MH: Tell us what Oz Fox is up to these days.
I have a supervisor position with a logistics company in southern California. We handle products for a very popular pro audio company. My wife Leslie and I are raising our three kids, Paul (14), Lea (12), and Tara (7). All that takes up most of my life's time. Music has to take a back seat these days, but it is still a strong passion for me, even though it has been very difficult to do much of it. I am still taking part in my latest group, Sin Dizzy. The other Dizzy guys are very busy as well with jobs and family, but we have plans to record a follow up to our CD "He's Not Dead". I also work on the Sin Dizzy website (sindizzy.com) updating news and creating new pages for it when necessary.

MH: When did you first start playing guitar, and do you recall your first decent guitar?
My Grandfather taught me to play a few chords when I was 6 years old. Back then, I was already a singer with great pitch, so from a musical standpoint, guitar came naturally. Grandpa had this huge Gibson acoustic steel string that really hurt my midget fingers, so my Aunt bought me a scaled down model for Christmas that year. My first decent guitar was a black Gibson SG Deluxe model with a Bigsby tremolo. After working at my Dad's upholstery shop for a time, he bought it for me. It had two humbuckers and white binding down the neck. One night, it got stolen.

MH: Who were your musical influences early on and what guitar players had an impact on your playing style?
In the very beginning, I was a huge Buck Owens fan. I still am. My mom had his "Open Up Your Heart" album. I believe James Burton recorded the lead guitar tracks on it. The guitar work on that record truly inspired me in my youth to play. To this day, I still think it has some of the greatest solos in music history. I learned later from a fellow named Rick Foote, (Stryper's bus driver) that Don Rich was the best known guitarist for Buck and I began to admire his style as well. I hope I can meet Buck someday to thank him for the impact his music had on my life. As I became an older kid, (about 11 to 12 years old) I began to really dig Carlos Santana. My dad had Santana Abraxes on an 8-track cartridge and I would play along with it. In my teens, I was heavily into Black Sabbath. Tony Iommi was fun to play and I loved his mega-distortion sound. When Van Halen came out, I got into his playing big time. I learned the first Van Halen album note for note on my mom's Magnavox record player at 16 speed. That was a challenge and it became rewarding because I kind of became the best Van Halen player in our circle of musos from high school. I think that may have been one of the reasons Robert and Michael Sweet considered having me join them. During the VH days, I met and became friends with an awesome guitarist named Dave Macias. Dave was well known in the area and I learned a lot from watching him practice. He still plays around town now and then. Other guitarists I was inspired by at this time were Jeff Beck, Michael Shencker, Ulrich Roth, Brian May, Randy Rhodes, Al Dimeola and Matthias Jabs. About four Stryper albums later, I took some serious lessons from my good friend Tony Palacios (Guardian) which involved some basic theory, mode patterns and alternate picking techniques. I felt my playing style was going nowhere, so I worked hard to try and change it. I tried hanging out with other great guitar players to inquire of them how to change my style. Then friend of mine loaned me a stack of his vinyl records of artists like Johnny Lee Hooker, Freddie King, Otis Rush, Earl Hooker, Buddy Guy & Junior Wells, and BB King. My friend encouraged me to capture the vibe from other players and not just try to copy notes. Around this same time, I got into Hendrix. It was a little late in happening, but I was able to truly appreciate his work. Stevie Ray Vaughn became a favorite as well. I also got into Steve Vai, not that I could ever play like him, but his way of playing became inspiring. It seemed like he could do anything. He probably could emulate the sound of an egg falling, cracking and oozing out onto the floor with his guitar. That level of guitar playing seems untouchable. Steve was always friendly to me and that made me appreciate him even more. I wish I had the time to tell you all the other "in-between" things involving my influences but I must save it for the autobiography. Anyway, after all that, I recorded Stryper's "Against The Law" album and I believe it has the best playing I have ever done.

