Today, I wanted to bring you something a bit different. How about we take you on the other side of the interviewing process and bring you an interview with the young man, Alex Obert of Journey of a Frontman. So check it out and make sure to visit his website.
~ Enjoy, Marisol
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Music Junkie Press: Thank you Alex for taking the time to talk with us here at Music Junkie Press. Can you tell us how Journey of a Frontman started?
Alex: I have always had a love and passion for writing, but I never knew what to write about. I am a clever poet, but unless I am writing a poem to a person, I can’t think of any ideas. I’m not quite the poet that would write about wind blowing past the trees into a pile of leaves, so that’s out the window. I had flirted with the idea of blogging for several years, but I never consistently maintained one. From 2009-2011, I wrote for my college’s newspaper, where I profiled bands that I wanted more people to know about. Bands such as ZO2, Steel Panther, Fozzy, and Them Crooked Vultures.
Originally, the format for Journey of a Frontman was far different. It was chronicling me going after my dream of being a frontman, that’s where the site’s name came from. I finally had an idea on something to write about and keep people updated on. It was originally me talking about vocal lessons, band auditions, sharing my lyrics, and so on. But eventually I thought to myself, “What can I add to JOAF that would bring my site to the big time and get people interested?” That’s when the interviews began. After discontinuing my dream of becoming a frontman, I overhauled the entire format of JOAF to give musicians an outlet to engage in banter and I make sure to ask the unique and insightful questions. I always Google previous interviews to know what tired old questions I should avoid asking. The site’s title does not imply that I only take an interest in frontmen, I am excited to interview all types of rock musicians. In order to branch out and to give myself a new and exciting array of interviewees, I have also chatted with wrestlers, stand up comics, and actors. With the fields of entertainment that I cover, I like to think of JOAF as “The anti-Rolling Stone”. I want to give overlooked musicians a voice, ones that the mainstream press either ignore, misinterpret, or barely give a paragraph of coverage to. I’m also a big fan of the “Wild Card” interviews to talk music with, names such as Adam “Edge” Copeland from the WWE, Chris Pontius aka Party Boy from Jackass, and Dane Cook.
Music Junkie Press: Can you remember who was your first interview?
Alex: My first interview was with one of my best friends, Garrett Schyns, a huge fan of any work by Josh Homme. I was toying with the idea of doing interviews and not considering it as the format for the time, so I was just having fun here. I was so fascinated by coming up with music-related questions that I just kept at it. My first non-local interview was in February 2013 with Paulie Z from ZO2. I am a huge fan of his and had chatted with him after shows before that, so I reached out to him and wanted to interview him. That was a huge thrill! My first big break with a non-local musician was in April when I interviewed one of my heroes, Andrew W.K.. That gave me the confidence to continuously pursue bigger and bigger names. I began racking up so many non-local and well-known names, that I abandoned doing interviews with local musicians. Connecticut has great websites to cover local bands and they have far more knowledge on the local scene than I do. My goal is to not just be famous locally, but nationally as well.
Music Junkie Press: You have quite a long list of interviews and I am sure they are each special in their own way but can you tell us which might be some of your stand out interviews and why?
Alex: I am a huge fan of doing in-person interviews. They’re far less nerve-wracking than phone interviews. I just recently interviewed Rich Ward of Fozzy and Stuck Mojo in New York City several hours before their show. It was such an incredible experience. He is a class act and a supremely underrated musician. I’ve also interviewed Constantine Maroulis and ZO2’s Joey Cassata at diners in NYC. We all know Constantine Maroulis from American Idol and Rock of Ages, but Joey was recently in the critically-acclaimed “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812” in New York City. I also interviewed James Durbin in New York City right before his show, he is really sweet and a phenomenal singer. Interviewing Jimmy Webb of the world-famous Trash & Vaudeville was an emotional and heartwarming experience. When I interviewed Chris Pontius, we got so into the conversation about music that we talked for over an hour. Talking to Adam “Edge” Copeland about music, and not just wrestling, was one of the coolest experiences of my life. I feel like he appreciated discussing something other than his retirement. And the same thing goes with Dane Cook, he was down to chat about music, as opposed to stand up comedy. And of course, interviewing Dee Snider’s son, Shane Snider, was pretty rad. He’s a stand up comic. Check him out!
Music Junkie Press: Who might be one of your sought after interviews that you are still waiting to do?
