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 Looking like a mean-ass biker, Zakk Wylde of the Black Label Society bolted into Spitfire Records' offices with a bag full of Heinekens and a thunderous, “What's up!” Since his debut as Ozzy's main axeman on 1988's No Rest For the Wicked, the man with a comic-book-hero persona of a modern-day Viking has bled many an eardrum into submission with his phenomenal guitar work. Zakk's guitar playing on his band's new album, 1919 Eternal is like an offering to the gods of heavy metal. Submit to Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society and you will reach hardcore heaven. Over a six-pack and some swigs of Jack Daniels, Zakk got real on Ozzy, the new record, his work on the Rock Star film, his friend Stone Cold Steve Austin, and even his beloved Rottweilers. Nothing politically correct here. The man speaks his mind.... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
I caught Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society at Ozzfest 2001 and the band threw Meister Brau beers into the crowd. You made the audience feel as if like they were part of the performance.... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | The tours are campaigns. It's like the marines of metal. We don't even play metal anymore. We're the hardcore iron company. We just go out there. There's no such thing as fans. They're all chapter members. When we go out on stage, we clubhouse the place. We make it our own. That is our house. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
Is it tough going out there every night and keeping the energy level up? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | If you bleed Black Label and you're going to be a man, you gotta get up there and do what you gotta do every day, relentless and as tired as you can be. It isn't a band. It's bigger than a band. It's a lifestyle. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
Do you feel any kind of kinship with the Ozzy and Sabbath guitarists? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | There's only one Sabbath guitarist and he is the architect for everything, Tony Iommi. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
What was it like seeing Black Sabbath at Ozzfest 2001 and playing on the same bill with them every night? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | They are the architects. It was an honor to see Ozzy singing with them every night. I never got to see Ozzy play with them before. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
How did you meet Ozzy? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | I used to be his drug dealer. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
Did he have a drug of choice? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | At the time I was selling him tons of stuff, pills, everything, from Jersey City. Ozzy was like, "Hey dude, how about I cut you a break." There's a Les Paul sitting in the room and I started jamming on it. I said to him, "I do laundry, dishes, vacuum and I can clean the house up." We were drinking booze and Ozzy's doing drugs and just said, "Dude, your playing's pretty good," and then he asked me if I wanted the gig. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
Is Ozzy more fun sober or tanked? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | Put it this way, when he used to drink he was out of control. There's something insane going on every day with him. Nothing is normal with him. Everyday when you're around him something wacked is going on, which is awesome. Now that he's sober, crazy things still happen all the time. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
Is it difficult being around him since he's sober and you like your beers? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | I don't walk around shoving beers in his face. I walk around drinking it in cups. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
What was the recent Ozzy tour that just ended with Mudvayne and Rob Zombie like compared to other tours? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | The Mudvayne guys are heavy as hell. Zombie and John Tempest, a New York guy that I have known for years, is a sickass drummer. Zombie's a super creative guy. His whole thing is creating 24/7. It was great being out on the road with the guys and a band called Soil, a bunch of young guys who have a pissed off, violent-sounding sound. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ZAKK: You have to shut it down sometime. After you get off stage, you kick back, listen to some Rolling Stones and then you start firing back some cocktails. If it's a long bus drive after the gig, we'll listen to music all the time, like the Stones, Neil Young, Elton John. Just mellow stuff. I gotta keep it simple, like a caveman. All I do in my life is make sure I have massive sex with my wife, take care of my kids, practice guitar, write songs, lift weights and clean up Rottweiler dog shit. If anything gets beyond that, it gets confusing. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
How did you get the lead guitar spot on the new Ozzy album, Down to Earth? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | Ozzy called me up while I was cleaning up some Rottweiler shit in my backyard and asked me if I wanted to work on the record. I said, "No problem, what do you need?" He just asked me to play my ass off. With Ozzy there's no negotiations and lawyer talk. Nothing. I just show up and go, "Where do you need me?" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
Were you comfortable coming in as a session guitarist after the songs were already tracked with original guitarist Joe Holmes, whose playing Ozzy wasn't quite happy with? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | Being a man, I got pride. Since day one my thing has always been to play the music. I'm going to be like, "Man, I don't want to play these songs." But at the end of the day, Ozzy was like, "I wrote these songs and I really like them." If Ozzy wants me to do it, I'm going to do it. Obviously, I would have loved to have written the whole fuckin' album or co-written it with him, but it didn't work out that way. It's like if my dad or mom wanted something done; you gotta do it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