MH: Obviously Stryper was a huge impact in the power pop scene of the mid 80's. Recap how the band was formed and give us a brief history of the Stryper days.
I went to the same high school as Robert and Michael Sweet. We were part of a hand full of musicians that hung out together at lunch. Right after high school, I was trying to form a band but it never came about. In 1983, Michael approached me about joining their yellow and black striped band called Roxx Regime. He and Robert were playing the Hollywood club circuit. I agreed to do it and we went through several bassists. There was one point in between bassists when we made the decision to become Christians and dedicate our music to Jesus Christ. At the time, there were not that any bands that we knew of playing Christian metal and we didn't really know if people would accept us. Then, we came upon Tim Gaines who had recently become a Christian. After the line up was complete, guitars were striped yellow and black, photos were taken, demos were recorded, then we pushed our music to a label called Enigma Records. They signed us in 1984 and released our first album, "The Yellow and Black Attack" produced by Ron Goudie. We hit the L.A. club circuit hard, selling out everywhere. A Christian lady named Daryn Hinton took interest in us and began supporting us financially. Robert and Michael's mother (Janice) took over management duties. We did some short touring in Texas, and the Pacific Northwest. 1986 brought the release of our second album, "Soldiers Under Command" produced by Michael Wagner. Days after we finished recording, we were playing in Japan. I think that is when I realized that the good Lord was doing something big with us. The Soldiers tour took us through the rest of the country. I can't remember how long that tour was, but we were out for awhile. Somewhere in there, we recorded a Christmas single called "Reason For The Season" and the flip side was our version of "Winter Wonderland." 1987 brought the release of our third and biggest, platinum-selling album, "To Hell with the Devil" produced by Stefan Galfas and Stryper. Three singles were released from it including the Billboard top 40 hit "Honestly" bringing the album sales to 1.6 million that year, and by that time, the other two albums went gold. We toured for about a year on that one including trips to Europe, Japan and Australia. In 1988 we released "In God We Trust" produced by Michael Lloyd and Stryper. This was a grueling recording. The pressure was put on us to do a better album than the last and the production costs were high. It did not do as well as "To Hell with the Devil" but it served its purpose. At that time, rock music was taking a raunchy turn and our polished 80's sound was going away. I believe there was still a dedicated core fan base for us, but we may have raised some eyebrows with our next album. 1990 brought the release of "Against the Law" produced by Tom Werman. Pressures from the record company to change our image and sound were intense. On top of that, our attitudes became rebellious, but for some reason, this album ROCKED!!! Our grittiest vocals, riffiest guitar progressions and "who cares?" attitude brought out a side to Stryper that I still can't believe was there. If it were any other band, it probably would have done real well, but the controversy over us changing along with poor decision making within the record company caused the album sales to flop. This combined with a slow economy, Enigma was forced to file bankruptcy. Trust me, if you haven't heard "Against the Law," you are missing out on some bitchin' Stryper! In 1991, Hollywood Records added us to their roster only to release a greatest hits album called "Can't Stop the Rock," but the previous damage from Enigma had taken it's toll on our reputations, and Michael Sweet decided to leave the band in 1992 to pursue a solo career. Hollywood Records dropped us ending Stryper's carrier of 8 years. We finished off a hand full of dates with me singing lead vocals, but eventually we went our separate ways.

MH: Stryper provided a unique style of religious beliefs through their songs, as well as well-produced arrangements and great hooks in their songs. Tell us about your contribution in producing those great songs.
WOW! Great songs? Thank you. On the first four albums, the majority of the song writing was done by Michael Sweet. He can really stamp them out when he's inspired. I was more the guy that he bounced the ideas off of and I might have got a few of my riffs in here or there. I did write a few songs on my own like "The Way." On "Against the Law," Michael and I collaborated a lot more. I think the majority of our collaborations, Michael came up with the initial guitar idea and I would add sections to them. On some songs, I wrote some or all the lyrics and melodies like on "Two Time Woman". On "Not That Kind of Guy", I originally came up with all the music and lyrics, but the original title wasn't well received by all, so Michael helped out by coming up with the new one and making everyone happy. I came up with the corny little skit in the beginning of "Winter Wonderland". People like to make fun of that one. I have to admit, I don't know what I was thinking. I was the arrangement idealist for "Battle Hymn of the Republic" which Michael got full credit for, but at this point it doesn't really matter. I spent so much time co-arranging, singing and recording background vocals. Michael and I blended so well together and our ideas for them were always "nsync," hahaha! Of course, there are all the guitar solos I came up with. I always wondered if people could tell which solo was Michael or I. I'm that jittery guy!