Alex: Wanted Andrew W.K. Got him. Wanted Michael Starr. Got him. Wanted Mark McGrath. Got him.
Right now, my top three most wanted interviews are:
1. Chris Jericho
2. Corey Taylor
3. Steve Burns
Yes, Steve Burns as in Steve from Blue’s Clues. He left the show to become a musician and interviewing him would be the ULTIMATE wild card.
Still hoping for an interview with Myles Kennedy as well. It almost happened recently, but the timing wasn’t right due to my schedule that day. I missed such an awesome opportunity, unfortunately.
Music Junkie Press: Here at Music Junkie Press, we are strong believers that Music can help, heal, inspire and so much more, can you share with us a particular time in your life when music was most there for you?
Alex: Well, music evokes many emotions and I can share with you the songs that make me feel so strongly, that I start crying. These were partly times where I needed a good cry. Hurt by Johnny Cash is at the top of the list. The first time I heard it was on WWE RAW during the Eddie Guerrero Tribute Show and I always associate that song with that whenever I listen to it. My Immortal by Evanescence brings upon a similar feeling. Scrubs has used licensed music and the scenes where they used Hallelujah by John Cale and How To Save A Life by The Fray made me cry. Funny story, I went to a wedding two years ago and didn’t shed a single tear during the entire ceremony. However, once we were at the reception afterwards, the DJ put on What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong and I started bawling.
I am always grateful for those moments when I discover a song for the first time that blows me away. It makes me love life and gives me pure adrenaline and excitement. Listening to What Do I Get? by Buzzcocks established itself as one of my all-time favorite songs and turned me onto more obscure seventies and eighties punk. I was so hooked on No One Knows by Queens of the Stone Age for the first time I heard it, partly because it reminded me of the Duck Tales theme song. And also because it introduced me to the incomparable Josh Homme. Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones was another one. This two-part compilation from Newbury Comics, a record store based out of Boston, MA entitled “Newbury Comics: The Early Years”, was a huge influence on me and changed my life, I discovered so many punk and new wave bands through it. Hearing Bang Camaro was an incredible and unexpected experience. (Eight to twelve vocalists at one time!) Death Eternal by Calabrese is horror punk’s finest, this is a band that should be playing on massive stages across the world, a band that more people should know. And of course, I have fond memories of listening to Electric Six’s discography with my Dad in his convertible. Those are just a few examples of bands and songs I discovered that left me wanting more.
I received some disappointing news earlier today, so I went for a drive and put on my Fozzy playlist. Two songs spoke to me lyrically. First was their song, The Test. “The time is right to make a change. To realize it ain’t the same. The time is right to make a change. To realize today’s the day.”. The second was their cover of Stay Hungry by Twisted Sister. “Are you feeling the fire? Are you ready to explode? Are your dreams and desires riding down an open road?”
Music Junkie Press: I see that like all kinds of music, but if we were to peak into your iPod, what artist or song might we be most surprised at finding in there?
Alex: I am a huge, huge fan of eighties music. I have a playlist of eighties one hit wonders on my iPod. The music may be corny, but dammit, it has character. This all began when a few years ago, my friend Kate made me an eighties CD, which had tracks such as Take On Me, Rock Me Amadeus, and Mr. Roboto. I’m hooked on this song by SunStroke Project from the 2010 Eurovision from Moldova, the one that features the internet phenomenon, saxophone solo guy. I blast that in the car whenever it comes on. I have a soft spot for Tearin Up My Heart by N’Sync, discovered that on my sister’s Walkman when I was a kid. Also a huge fan of film and television scores such as Freaks and Geeks, Rocky, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Billy Madison, and Pokemon.
Music Junkie Press: Do you have any upcoming interviews or features you want to let us know about?
Alex: I am working on big things with Fozzy in the near future. It’s going to be big! I would certainly say that it is my most interesting project so far. And if you know who the frontman of Fozzy is, I bet you’re excited! A lot of people compare me to William Miller from the film, Almost Famous. If that’s the case, then Fozzy and ZO2 are my Stillwater. I consider Joey of ZO2 to be my hard rock mentor and when I interviewed Rich from Fozzy recently, we clicked immediately.
