioning a guy from El Paso and another from Arizona next week. I’m pretty sure one of them will work out. They are both “out of this world.” 

RW: Our bass player is an animal on stage, but he’s also an incredible player. We’ve got people that are great players, but also know how to put on a great show. There’s nothing I hate more than seeing a band live that looks at their shoes the whole time. 

SLUG: Well, I’m going to let you get back to your other interviews. We’ll be waiting for you here in Salt Lake. 

RW: We’re looking forward to coming back.

Read more interviews from the SLUG Archives:
Chrome Cranks
Drill

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