Robby J (interview/conversation)

Hey guys. I had a great conversation/interview with Stuck Mojo frontman Robby J. Hope you enjoy it.


So one of the things I wanted to discuss is something I've heard older musicians talking about. It's about young musicians complaining about touring, saying it's too much work and they don't want to do it. So being a young musician yourself, I wanted to get your opinion. Does this mean they're not dedicated?

"I think the thing with young musicians is they're pretty disillusioned to how things actually are. They're expecting getting into the music industry to be one way, when it's actually pretty different. It's a lot of work, especially now for younger artists. Music's gotten to a point where you've kind of, if you're starting from zero, you kind of can't expect to do this as a full time gig. It kind of has to be something you're extremely passionate about, and something that you're willing to invest a lot of your own personal money into. It's kind of more as a hobby, so there's a lot of work to do.
Starting up your own band; and I think another problem is it's very difficult finding band mates who are on the same exact page as you. Cause you all kind of have to have the same mindset going into this moving forward, cause if there's one person in the band who has a different view, there's always going to be this butting of heads going on, and it's going to be very hard to get out there. Because of that clash. So I don't think it's a matter of musicians not being passionate, I think it's just a matter of these younger musicians getting a little disappointed and realizing; oh wow, this is a lot of work. I've got to try to be my own booking agent, i have to figure out how to sell the merch for my band. I have to create music, I have to in a lot of cases, fund my own album. So it's a lot of work and I think now musicians have to do more than simply being musicians.
They have to do everything, they're their own PR people. They have to go out and get their own shows. Find other bands to tour with. So it's just a lot of work. I think that's the main issue. It's probably an overwhelming lot of work. Especially for younger people who aren't used to this because music industry is very similar to; running a band is like running a business. At the end of the day, a lot of people realize that, and that's what I say about that matter."

So what was your mindset, like when you first started the music business? Were you like disappointed, were you ready, did you know what to expect? Like, what was going through your head at that time?

"When I first started, I actually realized very quickly that you need to smarten up. You need to be very serious about these things. It's not something that's going to be handed to you. So right off the beginning, like just for some context; When I was growing up and I was very young and going into college, I was a very actually liberal minded person, and you know I was kind of like living childishly, recklessly for a long time. Up until I stopped going to college, and I started doing my own music stuff and I realized, wow there's a lot of funding that needs to go into this; and I didn't want to have to rely on, ya know there's these government artist funds that give out to new musicians. But how it's set up is, if you take those funds, you actually aren't allowed to work a certain amount of hours.
 You're very limited on the amount you're personally allowed to work, because the government is giving you money just for your art. So I thought that was pretty stupid, and was like, why would any musician want to do this? So I've realized that the best way to go about things, especially if you want to pursue music, is just, I say to: have a job, have a full time job outside of music, save up as much money as possible, that's what I was doing at the time. As soon as I finished school, I had a part time job at the time, while i was still in college, and I just decided to pursue it full time. I saved up a ton of money, I worked all the hours I could, and then every penny that I saved up, it ended up, a lot of it, ended up going into my band Hasta. I told the guys: I was like, hey listen. I know you guys might not have money, but I want to do this so, right now let's agree to for me to front everything in the band, and then you guys just owe me that at a later time when you guys can accumulate your share of the payments we have to make.
 So I feel like as soon as I started taking music seriously, I understood that it's like, it was a lot of work. My guitarist Dave and I, we decided to start finding contacts in the industry. So what we did was, we found a list of a bunch of different journalists, that we could reach out to, so that they could possibly write about us, or get some interest in us at least, and show us to other people in the industry. That's what we did, we made a bunch of lists, stayed up countless hours, sent out a bunch of emails to people, and then luckily for us; Carl, the guy from BraveWords, he actually took interest in us, and then he compared us to Stuck Mojo, and I ended up getting to join Stuck Mojo because of it."

Speaking of Stuck Mojo, I want to ask; when did you first meet Rich Ward? Did you ever meet him before joining Stuck Mojo? Or was it when he brought you in?

