Johny Chow

John Mark Bechtel (born February 1, 1972), who goes by the stage name Johny Chow, is the bassist of Stone Sour and a touring member of Cavalera Conspiracy, the band formed by former Sepultura members Max and Igor Cavalera.

His inspiration to play bass came from John Paul Jones and John Entwistle. Chow said that he loved how much Entwistle moved around with amazing lines and runs, that seemed like they were their own parts, not just the instrument filling the bottom.

Chow dropped out of high school and worked at his uncle’s bar in Buffalo, NY. In 2002, he replaced original bassist Nick St. Denis in Systematic – the band who supported Stone Sour on their first tour. After Systematic disbanded in 2004, Chow played bass in Fireball Ministry, Souls Of We and Cavalera Conspiracy, but remained friends with Stone Sour guitarist Jim Root.

In 2012, Chow realized he had no obligations for the next year, so he reached out to several friends searching for more work. He joined Stone Sour after learning they needed a bassist. In 2017, Chow proposed to his long-time girlfriend on stage at a Stone Sour show in Toronto. In 2018, Chow opened his own restaurant in Buffalo, inspired by his uncle’s bar and bars he’d seen when touring Japan. Chow shared a “real cool moment” from the opening of his restaurant with the Buffalo Times:

I could see the tears in my mom’s eyes. I told her, ‘See, I didn’t turn out so bad, did I Mom?’ And I got the biggest hug.