ZAKK WYLDE

Zakk Wylde has been pretty quiet lately. Well, as quiet as he can be between swearing like a trooper and recording a new album for Ozzy that he promises will be full of violence and darkness. We went to him to ask, ‘What the fuck?’

The last couple of years have been unusually quiet for Zakk Wylde. After receiving favourable reviews on this side of the Atlantic for 2006’s Shot To Hell album, there has been no significant touring in Europe – a few shows with Ozzy and an explosive performance at the Metal Hammer and Classic Rock sponsored Hard Rock Hell last December excepted – and little sign that a follow-up album was on the way. Fortunately for Black Label Society devotees, Zakk is back and ready to turn up into one of those years that begins with the crisp pop of a beer can being opened and ends with the satisfying splash of a strenuous, small hour puke.

“Whatever you might think, it’s just been work, work, work,” he drawls, “I love it, though. When bands take off for years between records, I couldn’t do that. I don’t give a shit if I hit the lottery for 622 fuckin’ billion. I still have to be playing or doing something. It’s cool when you get a break but you can only go fishing for so fuckin’ long.”

It’s almost as if Zakk is worried that if he stops playing the guitar for any length of time, his fingers will seize up and he’ll be denied his greatest pleasure in life. It’s an unthinkable situation for a man that has come to represent the essence of great guitar playing for thousand of rock and metal fans in recent times. In the end it’s all about the dedication. And swearing.

“You’ve got true musicians and you’ve got guys who just got into it for some bullshit reason,” he says. “I was arguing with this guy and he was saying, ‘Let’s be real Zakk, the only reason anyone ever picks up a guitar is to get the chicks!’ I said, ‘Hold on, you mean I’ve got to sit around practising for 12 hours every cunting day, just to get a piece of ass? Dude if I want a piece if ass I’m gonna grab a Les Paul, bash a bitch on the back of the head and stick my dick inside her! That would be a lot easier than practising all fuckin’ day, motherfucker!’”

While it’s clear that Zakk has had plenty to occupy his time since the release of Shot To Hell, it’s slightly less clear why the promotional campaign for that album and the touring cycle that followed it never really seemed to catch fire and propel the band to greater heights. Despite being signed to Roadrunner at the time, Shot To Hell now seems like a major missed opportunity. So who dropped the ball?

“It’s all fuckin’ business, dude,” laughs Zakk. “It is what it is. You could be the guy that signs me, and you bleed Black Label and the whole nine yards. Then, the next thing I know is that you’re not there and there’s some other fuckin’ guy. He comes in and says, ‘What’s this Black Label Society shit?’ and suddenly it’s, ‘ I think we’re going to get rid of them’ and we just get shitcanned! Well fuckin’ thanks a lot! The thing is, if our team isn’t there, there’s fuck all I can do. But I couldn’t give a fuck. I still fuckin’ throw down, wherever I go.”

It’s Zakk Wylde’s ability to “throw down” that has kept him at the top of the guitarist heap for so long. Even when the rumours start to fly, as they do every few years, that Ozzy Osbourne is poised to hold auditions to find a new sidekick and song writing partner, it’s obvious that there’s only one man that’s properly equipped to do the job. It’s Zakk’s riffs that provide Ozzy with the perfect contemporary backdrop on which to hang his trademark haunting melodies, and Zakk is currently up to his neck in a whole new batch of riffs as The Double-0 prepares a follow-up to 2007’s Black Rain.

“You’ve got to hear the fuckin’ riffs I’m laying down man!” roars the guitarist. “That’s what I do. It’s riffs, riffs, riffs and more fuckin’ riffs. Ozzy said something like. ‘I want this album to be more full of hope!’ Hope? There ain’t no fuckin’ hope! Hope’s gone! It went to fuckin’ Tahiti for a holiday, bro. Ha ha ha ha! We want violence and darkness!!

Given that Ozzy isn’t much of a fan of today’s heavier, more brutal metal, isn’t it hard to get him to embrace “violence and darkness”?


“Nah, because when you look at Sabbath and what made them so great, you had Ozzy’s melancholy vocals over this dark, dark shit,” says Zakk. “He wasn’t screaming and grunting like some death metal thing. He was singing melodies over insane fuckin’ shit and Ozzy always comes up with brilliant melodies. It was a perfect combination and it still works.”

While it’s good news that there’s a new Ozzy album on the way, there will be a lot of fans that are much more eager to hear some new Black Label Society material instead. Unfortunately, Black Label fans will have to wait until the tail-end of the year for their next fix.