"When I first met Rich, it was after. I hadn't met Rich prior to doing anything in the music industry. I don't know if a lot of people know this but, my video with Hasta La Muerte Pour Anotha Shot, that was my first debut of original music ever. Like, I hadn't put out anything before that so that was my real debut to the local scene here in Montreal, and to just the music world in general, cause we got thrown into the spotlight pretty quickly shortly after that. So what happened was, we put out our video around May 5, 2015; and then it was the very next day we put out, my guitarist Dave had just reached out to Rich Ward on Twitter and was like, Hey check us out. We got compared to Stuck Mojo.
This journalist said we sound like Stuck Mojo and then for whatever reason, Rich actually checked that video out and he was like blown away. That very day he's like; Hey Robby, he reached out to me on Twitter; and he was like, here's my number, call me later, and then that very night, I did. I spoke to him for about an hour, and we were just talking about things. I guess he was getting a feel for what kind of person I was, and then about less than a month later, he flew me down to Georgia to start working on some songs for what would end up becoming"Here Come The Infidels"album. So the first time I met him was in person in Georgia, like around, it was June, or the end of May; and yeah it was cool, I met him and it was like, woah it's Rich Ward. At first, the person that picked me up at the airport was our manager Mark Willis's assistant Lee.
She comes out on the road with us, she does a lot of our merch, and she tour manages us when we're doing shows in the U.S., and then shortly after I met Lee, I met my manager Mark Willis; and he was cool, he showed me around the amphitheater  in Atlanta. He actually runs the whole place. He was like the head guy in charge, and he just took me on this tour of one of the main stages in the amphitheater, and he told me; "This is what you want to play on someday. So stay focused on this." He was like, you're going to be playing on this one day; and I was like, blown away and then and bout an hour later, we finally met up with Rich and we had lunch and we all sat down together. It was very cool, we were just , it wasn't just straight to business or anything, we were just talking things through and just getting to know each other, really."

That is pretty cool. I love hearing stories about that because it really proves how much hard work and a little stroke of luck can really get you somewhere. Switching into something a little different, talking about metal, and I know you kind of discussed this on The RANTidote a little; but I wanted to talk about if it's alive or dead. Do you think it's rebellious as it used to be? Like are metal musicians still trying to not be one of the so called "cool kids", trying to stand out? Or do you think they've kind of got sucked into some of the other genres through like politics or whatever?

"I think up to probably up to the last big artists that mattered came from 90's, and I'm talking about artists like Marilyn Manson, bands like Slipknot, the people in Linkin Park or Fred Durst from Limp Bizkit. I think the reason that those people were relevant is because they were counterculture, they were different from what was going on at the time. It was shocking to see. You know, guys in masks like Slipknot, talking about the lyrical content they did and that stuff was becoming mainstream at the time. You were hearing that type of heavy music on the radio, which stuff like Marilyn Manson, it was just constantly thrown out there; and I think the problem with metal today is we don't really have any of these figures who are clashing with the mainstream culture. Cause in the 90's, it was still different to be against that stuff and display those values as like, this is what we're all about, and it was shocking people.
But now, things have gotten to a point where that stuff isn't shocking to people. There are average people out there who live this freakishly and deprived lives to the point where it's like, none of that shocks people. What shocks people now is, just being like hey you know what? I actually don't care about your depressing values like, doing drugs isn't cool. Getting wasted is not cool. You know what's cool is starting a family and taking care of the people around you.
 It's being sober. That's what's being cool cause that's what's being intelligent, and that's what gets people places. That's what makes the world go round, and saying those things, like people seem to get offended. It's like, what are you talking about? We worked all these years to destroy all that mindset and take it all down, and now you're trying to bring that back. So it's like, I feel a lot of these younger artists; they're either too politically correct or afraid to just say these things, or they're actually disillusioned and they think that that's not the way to go about things.
So they think a life of partying is what's cool. I think that's why the only people who I say are kind of like have that rick star image, that are in the industry from younger bands like the past 10 years or so; are maybe the guys in the bands, there are this warped tour bands like Asking Alexandria or The Black Veil Brides. I would say guys like Andy Black and Danny Worsnop are like at the forefront of this rock star image thing. But I find this point, what they're doing is kind of like passe. Because all they're trying to be is like a recreation of guys like Sebastion Bach from Skid Row, and it's like; it's not even cool to get wasted all the time. Act like an idiot on stage, you've got plenty of videos that I'm sure Danny is embarrassed about right now, of him just like freaking out with Asking Alexandria, because he was so wasted he couldn't so his job properly. It's kind of embarrassing to see , it's like, I'm not trying to tear the guy down, though it's pretty much what I'm doing right now.
 But it's kind of sad. But I think a lot of these guys learn from their mistakes and they're getting better, and still putting out great music. But I think that whole, we need to party till we drop, that needs to go. Because it's like, you can see all these countless legends; like guys from Jim Morrison to Jimi Hendrix, to Bon Scott from AC/DC. All they did was party till they couldn't and it's like, man, we're human beings. We are not machines. The human body is not meant or built to withstand all these drugs and alcohol abuse.
Ya know, and it's like, you think after all these instances of famous rock stars dying, that people would get the message. but a lot of these people still don't, and I think that's still a problem with a lot of these younger bands. It's about the partying and ya know, about the fame, hooking up with girls and doing a lot of drugs, and it's really not. Especially now, you need to really smarten up if you want to make it, and you've just got to work really hard. Just be nice to people, really."

