Biography
Rock instrumentalists have appeared at intervals across the genre’s history, ranging from surf ensembles of the 1960s to Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and Randy Coven during the 1980s. Vocal-centered material nevertheless remained the prevailing norm from the mid-1950s onward and still held that status in the early 2000s. Within alternative rock, therefore, an electric guitarist devoted exclusively to instrumentals was bound to surface, and that role is filled by the Los Angeles-based innovator Joe Bochar, professionally known as Joboj.
Rooted in the technically relentless wing of the idiom, his rapid, dexterity-driven method extends the lineage of wordless hard-rock statements that Vai, Satriani, Randy Coven, and Mads Eriksen issued in the 1980s and early 1990s. Traces of Eddie Van Halen likewise surface in the solos, even though Van Halen never issued a purely instrumental album—an absence that would doubtless have delighted followers of the Vai/Satriani school. Joboj is no replica of those predecessors; his palette also draws from electronica, hardcore, punk, and industrial music, resulting in recordings aimed at listeners of Nirvana, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, or Korn. He occasionally incorporates acoustic guitar as well.
Within the alternative-rock landscape of the 1990s and 2000s, Joboj functions in much the same way Vai, Satriani, and Coven functioned inside 1980s hard rock, drawing particular interest from fellow professionals. One reviewer characterized the guitarist as an improbable cross between Satriani and Primus, while others have likened him to a fusion of Vai and Slipknot.
Joboj did not originate in Los Angeles; his roots lie in Rhode Island. Following his relocation to the West Coast he began issuing recordings in the 1990s. The first three—Anvilhead, Orange, and Raw Sausage Finger—were succeeded in 2002 by the self-produced X, released on the Quad label.
Rooted in the technically relentless wing of the idiom, his rapid, dexterity-driven method extends the lineage of wordless hard-rock statements that Vai, Satriani, Randy Coven, and Mads Eriksen issued in the 1980s and early 1990s. Traces of Eddie Van Halen likewise surface in the solos, even though Van Halen never issued a purely instrumental album—an absence that would doubtless have delighted followers of the Vai/Satriani school. Joboj is no replica of those predecessors; his palette also draws from electronica, hardcore, punk, and industrial music, resulting in recordings aimed at listeners of Nirvana, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, or Korn. He occasionally incorporates acoustic guitar as well.
Within the alternative-rock landscape of the 1990s and 2000s, Joboj functions in much the same way Vai, Satriani, and Coven functioned inside 1980s hard rock, drawing particular interest from fellow professionals. One reviewer characterized the guitarist as an improbable cross between Satriani and Primus, while others have likened him to a fusion of Vai and Slipknot.
Joboj did not originate in Los Angeles; his roots lie in Rhode Island. Following his relocation to the West Coast he began issuing recordings in the 1990s. The first three—Anvilhead, Orange, and Raw Sausage Finger—were succeeded in 2002 by the self-produced X, released on the Quad label.
Albums