Other than that, I just did a list of The 50 Greatest Rock Singers Of All Time. That was pretty cool and I feel like there’s some surprises on that list. I have my first interview confirmed for 2015 with an accomplished name in film to discuss a big announcement that was recently made regarding a big project of his. I’m stoked for that! I am also in the works of setting up an interview with a current WWE Superstar to talk music. Any guesses?
Music Junkie Press: Lastly, is there anything else you would like to share with our audience?
Alex: Never be afraid to go after your dreams. I never gave up trying to make JOAF bigger and bigger. I’m still as hungry as I was when I first started going after interviews. I look back and I am proud of my work, but I am never fully satisfied. I’m always after the next big name. Find your calling in life, that is the truest source of passion and happiness.
Aside from me and my words, I’d like to share with you a few quotes from JOAF interviews with several of my heroes to hopefully inspire your audience.
“Never give up on your dream, ever, ever, ever, ever because dreams do come true. Sometimes, you don’t even know what your dream is, life gets so big and gives you so many amazing things, just never give up on your dreams. And don’t be afraid to get in the boat. When life sends a boat, get it. Go with it. But don’t give up on your dreams. Don’t let fear take it away or lack of faith or whatever. Believe in your dreams, dreams do come true. I have the best life ever. I piss, I moan, I grumble, I complain, I laugh, I cry, but you know what? I have the best life ever and I know it.” – Jimmy Webb (Trash & Vaudeville)
“Thank you for the amazing loyal support for all these years. And all I can say is I hope that they can follow us, not just me, all three of us, the way I followed the people that influenced me. So if Paul does a movie career, if Kiss broke up and I can say, “I follow them because I believe in them.” They didn’t have to just be that band. So I would like to say I hope they follow us on our journey as we get older and mature. We are going to want to do different things in our lives, but I think the three of us will always, whether we’re together or separate, we’re always gonna be creative, we’re always gonna be trying new things and find new ways to influence people in a positive way, in a creative way, a fun way. And I hope that they follow us on that journey.” – Paulie Z (ZO2)
“That’s just like, you want to go get drinks with your buddies or do you want to go and play basketball with your friends or do you want to go and date, do you want to go hang out, or do you want to make your business happen? It’s all choices. And I think it’s allocating the proper time for you. For me, I was all in and hungry and I just gave up a lot of stuff in my twenties to get what I wanted, but it’s all in finding the balance. But knowing that you can get anything you want. I mean, the biggest thing for me, bro, to be honest with you, is I just don’t want people to bitch. If you’re like, “Oh, it’s not going great.”, you know, then stop fucking going out every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and fucking work.” – Gary Vaynerchuk (CEO, Author, Public Speaker)
“Live life with attitude and gratitude. Focus on what I do have as opposed to what I don’t have. Focus on the positive as opposed to the negative. And when you get knocked down, you get back up. I’ve taken a few standing eight counts, but I keep answering the bell, man. It’s all mental attitude.” – DDP (Diamond Dallas Page)
“So everything in life happens for a reason. One thing ends and another one begins. End of story!! One door closes, another door will open. You’ve just gotta be there to open the door. Make sure you open that damn door because if you don’t, you’ll never be able to walk through it. If a door shuts, you have to be ready to open the next one once it comes to you. Or you know what? Go find a door and fuckin smash through it. And that’s how it’s done. You can’t sit back and wait. Once ZO2 ended, I didn’t sit back and say, “Jesus Christ, what am I gonna do now?”, I went out and I said I’m gonna do Joeylicious, I’m doing Victor. And these things are going great right now, they’re gonna be amazing for me. Then this play came along. It’s been great. The moral of the story is once one door closes, another door is open and there for you to walk through. You just gotta find it. Don’t ever fuckin sit on your ass and be sad about a door closing cause a better door is always gonna be in front of you. Always look forward, never look back.” – Joey Cassata (ZO2)
“Do it. Absolutely do it. Whatever it is. If you wanna do music and you’re scared of what people think if you go on Idol or you do The Voice or X Factor, fuck everybody else! It’s your dream. Whatever chances you have to take to live your dream and to feel successful. Even if you fail, do it. Try it, even if they don’t like you, even if they say, “Not this year.” Keep doing what you’re doing. Keep practicing. Keep perfecting your craft. No one got anywhere for just sitting on their ass not doing anything, you gotta do something! ” – James Durbin
Information & Links:
Website: http://journeyofafrontman.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JOAFdotcom
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