Black Label Society - Bio and Merchandise

Information about Black Label Society:

HANGOVER MUSIC VOL. VI:
The new Black Label Society album, aptly entitled "Hangover Music Vol. VI"
was released on April 20, 2004. The album is mostly acoustic and piano based,
similar to Zakk's 1996 solo album "Book Of Shadows," so don't expect a heavy
metal album like previous releases. The name of this album is definitely right
on, it was made for when you are hanging over and dont feel like anything heavy.
Bass is shared by Mike Inez, James Lomenzo, and J.D. John Tempesta makes a
guest appearance on drums for the track "Once More"

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY ON OZZFEST!
Once again, Zakk Wylde will be pulling double duty on Ozzfest 2004, playing
for both Black Label Society and Ozzy Osbourne. James Lomenzo (Pride & Glory)
will be playing bass with Black Label Society and Geezer Butler will be playing
bass for Ozzy. Check out the Tour Dates section or www.Ozzfest.com for more
more details.

THE ZAKK WYLDE BULLSEYE CHOPPER CONTEST:
357 Customs is producing Special Line of Choppers featuring 9 individual
designs of Zakk Wylde's choosing. The themes will reflect his personal choices of
highly recognizable guitar designs. 357 Customs thought this would make a
fantastic and unique design scheme for the quality custom bikes we offer. Only 9
bikes will ever be produced, and each one numbered and signed personally by
Zakk himself! Contact 357 Customs today to order this very special chopper -
remember, only 9 Bullseye Choppers will ever be produced!
357 Customs is offering a giveaway! One Grand Prize -- #3 of 9 in the Zakk
Wylde Bullseye Chopper Series - produced by 357 Customs! Enter at the website
located HERE or buy a limited edition Bullseye Chopper T-shirt and be
automatically entered to win!

ZAKK WYLDE, JERRY CANTRELL, GEORGE LYNCH TO HEAD UP 'METAL CLINIC' AT
CROSSROADS GUITAR FESTIVAL:
Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY), Jerry Cantrell (ALICE IN
CHAINS) and George Lynch (DOKKEN, LYNCH MOB) will be heading up a "Metal Clinic"
the Crossroads Guitar Festival, set to take place Friday, June 4 through
Sunday, June 6 at Fair Park and the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas.
In addition to spectacular concerts and once-in-a-lifetime clinics with some
of the best guitarists in the world, the weekend will feature the Guitar
Center Village including the Hard Rock Cafe's "50 years of American Rock and Roll"
display, interactive booths from leading guitar manufacturers and Vintage
Showcase "buy-sell-trade." Concerts begin Friday evening and continue into
Saturday afternoon on multiple indoor and outdoor stages. The event will culminate
with an 11-hour concert at the Cotton Bowl on Sunday.
Friday, June 4, the Guitar Center Village, located on the grounds of Fair
Park, will open to the public at 4:00pm followed by a Blues Guitar Clinic and a
Metal Clinic headed by Wylde, Cantrell and Lynch. A live performance, to be
announced, is set to follow later in the evening.
Tickets to each day of the Crossroads Guitar Festival are available through
Ticketmaster at www.TicketMaster.com Tickets are $15 for Friday, $45 for
Saturday and $60 for Sunday including all concerts.
The Crossroads Guitar Festival is the first event of its kind to create a
unique bridge between fans and musicians through leading guitar manufacturer
exhibits and guitar clinics. Attendees will be offered once-in-a-lifetime
opportunities to be in an intimate setting with artists giving fans the ultimate look
into their craft. This one-time event, created for music enthusiasts around
the globe, will raise money for Crossroads Centre Antigua, the treatment and
education center founded in 1997 by Eric Clapton.
-www.Billboard.com

ZAKK ON DAMAGEPLAN ALBUM:
Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul's new band, DamagePlan featuring ex-Halford
guitarist Patrick Lachman on vocals and BobZilla on bass, are released their
new album February 10th on Elektra Records. Zakk plays lead outro on "Reborn"
and backing vocals on "Soulbleed." I spoke with Nick Bowcott at a Dimebag
signing in NJ and he told me that the solo on Reborn was done in 1 take.

