Joboj

From surf bands in the ‘60s to Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and Randy Coven in the ‘80s, rock can be counted on to give us the occasional instrumentalist. The vast majority of rock has been vocal-oriented; that was true in the mid-‘50s and was still true in the early 2000s. Nonetheless, some rock instrumentalists are bound to pop up here and there, and it was inevitable that alternative rock would give us an amplified, electric guitar-playing instrumentalist like Joe Bochar, aka Joboj. The innovative Los Angeles resident comes from the hell-bent-for-virtuosity school of instrumental rock; his flashy, chops-obsessed approach owes a lot to the wordless hard rock that Vai, Satriani, Randy Coven and Mads Eriksen provided in the ‘80s or early ‘90s. His solos also offer some acknowledgment of Eddie Van Halen, who never recorded any instrumental solo albums but probably would have made the Vai/Satriani crowd downright ecstatic if he did. Joboj, however, is far from a carbon copy of any of those virtuosos. The guitarist/producer/engineer has also been influenced by electronica, hardcore, punk, and industrial, and he provides instrumental albums for people who are likely to be into Nirvana, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, or Korn. Joboj (who also plays the acoustic guitar at times) is to ‘90s and 2000s alternative rock what Vai, Satriani, and Coven were to ‘80s hard rock, and like those artists, he tends to appeal to professional musicians. One critic described him as an unlikely mixture of Satriani and Primus; he has also been described as blend of Vai and Slipknot.

Joboj didn't grow up in L.A.; he is originally from Rhode Island. After moving west, he started putting out albums in the ‘90s. Joboj's first three albums — Anvilhead, Orange, and Raw Sausage Finger — were followed by 2002's self-produced X, which came out on the Quad label.