Mojo Risin was born in April 1995 in a suburban Cleveland
basement when four devout Doors fans serendipitously came together
for one purpose: to take the idea of a Doors tribute band further
than anyone had ever thought possible.
Although only two of the members had ever met before, it was immediately obvious
that we all shared two things: a fanatical devotion to The Doors, and a disappointment
with the Doors tribute bands that we had seen. Maybe we expected too much,
but what we saw ranged from bad to good, but not great. We saw one "Doors
tribute" that used Casio synthesizers! The guitarist played a Strat with
a pick! The drummer pounded heavy metal beats on a Tama drum set (in his
Zildjian shirt and wristbands!) The rest of the guys wore whatever they wore
to work that day! It was all blasphemy. Not to mention they didn’t know the
music. It was really a cover band, covering Doors music half-heartedly.
How could you call this a tribute? A tribute literally means "a gift, payment,
declaration, or other acknowledgment of gratitude, respect, or admiration." We
thought it was nothing short of an insult to The Doors and their fans that
paid hard-earned money to see this kind of debacle unfold before their eyes
and ears under the "tribute" banner. Our idea was to put the literal meaning
of the word "tribute" into our show and give The Doors, their music, and
their fans the respect they deserve.
It was this drive to do it better that led us to pursue our dream and take
it further than even we ourselves had ever imagined. So we started collecting
vintage instruments, vintage amplifiers, and vintage costumes. We learned
the material note-for-note. We studied videos to learn the right stage moves.
We spent four months of intensive rehearsals until we thought we had it down.
We were ready to gig. But what to call the group? Again, we wanted to set
ourselves apart from the status quo tributes. All the other groups had taken
their names from Doors songs and album titles. We wanted to call ourselves
something with a little more deference to Jim. Jim used to joke with his
band mates that he would someday disappear but that he would contact his
friends using the pseudonym "Mr. Mojo Risin," which is an anagram of his
name. He even sang these words on his the title track of his swan song album, "L.A.
Woman." The romantic notion that Jim may still be alive, however remote it
may be, seems to be shared in some small measure by all Doors fans. "Mojo
Risin" also suggests a constant push upward, a continuous striving to rise
to the next level, which has always been a core philosophy of the band.
In August of ’95, we played our first show to a modest crowd but got a positive
response. Over the next year, we played over fifty shows at local clubs, honing
our act and building our reputation. In 1997, our first web site debuted and
we continued our grass roots movement to prove ourselves on the live club circuit
and the hippie festival scene. In 1998, we were honored with a cover story
in The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Friday Magazine, and later that year we played
our first large concert club, The Odeon in downtown Cleveland. It was
a huge success and established the band as one of the best live acts in
Ohio. Over the next few years, we began touring regionally, adding Pennsylvania,
New York, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Missouri to our list of regular
stops.
There have been several personnel changes over the years, but each new member
has strengthened the band even more. We have also upgraded our vintage collection
of equipment to include every piece of gear The Doors actually used in their
performances from 1968-1970. We have taken our show on the road from The
Great Lakes to The Mississippi, and our reputation for re-creating a Doors
concert in exacting detail continues to grow, as we continually strive to
improve.
What’s next? After twelve years and counting, it occurs
to us that The Doors themselves didn’t make it past six years with the premature
death of Mr. Morrison. Who knows what they could’ve accomplished if Jim had
stuck around? Who knows how far a Doors tribute band can go? We don’t know
but we aim to find out. The doors are wide open...
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