ZAKK WYLDE JAMS WITH DAMAGEPLAN IN LOS ANGELES AND SAN FRANCISCO:
OZZY OSBOURNE/BLACK LABEL SOCIETY guitarist Zakk Wylde joined DAMAGEPLAN on
stage at the Los Angeles (May 4) and San Francisco (May 5) stops on the
" Headbanger's Ball Tour". According to an attendee at the San Francisco show (at The
Fillmore), Zakk "joined [DAMAGEPLAN] for ['Reborn'], performed a blistering
solo then joined [DAMAGEPLAN guitarist] Dimebag Darrell for an amazing 15-minute
guitar improv."
-www.Blabbermouth.net

______________________________________________________________________________
_________
Jeffrey Weilandt, better known as Zakk Wylde, is back again. Strong as hell.
As always. The American guitar player, born in New Jersey and known for his
participation in Pride & Glory and Ozzy Osbourne's band, re-emerged on the rock
horizon in the end of April 2004 with the fifth full-length studio release by
his "main" group Black Label Society. Now, in "Hangover Music, Vol. VI" (and
as always before, actually), Zakk is responsible not only for the six strings,
but for the vocals, the beautiful piano parts and the production as well. As
for the bass duties - they've divided between James Lomenzo and John DeServio,
excluding the opener "Crazy or High" where former Alice in Chains
four-stringer Mike Inez' work can be heard. Regarding the drums, they should be credited
to Craig Nunenmacher, with the exception of "Once More" - a hope-loaded tune
where the sticks have been handled by the well-known John Tempesta (ex-White
Zombie, Testament). Let's finally focus on the album's audio-substance. "Hangover
Music, Vol. VI" is definitely one of the highest quality records created
lately, both as production and composition. As a whole, we get pleasantly
devastated by catchy, mainly slow to mid-tempo hard rock, with some metallized
intrusions every now and then, and a huge, really huge amount of variety. For
example, there are some typical 90's Seattle sound reminders here and there (like in
" No Other" and the already mentioned opening piece), obligatory
straightforward rock'n'roll passages ("House of Doom"), quite a lot balladesque audio-pearls
("Damage Is Done", "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow", "Val's Song"), a Spanish
guitar interlude ("Takillya"), doomed Western atmosphere ("Steppin Stone"), and a
deeply touching, piano-driven cover version of Procol Harum's evergreen
classic "A Whiter Shade of Pale". Zakk proved it again: You simply cannot expect
anything less than "great" from a total rock professional.
Nicki Vassilev

Song listing:
1. Crazy Or High
2. Queen Of Sorrow
3. Steppin Stone
4. Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
5. Takillya (Estyabon)
6. Won't Find It Here
7. She Deserves A Free Ride (Val's Song)
8. House Of Doom
9. Damage Is Done
10. Layne
11. Woman Don't Cry
12. No Other
13. A Whiter Shade Of Pale
14. Once More
15. Fear