Did you enjoy playing the song co-written with David Grohl of the Foo Fighters and Nirvana? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | The song was so goddam ridiculous, beyond fuckin' bad. I'm not kidding. Embarrassingly bad, it was insulting. I'm like, fuck him. If I see that motherfucker I'm going to kick his ass. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
Did you feel compromised as a musician to play his songs? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | You either have to be committed to a project or not. Any guy that's not working with the same amount of intensity and passion that I do, I don't want to know. Get him the fuck outta here. And they're gonna come around with some shit-ass songs? That's why that went down. I got to the point where I had to say something. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
You're an all-or-nothing kind of guy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | That's why for Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society the colors are black and white. There are no gray issues. Life is black and it's white. There's no in-between. You're either an asshole or an all-right guy. I got no time for drama, bro'. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
How would you describe the sound on the new record, 1919 Eternal? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | Take a bunch of pissed-off Rottweilers that have been in the cage, a bunch of ravens, some skulls and chains, violence, alcohol, some Sabbath, and you got the new album. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
Anything different from the last albums? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | It's pure Black Label. It's about violence and booze. That's all it is. There is no plan. If you start thinking how you are supposed to act and feel instead of just being yourself... Ozzy told me the day I met him and auditioned. He said, "Zakk, just be yourself and play with your heart and do what you do." I'll take that beyond the grave. You can't fake being something you're not. Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page can't fake what they are and the beautiful thing about those two guys is they are void of bullshit. Ozzy can't fake what he is. He's the real deal. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
What does the title of the new record, 1919 Eternal, mean? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | Originally, the album was supposed to be called "Bin Laden, You're Going Fuckin' Down," but the record company said, "You can't do that." The cover picture was of me with a twelve-gauge shotgun, sawed off in his ass, blowing his brains out. 1919 was the year my old man was born, who is pretty much the architect behind Black Label, whose credo is strength, determination, and merciless forever. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
What about the songs on the album. Let's start with "Bleed for Me"? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | The lyrics say it all. I'm bleeding for you. You bleed for me. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
"Battery Ram"? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | The drummer plays with his hands and his feet on that one. All foot and hands and no kick drum, just like John Bonham from Led Zeppelin. It's about my wife's vagina and my cock. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
"Speedball"? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | It's my ode to the guys I love, like Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhodes, Al Dimeola, Paco and John McLaughlin. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
The ballad, "Bridge to Cross"? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | Another Black Label motto. That's what I think life is. It's just another bridge to cross. You ask no questions. Whatever work it is you gotta do, you gotta go over it, under it, through it, around it, to do it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
"Demise of Sanity" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | Come out on the tour bus with us and you'll know what that one's about. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
The album closer, the traditional "America the Beautiful" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | Besides the national anthem, that is pretty much the best song ever written. Every time I listen to it I want to cry. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
What was it like being in the Rock Star movie? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | Had an awesome time. You tell me to show up and all I have to do is drink beer, play guitar all day and I can lift weights and you're going to pay me for this! It was like "no problem"! I thought the movie was pretty good. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
Any more films? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | If they do another Death Wish or Dirty Harry... I'd love to go walking around with a 44 magnum. Then I'll do some acting. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
How did you get to compose WWF's Stone Cold Steve Austin's ring-entrance music? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | I'm friends with Stone Cold Steve Austin and he asked me to write the music. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
What's the future of metal and rap/metal? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ZAKK: | I don't really have the time to worry about what other bands do. All I care about is what's going on with Black Label and all the chapters around the world and that my wife and family is fed. The future of metal? As long as Pantera and Dimebag are out there crushing, Slayer and guys like Tony Iommi, trust me, it will be safe. No one's gonna tell me I can't play this shit 'cause I'll tell them to go fuck themselves. February 2002
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