MH: Stryper is still big in Japan, is there any reunion album or tour planned?
I would say that Japan is not the only place where Stryper is still popular. My latest group, Sin Dizzy and Michael Sweet got together in Puerto Rico in 1999 to jam Stryper tunes at the end of our show. It was advertised that Michael, Tim and I were going to reunited as Stryper to play some songs. Over 10,000 people showed up for the event and it wasn't even all four members! In 2000, the four of us got together for the first time in 10 years to be a part of the first ever Stryper Expo in New Jersey. It was a lot of fun and great to play with the original line up again. The production company for the show was Planet Rapture. They liked how it turned out so much that they did a second expo here in Southern California in May of 2001. Also, in December of 2000, Stryper was asked to perform in Costa Rica. We played to a crowd of about 6000. The last show we did was outside of Bushnell, IL. at the Cornerstone Festival in July of 2001, where we played for a crowd of around 30,000. Puerto Rico is asking us to come back as well as some countries in Europe. As far as a full on reunion, it has been talked about by all four of us, but not fully agreed upon. Right now for me, it is not logistically possible. Down the road, maybe. Recording another Stryper album has been talked about as well, but not fully agreed upon. Touring involves being away for long periods of time and I can't be gone that long anymore. I really need to be here for my family. Those of you who have successfully raised a family know what I am talking about. Even if I'm gone for a weekend, it takes a toll so I choose not to tour right now.

MH: Tell us about Sin Dizzy and the direction of the band.
Sin Dizzy started in 1994. I had a part-time job at night where I met John Bocanegra. He was a drummer from Upland, Ca. that had won first place in a local drum competition two years in a row. The first time I played music with him, he impressed me so much, I started shakin' in my boots! I asked him what he wanted to do with his talent and he said he wanted to be in a Christian band and bring people to salvation through Jesus Christ. Now prior to this, I had prayed to the Lord and told Him that I didn't want to play in a band anymore unless He showed me in someway that I was suppose to. After hearing John say those words and only playing with him for 5 minutes, I felt I was being called again to do the same. Then I called my old friend Tim Gaines to tell him about all this and see if he would be interested in playing with us, and he was. I contacted another friend and guitarist, Bobby MacNeil. I met Bobby in 1992 through a mutual friend and promoter named Bob Moungey. Moungey was helping me with a solo project I worked on right after I left Stryper. I recorded and produced a four-song demo in which I played all the guitars, sang lead vocals, and was the soul songwriter and arranger. Bobby became the hopeful for my solo group, but at the end of 1992, I had to put it all on hold due to personal issues that needed my attention. Anyway, I finally urged Bobby to come and join John, Tim and me and the first song we came up with was called "Sacred Blood". The song was in strange timing and had a dark vibe to it, reminiscent of Black Sabbath. That seemed to set the pace for our sound and I encouraged the guys to stay within that realm because I liked it. We ended up recording a low budget, six-song demo to shop with. After it was done, we sent tapes out to several people, but we had no luck. Two and a half years later, Tim ventured out on his own and pressed up the six-song demo and, without my knowing, included the four songs I recorded back in 1992, which he recorded the bass on. We ended up with the album "He's Not Dead" with the first six songs being Sin Dizzy originals and the last four songs being Oz Fox originals. In any case, it worked well and we sold out three batches of pressings and are currently stocked with a fourth batch. Since we had no label or distribution, Tim sold them all from mail orders by advertising at sindizzy.com. Tim formally left the band on June 18th, 2000 and we recruited another long time friend and bassist, Kevin Walt. Kevin was the perfect choice for our loss and fit right in with our demeanor. Since then, we've performed at the second Stryper Expo here in California, May 2001 and in North Carolina at the Paramount Carowinds Themepark for the Shout 2001 festival. Aside from wanting to record another album, we still feel the urge to let Jesus direct our lives so that we can be in His will with whatever plans He has for us. Lately, it has been tough to make the time for the band, but there are songs ready to be recorded that we wrote and I feel strongly about finishing what we started.

