FOZZY's BILLY GREY Praises Producer JOHNNY ANDREWS: He Is 'What The Band Needed To Move Forward'

In a new interview with the "Cheap Heat Productions" podcast, FOZZY guitarist Billy Grey said that he feels that he and his bandmates are making better albums as time goes on.

"The last two records — actually, the last three records — we started [working] with [producer] Johnny Andrews on [2014's] 'Do You Wanna Start A War' [album]; he did 'Lights Go Out' and a couple of other songs on that. But then, on the 'Judas' record [2017] and this past record 'Boombox' [2022], he wrote and produced the whole record — as far as lyrics and melody and stuff like that, he and Rich [Ward, guitar] and Chris [Jericho, vocals] did. But him as a producer opens up just so much of what the band needed to move forward. That was kind of like a new beginning, and the best is yet to come."

According to Grey, radio airplay has been very instrumental in expanding FOZZY's fanbase, particularly in the U.S., where radio reportedly reaches 87% of the population.

"Radio is a big deal here in the U.S. because that's where people hear you," he said. "And we have Spotify now; we have all the different streaming outlets. But radio still, in the U.S., is a big thing, so it really has helped us a lot.

"The 'Boombox' album is doing really well," he continued. "[The single] 'I Still Burn' did really well on radio here for us. And it's full of hooks. The album has been taken really well here. And we play quite a few songs off of it live; especially when we come out this spring on the tour, we're gonna have a lot of songs off of it. Yeah, it's been taken really well here, actually — really well."

Last November, FOZZY completed a 10-date U.K. tour. It marked the band's first live appearances since FOZZY postponed the remaining dates of its summer/fall 2022 "Save The World" tour due to a throat injury suffered by the band's lead singer, wrestling superstar Chris Jericho. According to FOZZY, Jericho sustained a bruised larynx in August at the AEW "Quake By The Lake" event in Minnesota where he squared off against Jon Moxley for the interim AEW world championship.

The official music video for "I Still Burn" recently eclipsed two million views.

The 12-track "Boombox", which came out in May 2022, also features the Top 10 singles "Nowhere To Run" and "Sane".

In January 2022, FOZZY parted ways with longtime drummer Frank Fontsere and replaced him with Grant Brooks (THROUGH FIRE).

Fontsere was a founding member of FOZZY, having formed the group in 1999 with Jericho and Ward.

When FOZZY announced Fontsere's departure, the band said that he was "stepping down to focus on his family and other projects."

FOZZY is Chris Jericho (vocals),Rich Ward (guitars, vocals),Grant Brooks (drums),Billy Grey (guitars) and P.J. Farley (bass).