Apparently retirement from KISS wasn’t going to keep Tommy Thayer away from loud guitars for very long.
The guitarist has joined forces with Dan Reed of Dan Reed Network for Shogun Mojo, a new rock project that has released “Gonna Raise Hell,” the latest single from its self-titled debut album arriving October 30 through Frontiers Music Srl.
And with a song called “Gonna Raise Hell,” nobody appears particularly interested in easing into this quietly.
Reed describes the track as an invitation to give everything 110 percent, whether that means partying, romance, celebration or pursuing whatever happens to matter most. Beneath the obvious rock-and-roll sentiment, he says the song also deals with recognizing that the angels in our lives can have darker sides, and that people we dislike may occasionally be the ones who teach us something.
That’s quite a bit of philosophy to squeeze between guitar riffs.
Shogun Mojo brings together Thayer, whose résumé includes KISS and Black ’N Blue, with Reed alongside drummer Robert Mehmeti Kizilcay, guitarist Roger Öjersson and bassist Jake Nyman.
For Thayer, the project offered an opportunity to step outside his usual musical world and simply get back to creating.
“I’ve always loved doing projects like this because they give me a chance to step outside of my usual world and just create, play guitar, and have fun making music,” Thayer said, describing the chemistry and camaraderie behind the new band.
That old-school approach also became central to making the album.
Rather than assembling everything piece by piece, Reed says the musicians went back to the method used by many of the records that originally inspired them: musicians getting into a room, writing together and actually playing together.
The result, according to Reed, is a “groovy, rowdy funk rock celebration of life.”
In an era when conversations about artificial intelligence and music aren’t going away anytime soon, Shogun Mojo deliberately went in the opposite direction—human beings, instruments, a room and whatever happens when everybody starts playing.
They’ve also apparently heard the argument that listeners don’t want guitar solos anymore.
Their response was refreshingly complicated.
Tommy Thayer plays a guitar solo on every song.
Sometimes the best way to address changing musical trends is careful analysis, thoughtful adaptation and strategic evolution.
Other times you hand the guitar player another eight bars.
Shogun Mojo’s self-titled debut arrives October 30 through Frontiers Music Srl.
Information provided by Shogun Mojo’s publicity team.