Playing time: 66.53

LINKS OF INTEREST
Black Label Society
Zakk Wylde
Spitfire Records

This interview with the guitarist Zakk Wylde of Black Label Society, was done
by Sam Chronic on the phone in late September 2003. Due to unfortunate events
beyond our control it has not been published until now but it should still
make some very interested reading I think.
As a writer you meet many musicians and are involved in many interviews, some
are momentous and others you easily forget. Then you interview a musician
that brings back memories of being 12 years old and standing in the nose bleed
section of a venue just happy to catch a glimpse of your favorite band at the
Blizzard of Oz tour. Obviously I am talking about legendary guitarist Zakk
Wylde. Rather playing with Ozzy or Black Label Society, Zakk has defined a
signature sound and established himself as one of the premier guitarist in the musical
world. I recently caught up with Zakk to discuss his new Black Label album “
Blessed Hellride” as well as; the Sharon Osbourne show, life on the road, sex
changes and what bands and musicians piss him off.
Hey man, how is it going?
Just hanging out man, got pretty fucking blitzed last night but that is about
it. It was my buddy's birthday the other night so we just got pretty hammered
and I'm feeling it right now (laughs).
Paying for it the next day huh?
I am starting on my second fucking cold one right now so I am ready to roll.
That's the only way to get over it (laughs).
Pretty much, you got to keep rolling.
You tired of doing interviews yet?
No man, at least someone wants to talk to me (laughs). I just saw Sharon’s
show, have you caught any of it yet?
Yeah, I saw a little bit of it the other day.
The one guy from the Batchelor show, he has Sharon talking and Leah Rehimi on
there. Tim and I are thinking about how it would it would go for me to be on
that show: “Dude, I am fucking book you on the show but it is going to be like
your grandmother, your mom, your wife, your sister and it is going to be
called Bull in the Ring.” You’re just in the mother fucking middle and they take
the blindfold off and you are in a revolving chair and they all look at you
and go: “Look at these clothes, would somebody get him clothes? What the fuck is
with his clothes? And the beard has to go, fuck the beard, somebody get him a
razor! Did you wear deodorant?” So it is just nothing but fucking women
torturing your ass, it would be a classic episode.
Totally! (Laughs)
It would just be Bull in the Ring and they just stick you in there and get
all the women, your ex-girlfriend, your wife, everything and they just hammer
you. I just told Tim I would fucking kill myself if I had to go in there.
Yeah that would be like going on “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”.
That’s pretty good too right there baby! (Laughs) You would just want to kill
yourself! I am just looking at the show and one of the publicists said: “Well
why don’t we get Zakk on the show? I was like, “Are you for fucking real?”
They are going to get me on that show? You have to be smoking crack cocaine
over there, I don’t know what they fuck you are doing over there. Get me on a
chick show? No way, get me on Oprah (Laughs). The only reason I would get on
Oprah is to destroy the set with Black Label.
(Laughs) How was the Ozzfest experience for you this time?
Oh we had a good fucking time brother. Jason flew down and you know the whole
thing about that Jason and Robert thing, obviously we miss Robert but bottom
line is that Jason and Robert have been friends since back when Suicidal
Tendencies was around. Jason is a great guy, he is good people and he kicks ass on
the bass.
It could not have been as brutal this year since you did not have to play 2
shows.
Yeah, but I had no problem doing 2 shows. Hell, when we did the DVD we were
already about a hundred shows in within 2 months. The bar tab on my credit card
bill was $34,000 on fucking booze alone.
Holy shit, that is probably more than I make in a year (laughs)
I had no problem doing 2 a day and actually this year was more insanity
because I started about 2 in the after noon and I had to do press all day until
about an hour before we went onstage. We had to do interviews and people would be
on the bus and I would sit there and practice because that was the only time
I had to go over exercises and stuff like that. But when you get off stage you
have so much adrenaline running that I would not go to sleep till about 7 in
the morning. Then I would go to sleep and wake up about 1 in the afternoon and
get up and start over again.
Sorry to ask a redundant question but how did you do that? I see you onstage
and you guys are not standing around, you put a shit load of energy into your
shows and the fact that you do it once a night is mind blowing but twice a
night is unimaginable.
You got to do what you got to do. I laugh sometimes too, when we did that DVD
we called it the “13 days of Grief Tour”. We had 13 shows to do and we had
to go from Dallas to Milwaukee then work our way to Boston to do this radio
show. Then on the way they said, “By the way we are going to record a DVD for the
show”. I was like “Are you for fucking real?” I mean doing a Black Label
show we are only doing like 35 minutes or whatever and now we had to do an hour
and half. So I had to remember all my lyrics and everything and I am looking at
them going; “I did write these didn’t I?” It was like I was studying for the
SAT’s because I had to remember all the lyrics and I don’t have a
teleprompter or any of that shit. So everyone would be going out drinking and I was
like; “Well I will have a couple cold ones and I am going to go on the bus but I
have to sit and practice.” Just to memorize the lyrics because once we are done
recording I don’t sit around singing my own shit, I listen to other music,
stuff like Sabbath. But it was fucking hysterical and I don’t know how we got
through those 13 fucking days…. I still have no clue. We all laugh about it, I
could write a fucking book about it. Everyone was so beat to fuck, everyone was
sick and everyone just wanted to go home, then we get to this club in
Detroit. It must have been about 120 degrees in the place because the club owners
turn the AC off so everyone keeps drinking. Just like in Studio 54 when they used
to pump oxygen into the place to keep everyone awake so that nobody would get
tired and everyone is gakked out of their mind and keeps buying alcohol. It
is an old club trick, nothing new there.
Not so comfortable to play a whole show in though I would imagine.
No, I can’t get wasted when I am up there. I can have a couple cold ones but
I have to be able to play.
Yeah, you have to work.
Exactly, that reminds me of a show that we went on at like 2:30 in the
morning. I go; “Are you for fucking real? Who the fuck goes on at 2:00 in the
morning?!” And my wife and everyone is fucking wasted and here is me and I am like
Joe Stone Cold Sober. I must have had about 5 fucking beers, I got drunk and
sober twice before I had to go on (Laughs). Because I have a show to do and I can
’ t be all wasted and get up there and play. And everyone is fucking
inebriated, I could have gone up there and played Poison songs and they would have
thought it was Black Label (laughs). But it pisses you off when you are the only
sober one and everyone else is blitzed.
(Laughs) Totally understandable. Now you have a little break before heading
off to Europe with Ozzy. Are you going to go back to the studio or take it
easy?
I have this much time off, two and a half or three weeks and I told my wife I
am not going to the studio and I am not doing anything. I asked my wife “When
was the last time I had a day off?” The playoffs are coming up with baseball
and there is football season and I just want to go home and be like a normal
fucking person. Just hang out with my wife and kids, my wife calls me “Frank”
now and my kids call me “uncle Zakk” (laughs). So I just want to go hang out
for a little while because for the next 2 years I am going to be busting my
balls anyways and there ain’t no Saturday’s or Sunday’s for us. Half the time
the only way I know it is Sunday it is because there is a football game on. So
if you can get the time off and cram it in just relax. I am still practicing
everyday and lifting weights, fucking doing what I got to do but that is
opposed to being onstage and meeting a million people a day.
Yeah everyone has to let their soul rest.
Yeah, just recharge the batteries.

