 MM: What are your thoughts on downloading?
RW: Well, when I was younger I used to borrow people's vinyl and copy them on cassette. The way I look at it is technically its not right but what am I gonna do. Sure I like to use it as an advertising tool, they see it out there and they will hopefully buy it. Its a double-edged sword and the record labels are going to have to figure out how they can use it to their advantage. Maybe they can do clubs where you can pay for a membership or something...I don't know. If they don't figure out a way the record industry is gonna be in a lot of trouble. I love music and I love doing it but I don't want to be forty years old and have to get a job as a manager of Burger King. I don't want to see twenty-five years of music and nothing to show for it. The record label has to figure out a way to make a profit. It's just like any other business, you don't paint people's houses for free and I'm not gonna make records for free because then you say my work has no value. It doesn't say much for me or the music industry if you do something for nothing. It's just business.
MM: Well, I saw you guys at Ziggys last month playing in Stuck Mojo at the reunion show. Any chance of seeing Stuck Mojo again?
RW: Probably not.
MM: Looks like you were drawing a pretty good crowd.
RW: It's a great way to make money! The thing about it is we aren't as good as we were back in the day. We don't tour and we're not as good as we used to be. Once or twice a year is fine, but once a month and try to do it that way isn't a good idea. Its good to get together every once in a while and make money, but the band just isn't as good as it used to be. His heart isn't into it and neither is mine. He loves his new band and I love mine.
MM: Did you like his [Bonz] new band, 420 Monks?
RW: Man, I'm just not into the rap-rock thing. It wears on my nerves. The reason I liked Mojo is because I play, I sing, our members played and sang. It was just good. I want to hear melody. I grew up on Bad Company and AC/DC and Nugent in the 70s, when I was 8 years old I discovered Sabbath and Maiden and Priest. I dig the riffs and the good groove but I just can't handle those vocals. I get tired of it.
MM: So no collaboration with Fred Durst?
RW: He's really good at what he does, but he just doesn't speak to me.
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| "Man, I'm just not into the rap-rock thing. It wears on my nerves." |
MM: What is it like working with Jericho?
RW: He's good. He's the best, he really is. The only reason he and I got this band together is he's a cool guy and we just get along. He's a wrestler, he likes metal, I like wrestling. It was just lets get together and have some fun with this band. He's ten times the singer he was 2 years ago. He has really made huge improvements. We just have a good time. Its been like that for me since I was 14. Fozzy is a good outlet. We play old metal tunes and we love it.
MM: Has he put any wrestling ideas on you?
RW: No, he wants to keep it seperate. Actually he doesn't even like talking about wrestling. That is just his job. He got Fozzy to escape it. Its like his golf tournament on the weekend. He gets away from it.
 MM: Well, when can we get some more stuff from you?
RW: We played four new songs that aren't on the demo. I don't want to put out half-ass material so the cost of putting out the best album sounding stuff is very expensive. Its just an issue of me balancing commerce and the cost of quality and the cost of recording. Hopefully, by the summer we will have some more stuff out.
MM: And you are selling it on the website?
RW: Yeah, we sure are.
MM: Guess that is about it. Any last words on SickSpeed?
RW: Great man. We are actually getting ready to change the name of the band to Cafu and the reason we are doing that is we have had four different attorneys, three different band lineups and we've gone through so much with Sick Speed. This lineup feels different. Some people didn't like the old singer. It's hard for new people to come see it, they have a preconceived idea of what it is and it isn't anymore. I like the name Cafu because its like 2 parts caffeine and one part kung-fu. We are putting up a new site and everything. Be sure to check it out!
Update: Rich's new bandsite can be located at: http://www.landofcafu.com/
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