By: Craig Hunter Ross
Sometimes life presents you with different paths to take and different roads to travel. That’s even more so the case with musicians, who once they decide on that path, may very well find themselves actually “on the road” for years to come.
Despite some twists and turns, the journey usually works itself out, and such has been the life for FOZZY guitarist, Billy Grey.
The young man from the Carolinas found himself with bands on the west coast, only to return back to home to the south and a new “home” with the Chris Jericho, of WWE fame, led hard rockers FOZZY.
In an exclusive and extensive interview with Guitar International, Billy took some time to discuss his personal journey, life with FOZZY and the band’s rabid fan base.
A fan base that through not only the music and concert experience, but some special experiences the band offers continues to grow exponentially by the day.
Craig Hunter Ross: You grew up in North Carolina, correct?
Billy Grey: I did, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Craig: Was that in the city proper or more out in the surrounding area?
Billy Grey: No, in the city proper, about 5-10 miles from downtown.
Craig: What was the “Carolina” music scene like growing up? Charlotte is a fairly large metropolitan city. Did you get all the big name acts coming through town?
Billy Grey: Oh yeah, we got to see all the big rock shows; Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, Journey, all kinds of bands; of course all the metal bands from back in the day.
As a teenager growing up, there were a couple rock clubs that had bands coming in playing. When I was about fourteen, I had worked my way into playing one of them and I kind of started playing the Charlotte and surrounding area scene until I moved out to L.A. After awhile there, I moved back to Charlotte and now I make my home in Atlanta.
Craig: The move to Los Angeles, was that along the lines of the stereotypical story we always hear of a musician feeling the need to move to L.A. to hit it big and become a rock star? You’d been playing in the Carolinas and really had nothing left to prove and needed to take the “next step”?
Billy Grey: Well, what caused the move out there was a friend of mine from Charlotte who had moved out there prior to me. He and I were really good friends, had a great band in Charlotte and things just didn’t work out so he moved on.
He moved to L.A. and had a fairly established band going well out there and they lost a guitar player. He gave me a call and told me if I flew out to audition that there would be a good chance I’d get in. I played with them for about two years and then ended up coming back to the east coast, which eventually let me here to Atlanta.
Craig: During your time in North Carolina though, you were friends or at least familiar in passing with Rich [Ward, also of FOZZY], correct?
Billy Grey: Yeah, Rich and I both knew of each other. We went to the same high school for a bit, though at different times; we definitely ran in the same circles. I knew of him, he knew of me, though at that time I wouldn’t say we were close friends.
Then when my band would open for Stuck Mojo, we’d be together. That’s actually what kind of led to me moving here.
Craig: Back in those high school days, did you and Rich have the opportunity to maybe compete in a battle of the bands or even play with one another?
Billy Grey: With Rich and me, it was really more of a mutual knowledge and respect of each other. It wasn’t until my band Method 51 would be opening for Stuck Mojo shows in the Mid-Atlantic area that we became friends.
Craig: Not to compare you to say Rick Wakeman coming in and out of YES, but take me through the process of how you came to be in and out and back in to FOZZY…
Billy Grey: When I moved to Atlanta, it was to play with Rich, to be in Six Speed and do a couple of Stuck Mojo shows and see what would happen; it was also to be a member of FOZZY.
I did it for awhile and FOZZY had kind of come to ahead and wasn’t moving to the next level.
I had an opportunity to hook up with a singer in town named Erik Rogers and he had a band called StereoMud and he and I formed a band, which went through several iterations, but nothing really happened with it. So, I came back into FOZZY and things are moving really well for us right now.
Craig: Did you have any apprehensions that FOZZY would just always be a boutique side project for Chris [Jericho] and sure, he and Rich were pals and would always play together but you needed something you knew was solid and long term?
Billy Grey: Actually, when I came back in, it seemed really cool. They had just released Chasing the Grail, which had gotten a lot of acclaim and earned them some respect as being a serious band that could write original material. It was very comfortable.
Now, being able to be part of the Sin and Bones record, it’s been awesome.
Craig: So, Sin and Bones was the first FOZZY recording you really had input in and took part of…
Billy Grey: Yes, definitely.
Craig: With Rich writing all the music and Chris writing the lyrics, did Rich leave things at all open during the Sin and Bones sessions of writing and recording in terms of how you divided guitar parts? Was it all pre-done and written or was there room for your input, etc?
Billy Grey: You know what, there would be times we’d be doing a sound check or something and I’d play a few riffs, an example would be what ended up becoming the song “Inside My Head”, and he’d say “Keep that for the next record.” So, we’d kind of stow that one away. I’d record it at my house and boom, had that one.
For “Storm the Beaches”, that came from another riff during a sound check before a show in the U.K. A lot that album came from riffs and such writing and playing on stage and in the bus on that tour. With solos and such, we’d work it out song by song.
Craig: With Chris and his WWE schedule and each of you having other projects with which you work, did you all have to kind of each record your parts of Sin and Bones on your own and it was then assembled or were there opportunities to record as a band?
Billy Grey: Most of it was done apart. Rich and I did all of the guitars at his place. The drums were done at a place called Tree Sound here in Atlanta. Paul [DiLeo] has an awesome studio at his home, so he did all of the bass stuff there.
Rich tracked the vocals with Chris at a studio in Tampa and he (Rich) as producer, just had bring it all together.
Craig: You all were definitely one of the fan favorites on the recent Uproar festival last summer/fall. Had you had the opportunity to get plenty of shows together in advance of that tour?
Billy Grey: Oh, yes; quite a few. We did a couple of European tours, a few runs through Canada and then some weekend one offs in the U.S.