When are you thinking about heading back out on tour with Black Label?
We went to Europe with Ozzy in the middle of October. We start knocking all
that out and we are there till November and we come home in December from
beating ass in Europe. Then we come back and start firing up this other tour. I
guess Ozzy wanted to a theater type tour where it is like 25,000 people kind of
like the Stones do where they do a huge show and then a small show. No opening
act and obviously the set will be a little bit longer because there are no
other acts. So we will do that and then it is March or April and hopefully we can
go out with Black Label and then there is another Ozzfest. So with my
situation it is like trying to cram fucking 80 pounds of shit into a 2 pound leaking
bag! (laughs). There is just not enough hours in the day. Everyone is going “
Well when are you doing a new record?” and it is like when are we supposed to
fit this in? It is just trying to get everything done. While I have been at
home I have been talking to Rob Zombie because we are supposed to be doing a
video for “Hellride” for the single so we have been talking and trying to cram
that in while we are out here. Where there is a will there is a way but
sometimes you run out of time and it feels like you are always fighting the clock.
I hate that, I think the clock is the worst invention ever sometimes.
Yeah it sucks you have to hate it.
I just wanted to say that the new album is killer. Was there anything
different that you wanted to do when you went into recording?
No, the same old shit, just writing music that you are in love with. I mean I
ain’t going to change, there is a running joke between the guys in the band
(laughs). I know how to get Black Label Society to the next level; we all get
tit jobs, we all get sex changes and we will fuck our way to the top. That is
what we have to do I am telling you right now, we need to get rid of our cock
and balls and get some pussies down there and just fuck our way to the top.
Britney Spears will have nothing on us, Madonna will be making out with us,
forget about making out with us, she will be fist fucking us. I am telling you
Black Label is going to the top! (laughs) But making a new record, obviously I
love Sabbath and Zeppelin, all the stuff that everyone loves. Anyone that likes
heavy fucking music knows those guys are the cornerstones. I would have to say
that if it is in the Zeppelin or Sabbath zip code than you are good to go.
Those guys set the template for heavy music.
Yeah, without a doubt. Solo-wise if you can hang with Eddie Van Halen or
Randy Rhodes it won’t suck. They already wrote the formula, a good meal with steak
and potatoes, whoever came up with that, just stick with the fucking formula.
I just wanted to say that it is so great to see an artist producing real
music and album after album whether live on or disc, Black Label Society is always
solid and you don’t see that much anymore.
Artists of today like Audioslave and Chris are the shit, those guys are still
doing it and those are real records. Justin Timberlake, you know, would you
want to be him? I don’t care how much money he has…
Or how much pussy he has it is still Justin Timberlake.
Totally you are still Justin Timberlake. You know what I am saying? At the
end of the day you are still Justin Timberlake….. you are a joke. People are not
laughing with you, they are laughing at you. There is a big fucking
difference. I would rather be Jimmy Page than Justin Timberlake I don’t care how much
money he has. I mean Eddie Van Halen, nobody can take away what he has done.
Randy Rhodes, I get to play his shit every day and he is a legend and not
because he passed away so young, he is a legend because all he cared about was
seeing how fucking good he could be on a guitar. So Justin Timberlake, I am
laughing watching the MTV awards and this is when Axel came out with the guys. Lets
be real that is not Guns n’ Roses, Guns n’ Roses was Axel and Slash and Duff,
that was just a band out there at the awards. So when Axel came out and did
that thing, and I am a friends with him so when he comes out and everyone is
saying “Oh, he is out of breath and he can’t sing”. It is like; you try running
around the fucking stage and mother fucking singing like that. It ain’t easy,
you think he is in the studio singing like that, he is standing in one place.
He is out there trying to perform and entertain. Then Justin Timberlake comes
out and he is fucking dancing all over the place and the mic is not even near
his mouth half the time and there is still lyrics flying out. Everyone says
that it sounds just like the record and that is because it is the fucking
record! He ain’t playing live, they are not playing! We ought to do that with Black
Label one show. Just put the fucking CD on and I’ll hold the guitar in the air
when I am doing a guitar solo. They will be like “Man, I thought Zakk was
good before but that mother fucker must be practicing. He just put the guitar in
the air and there is still solo’s blistering out of that thing!” (laughs)
(laughs) He is not even touching the strings!!
He’s not even touching the strings and still there is shit just ripping out
of it! They will say: “Man, I have seen a lot of mother fuckers play, but that
Zakk Wylde can play the fucking guitar! (laughs) But that is just how fake it
is.
A lot of bands do that shit.
I don’t get it. The whole point in being a musician is playing live or