So how do you feel about bands that were still around in the 90's, like big metal bands, like Megadeth or Metallica? Those two always come to mind. Do you think they still have that rebellious, metal music that they used to? Or do you think they've kind of like, strayed away from it? 

"I think they'll always have that different edge to them, ya know, they're the forefathers of what came. So I think they're still, ya know anything; the old school bands are the only ones who I feel are putting out quality records still. They're the ones that are passionate about making records and putting out the best they can possibly put out. I think ya know. Megadeth's last album "Dystopia" and Metallica's "Hardwired", was probably some of the best records those two bands have put out in years. So I definitely think that, yeah they still have that rebellious edge to them. Ya know there are guys like James Hetfield who, he might not outwardly speak about what he believes in, but ya know I think he kind of upholds the constitution; and Dave Mustaine from what I know, I think he's pretty much a guy who's not afraid to speak out against like the mainstream of what's going on. So I definitely  and admire and respect both of those guys for that."

How do you feel about metal having so called "acts of satanism"?

"Well as far as satanism goes, I think the only bands that really push that stuff, I think it's a big part of their ethos, like the black metal bands. I think there's like a saying in the black community, it's like you're not even a true black metal band if you don't uphold the thoughts of satanism. I don't know too much about, you know that cult or religion, whatever you want to call it. But from what I understand, I don't think it's a violent thing. I think from what people tell me, it's more of a peaceful mindset. Going on, I think people if they use any satanic imagery in their albums, like especially more of the mainstream artists, like Slayer or Marilyn Manson. I think they were only using that imagery just for shock value, or just to speak up against it.
Like, at a certain point in their lives, I think guys like Tom Morello were speaking out against christian churches because of what was going on with all the scandals and what not. So I think it was used more as like a political statement, more so than the musicians and artists actually believing in satanism. I think it was more just to make a statement, shock people with grotesque imagery than anything else."

Do you have any advice for up and coming young musicians who might be struggling?

"I would say what any new artist should do is: they should have a job, whatever it is, outside of music, or however they make money. Save up as much as possible because you never know when you're going to need an extra wad of cash to get yourself somewhere else. As far as, you know, starting a new band, a brand new band from scratch; I think that is extremely difficult. I think it should only be done with people who are exactly on the same mindset, so that means either people who are already in the industry coming together and making new music. But brand new musicians coming out of the woodwork, I think it's very tough for a brand new band to succeed. So suggestion is like, because really, I'll go back to this.
 It's like, you're band is only as good as the weakest member in it. So whoever the least talented guy or the least motivated guy in your band is, that's as far as your band is going to go. So you really need to be at a high level, and there's like less than probably 1% of all musicians in the world, actually play all these big festivals like Download in the UK, or Bloodstock, or The Brutal Assault. So it's really tough. I said like, if you are serious and you're a young musician, and you want to get yourself out there; you will do whatever it takes, and that means even if you have your own original project; if you get an opportunity to join another band, you have to take it. You have to put yourself out there. You have to take any gigs that put you out there. That means if you need to go out on the road, and some band needs a fill in guitarist, you take it.
 You practice constantly, that's what you have to do. You have to be better than everybody else, and you have to want to be. So I'd say like, put yourself out there. One of my mentors in the industry is actually one of my good buddies. His name is Max Georgia, and I just take after his work ethic. I follow whatever he does. It's like, be like Max Georgia; and what that means is like he's a guitarist but he's willing to play bass for bands.
 He's currently the fill in bassist for the band Escape the Fate, and he just works his ass off. I see this guy, he's constantly playing guitar. he's constantly putting up guitar videos. You can see him in a bunch of videos on YouTube. He's just always putting out work, and he does different styles of music as well. You've got to be open to that. You got to be willing to play rock. You got to be willing to play pop, you know classical music, jazz, heavy metal, whatever.
 He's got the look for it too. He understands that if you want to make it in a certain aspect of the music industry, like a certain genre, you have to look a certain way too. So if you're in heavy metal, you should try to be growing out your hair. You should be trying to get tattoos. It's not to fit in, well, it is and it isn't. Like it's, like working at an office.
 You kind of have to come in and wear a suit and tie, if you're working at one of these higher  office buildings. So it's like the same thing in metal. If you want to be a metal musician or like specifically in like the hardcore scene, or like the death metal scene; you kind of have to have to look a certain way. It's just part of the gig. So just put yourself out there. Try to get whatever opportunities you can, and you can't afraid to let go of being in a band with your friends, just for the sake that they're your friends. You got to understand that, you just have to look after yourself and not everybody has the same mindset as you. So I say it's a lot of hard work, but it's definitely do able. You know, I think the only things stopping people is the idea that they can't do it, and that's a bunch of bullshit. If you want to do anything in life, just got to go out there and do it. Pretty much."

Big thanks to Robby J for answering my questions and giving his opinions. Hope you guys enjoyed this.
Be forever metal.