MH: Wayne Guitars is now producing an "Oz Fox" signature model. Tell us about the design of that guitar and your influence in creating a signature model.
Michael Charvel, the son of Wayne Charvel, approached me about it at the Winter NAAM Show in January 2001. Apparently, his little brothers were big Stryper fans and after discussing it with his father, they decided to make the model. I felt completely honored and flattered by it. I suggested that they re-create the guitar I designed that appeared on the back of Stryper's 1986 album,"Soldiers Under Command". That guitar was originally purchased from Karl Sandoval in 1980 and was a standard Mighty Mite Explorer body with a Charvel Strat style maple neck. It had one Seymour Duncan Distortion pickup and a standard Strat tremolo system. Karl painted the body solid black and he squared off the round part of the headstock so it wouldn't remind me so much of a Strat. When I joined Roxx Regime, Robert used yellow and black vinyl tape and designed stripes all over my black finish. He redesigned a second version of it later, but it still had the standard Explorer shape. Time went on and I met a guy named Eric Von Theumer. Eric worked at the San Dimas Charvel/Jackson shop and unknown to his supervisors, made some specialized cuts by my direction to the body of my guitar. Another fellow authorized a new paint job there, and I asked for a yellow and black pattern of the Japanese "Rising Sun" with "777" in one of the rays. They worked out supplying me with a new neck, a Floyd Rose tremolo system and the guitar was re-birthed. I had only a few pictures on hand of the original guitar, which I sold to a collector in 1992. Wayne Guitars used those shots to re-create the design and they presented the finished prototype to me at NAMM 2002. It looked great, felt great, and played great. I was so excited about it that the next day, I printed out a large picture of Wayne and me holding the guitar in the parking lot and showed it to everyone. Wayne and Michael seemed like such down to earth people. They made me want to move to Paradise, Ca. and work for them making guitars. They are planning to do more with me in the future. I just hope I can measure up to their "guitar endorsee" expectations.

MH: Tell us about your current rig you're using.... Amplifiers, effects, stomp boxes, etc.
Right now, I'm using a Mesa Boogie Quad Preamp I purchased in 1987. I power it with a Mesa Boogie Mk2-C set to a clean sound. I also own a Mesa Boogie Strategy 400 power amp, but I am not using it. I also run two Roland SDE3000 delays in my effects loop. I control everything with a Mesa Boogie Midi Matrix switching system and an Abacus foot switch. Photos are up at sindizzy.com. I'm not much for stomp boxes, but recently, Mike Sweet gave me a Tech 21, SansAmp GT2 and it sounds great. Much like that old Stryper sound we got with all the Boogie gear. I 's too expensive for me! I guess I would if I had the bucks! My Oz Fox Model, Wayne guitar is my most cherished at this time. I can't stop playing it. It makes me want to play more often. I have two Jackson soloists left over from Stryper but my favorite of the two would be the tiger striped one with a bullet belt graphic. I also have an acoustic Ovation Legend I got as a gift from Daryn Hinton back in 1985. It is in mint condition and another of my most treasured pieces.

MH: How can we get a hold of the new Sin Dizzy material, what label are you with?
Sin Dizzy's "He's Not Dead" album can be ordered at our website: sindizzy.com. We currently are not with a label.

MH: What's the single most important attribute that has helped your playing over the years?
I think taking lessons from Tony Palacios truly opened up a new realm for my playing. Before that, I was only capable of a hand full of guitar licks I learned from albums or watching other guys play. Tony was great at explaining techniques and good practice habits that caused me to want to sit for hours playing my guitar. I remember practicing for 10 hours a day just before recording Against the Law.

MH: Any special advice you would pass along to our readers on the music business and getting signed?
Since the 80's, the music business has drastically changed. It seems like labels don't want to take chances with their artists or their money. To me, getting signed is a big responsibility. If you are a success, you really have to work hard to stay there. It's not something you want to do while raising a family. If you have a family, put them first. It is the worst feeling to know your home is out of order when you are away touring. When you're on top, invest your finances well because when you come down, you won't have anything to fall back on. Go to school and learn a different trade in your spare time. Always respect your fans. They are the ones who pay to see you and buy your albums. Let Jesus Christ be Lord of your life so you can deal with whatever this business throws at you. Go to ozfox.com and click on the "Words From Oz" page and read "Knowing Jesus" to find out where I am coming from.


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