practicing and playing and I don’t get it. But I don’t want to get it and I don’t
give a rat’s ass because all the guys that I idolize can fucking play.
Totally, so besides touring, working in the studio and making videos what
else are you doing in the 5 free minutes you must have?
Just fucking lifting weights, changing fucking diapers, cleaning Rottweiller
shit and just practicing man. I do that every fucking day.
Are you going to be writing the material for Ozzy’s next album?
Well we will see what happens. Ozzy has gotten to the point where he is
working with a lot of other people so it is not when we were doing No More Tears
and stuff like that when we could just get in a room and jam. If it was up to me
I would just get Ozzy in a room like the way we made the Black Label record.
I would just write a bunch of riffs until the point he goes I like that one,
let me start singing something. But I can’t force him to do something he doesn’
t want to do. Bottom line is at the end of the day he is the boss and I know
what my role is and it is to write the riffs. But whatever he wants to do I
will be there for him. It is a different situation now, it is still cool but if
it was up to me it would just be getting in the studio, role the tape and just
start jamming some shit and let Ozzy sing his balls off…that would be the new
record.
I was a little shocked to hear about Dave Grohl and the Offspring lead singer
writing Ozzy’s material on the last album.
I know, the whole thing is that I am an Ozzy fan and at the end of the day I
am not just here for the paycheck. Then I see shit like that going on and just
want to protect him. I love him to death, he was godfather to my little boy
and it goes on and on. Sharon wanted me to go down to the record company and I
don’t want to deal with those fucking people. I go: “Offspring? Do you know
what happens if anyone finds out that we are working with the Offspring? That
is career suicide.” Everyone that digs Ozzy does not like the Offspring. Dave
Grohl, great Dave is a real talented guy but at least if Dave wrote a Sabbath
sounding or Ozzy sounding song cool. But the fucking song that he wrote was the
worst fucking load of shit that you have ever heard in your fucking life. It
was something so fucking gay and terrible that he would not even put it on his
own record and he is going to pawn it off on us? I had to say something man
and fuck it if I have to look the bad guy, fuck it, I don’t give a shit.
Because the rest of the Ozzy hardcore is going to be thinking what the fuck is going
on over there.
Yeah, the Foo Fighters and Ozzy…does not make sense.
Yeah, and they are cool for what they do. The White Stripes are cool but it
is not Ozzy. If you found out that Dave Grohl and the Offspring were working
with Metallica you would be like “What the fuck are they doing?” If you found
out that Jerry Cantrell or Dimebag were working with Ozzy than it would be cool
because it fits and they are into Sabbath. But Jesus Christ, the fucking
Offspring….they suck! I don’t like that fucking music and it is the same thing
with Black Label. What would be a good career move is to get Eminem to sing on a
Black Label album. It would stir up some controversy with the Hell’s Angels
of Iron if you had Eminem rapping on a Black Label album. I go first off I hate
fucking rap music, so what the fuck would I want to have that mother fucker
singing on my fucking album…Because he is popular? That is where it comes from,
because people put this and that together because it is popular right now but
where are these people going to be tommorow? Last time I looked Sabbath is
still selling a shitload of albums and so is Zeppelin. I have been here for over
20 years and I am still here and I am still making a living playing music,
the Stones are still around, AC/DC is still around. Bottom line is if AC/DC
started doing rap music it would be like what the fuck is going on?
You would have taken a band that has produced quality music for how long now
and destroyed it one shot.
Right out the window bro.
Just to ask an off the wall question, who wins if Black Label Society gets in
a brawl?
We are all in the same band (laughs) we would just cancel each other out. We
would just end up going to the bar.
So everyone wins!
Yeah everyone wins, win-win situation baby, everyone wins (laughs).
To wrap everything up, it seems like you have been there and done that as far
as being a musician. Is there anything that you have left in terms of
achievements?
I am a happy camper, you know obviously things keep getting better all the
time. Eventually I would like to be the next Neil Young and do more acoustic
stuff. I love Neil Young and he has that respect and he has integrity. He is
still kicking shit out and he works full time and he is not a fucking joke. He may
not be as famous as Justin Timberlake right now but lets see if Justin
Timberlake can write the songs that Neil Young wrote and be around in 20 years. That
is what it is all about to me.
Thanks to Zakk Wylde for taking the timeout of his schedule to conduct this
interview which was obviously a huge honor from a big fan. Be on the lookout
for Zakk Wylde coming to town with Ozzy in the Winter and then hitting the road
with Black Label Society and be sure to check the Black Label Society website
for updates. Also special thanks to Chris Bade at Mazur PR for setting things
up.