Craig: The band just seemed so crisp and sharp at the UPRAOR shows, almost as though you weren’t having to think about things musically and could enjoy the festival atmosphere, the large crowds and energy of the day.
Billy Grey: Man, those were so much fun. A lot of the set was comprised of songs off the new record, so we were pumped to be playing those. It was a short set too, compared to coming off headlining shows.
We were going from sets of an hour and a half to “hey, you guys have thirty minutes to make your mark, go at it.” We did our best and had a lot of fun doing it.
Craig: I don’t want to say “culture shock”, but was it a significant adjustment going from playing in clubs to these masses of humanity in parking lots, fields, amphitheaters, etc? Do you get an extra charge out of an atmosphere like that? How would you compare the two?
Billy Grey: You know what, I have to say I love them all, every show. But that Uproar show was so easy to be a part of. We had a sound check day where all of the monitor mixes were set and pretty much locked into the automated boards, every show sounded the same, the monitor mix was killer, it was killer. The crowds, man!
We’d done shows like Download in England, and sometimes those things get to be a little run and gun in terms of sound and monitors so Uproar was a dream.
Craig: Well, those European festivals tend to be more of a few days worth of a one off experience, not really tours through the region. Everyone from the region just shows up.
Billy Grey: More or less. You’ll play a festival over there, and then fill your week with some club shows, then another weekend festival. They tend to be more of festivals on the weekend over there. Uproar here was town to town all week.
Craig: How do the crowds, especially at festivals internationally, in Europe especially, compare to the festival crowds here? Watching them here from North America, the crowds there always seem gi-normous and the audience is singing every word to every song for every band! Then here, you have a few die-hards up front, maybe a scuffle here or there and that’s about it.
Billy Grey: Metal in Europe, they are so passionate about it. Then throw in a festival atmosphere and it’s a lot like a NASCAR race here in the south.
I mean it just becomes a spectacle. I love playing everywhere, but there are indeed a lot of very passionate fans internationally. They camp out in mud to see the show for goodness sake! That tells it all.
Craig: The music is appreciated here, but it almost seems like the music means more to them. They almost take it personally…not just the artist, but it seems that the music is part of them…
Billy Grey: That’s true. That is for sure. I’m hoping we get to get down to South America soon, too. We’ve been to Australia twice as well.
This last one was awesome, playing on the Soundwave tour. Every set was crazy crowds, large outdoor stadiums, we played the Olympic Stadium in Sydney, raceways, you name it.
We played at 12:20 p.m. everyday. I have to tell you, we could not have been blessed with a better slot. The crowd was there, fresh, ready to go. It was a lot of fun.
Craig: Your shows are so hi energy, even in clubs, which sometimes isn’t accommodating space-wise, you’re still non-stop. Do you all have a band conditioning program or make an effort to stay in shape? No one is standing in place…
Billy Grey: Everybody in the band does their thing to stay in shape. I mean, obviously, we are in a band with a WWE Champion wrestler; you don’t want to be the slouch around him. You don’t want to be the one trying to catch your breath.
It’s never been brought up in a mean way, but Chris does push we all have to look our best and sound our best. Not in a negative kind of way. You don’ want to be the one just standing behind your mic and playing. Not in this outfit!
Craig: Before you came to FOZZY, did you know who Chris was? Were you a wrestling fan at all?
Billy Grey: I didn’t know much about him, but seeing how fans reacted to him I knew it would be killer. That was even in the days when the band wasn’t as serious as it is now. He is SUCH a nice guy and really a driven professional.
He’s awesome to work with.
Craig: Well, as you said earlier, you all really have become more established and what says “established bad” more that your own “VIP experience”. But you all do it a bit differently. You have the fans join you for dinner, you spend time with them; get to know each other a bit.
It’s not some generic meet and greet other groups have…take a picture, get your one item signed and move along please…and the band wants a thousand bucks.
Billy Grey: We try to make ours reasonable. Give them a manageable price and more importantly an experience.
We’re not planning on changing how we do it either.
We have different packages, different price points, and different experiences. We have “bus bashes” where you can hang out with us on the bus. We have what we call “Group Hugs” where we’ll spend some time talking with folks outside the bus for awhile and sign stuff and take pictures.
There are other VIP experiences as well; all on the website for anyone who wants more details. We want to keep it a personable thing, not some assembly line.
Craig: Well, it would be nice if more bands would follow the lead of FOZZY in this area as opposed to the generic grip and grin assembly line meet and greets billed as some sort of VIP experience.
Billy Grey: Yup, people will get tired of that. They love the music, they love the band members, and you should want to make it special for them if you can.
Craig: Tell me a bit about your relationship with Michael Kelly Guitars. How did that come about?
Billy Grey: You know I tell you, I have always liked them. On the Uproar tour, Rich and I were lucky enough to have one of their representatives call and say they wanted to bring us a couple of their guitars and they are the same company as BC Rich, so Rich got a couple of those and I got a couple of Michael Kellys and you know what, I love them and we’ll see where I can go with them.
Maybe a signature model in the future! They are great guitars. They have great finishes, they are well made and I am going to be playing them!
I am also working a bit with a company called DBZ guitars and they are very nice as well. I really love both of those companies a lot and look forward to the future with each.
Craig: What are playing through right now gear wise? You have such a great tone and sound…
Billy Grey: All Laney…4x12s with Celestion Greenbacks in them, two Ironheart heads and I love them! I have to tell you, they are IT! They sound great for recording and of course live. Hope to see all of you when FOZZY comes live to your town!