“We’re going to start doing the next album when I’m done with Ozzy’s record,” he explains. “Then I guess there’ll be some dates with Ozzy, so we have to fuckin’ figure that out too. We’re going to record the Black Label record at the studio we’re building here at my house, so we’ll knock that fuckin’ thing out and then its’ the Black Label campaign for the world domination after that! I’ll be in a fuckin’ wheelchair by the time the fuckin’ tour gets done. We’ll be working so much that we’ll be losing weight while we eat the worst fuckin’ food imaginable and drinking as much beer as we can. It’s the Black Label diet plan! Ha ha ha!”


These are busy times for Zakk Wylde, but then he needs to keep moving, keep working and keep his arse on the guitar-playing throne, because a new generation of kids will be soon snapping at his heels. The last few years have seen a huge boom in guitar sales, not least due to the massive success of console games like Guitar Hero. As avid gamers will know, Zakk features on one version of the game, so clearly he approves of the whole thing, but does he expect any new Dimebags or Eddie Van Halens to emerge from this phenomenon, or is it just a passing and superficial fad?


“I think it fuckin’ kicks ass,” he states. “Kids are finding out about all these rock bands they’ve never heard of. They’re finding out who Led Zeppelin is, who Mountain is, who Randy fuckin’ Rhoads is. If some kid really enjoys playing the game then eventually he’s gonna want to pick up the real thing, you know? When the next Jimi Hendrix or the next Eddie Van Halen comes out, it’s gonna be some kid that was playing this fuckin’ game and it’s gonna be hysterical dude.”


But not quite as hysterical as being outplayed by your own flesh and blood...


“The other day, my son Jesse was playing one of those games and it was fuckin’ unbelievable,” laughs Zakk “It was a Black Label song, and he looked me in the eye and said, ‘I kicked your ass, Dad.’ Fuck, I got shitcanned by my own son! People ask, ‘What’s it like being a rock star?’ and I say ‘Ask my kid, he just kicked me in the fuckin’ nuts!’ Ha ha ha!”


It was once written that the great thing about Zakk Wylde is that when you see him perform, all the women in the room want to fuck him and all the men in the room want to be him. Somehow, this relentlessly foul-mouthed master of the fret board connects with people on numerous levels, with his music, with his works ethic, with his devotion to having a good, beer-drenched time, all the time. It’s the Black Label effect, and it’s about as close to the ultimate embodiment of rock’n’roll’s life-affirming essence as we’re likely to get in these cynical times.


“I just think everyone wants to be part of something,” concludes Zakk. “When you’re wearing the colours, the bottom line is you’re part of something. It’s a club. It’s the don’t-be-an-asshole club. You can hangout, have a good time, drink beer and listen to the same fuckin’ music. Be thankful for what you have got, don’t be a prick and help people out. That’s it. It’s great to hook up, have a blast and a big blow-out fuckin’ party. It’s more than just a band, man. It’s more than just a music.”


THE THOUGHTS OF CHAIRMAN WYLDE:

Zakk Wylde is a man with lots to say. And it’s not always ‘Fuck’ and ‘Dick’

Gay Marriage;

“They’re making such a fuss about it over here, man. Who gives a fuck if someone’s gay? I don’t care about anyone says. You don’t wake up one day and think ‘Man, I’ve had some much pussy! I think I’m gonna try some cock today!’ Some people like pussy, some people like dick. Knock yourself out, dude.”

Downloading;

“I’ve never downloaded a single fuckin’ thing in my entire fuckin’ life, dude. I don’t understand that shit. It’s stealing. You don’t stop the technology these days, man, so there’s fuck-all anyone can do. But you can’t download games yet, so someone needs to use that technology to stop people from stealing music.”

Hot Sauces;

“Dude, it’s hysterical. My buddy made this sauce, man. It has a warming label on it. This sauce will burn a hole through your fuckin’ arm! If you’re making chilli for the guys, you add a fraction of a fuckin’ teaspoon of this thing, otherwise it’s fuckin’ lethal.”

Black Label Bars;

“You know, I wanted to have my own fuckin’ sports bars, a Hooters-type fuckin’ thing, and we’ve got that going on right now. We’ve got tons of shit going on, dude. We’ve got our own festival, the Black Label Bash. It’s bigger than a band now. It’s bigger than me. That’s what I always wanted it to be anyways.”