Links of interest:
Zakk Wylde
Black Label Society
Mazur PR
Zakk Wylde has it pretty good right now.

In addition to being the guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne, a stint he's held on
and off since 1988, he also has his own Black Label Society, which has quickly
become a band's band due to it's uncompromising, heavy rock grounded in Black
Sabbath, Pantera, and The Allman Brothers. Blistering guitars fueling
aggressive tunes that make your jaw drop. In addition, he also did a short acting stint
as the guitar player in Rock Star, as well as making a few cameo appearances
on The Osbournes this past season.

What really sets the bastard apart is the fact that he's as guitar player,
he's a goddamn Godzilla. Considering he was virtually unknown when he started
with Ozzy, he quickly made a reputation for himself with a thick sound and
extensive use of false harmonics. This has lead to him being able to mix massive
blues riffs with power grooves and even a lil' bit of Greg Allman vocals in
order to create a musical style all his own. He gets the best of both musical
worlds, being able to play to large crowds with Ozzy while still being able to do
whatever the hell he pleases in Black Label Society.

Bully was able to catch up with him during a quick break before departing on
this year's Ozzfest to talk about his approach to music and the music
business, as well as whatever the hell else crossed his mind.

Bully: What made you want to base the new album 1919 Eternal around the WWII
generation?

Zakk Wylde: It wasn't so much that. Originally I called it Death Cold War
Machine Eternal, that was pretty much the mindset of everyone in the band and the
crew. I had the title when we were out on Ozzfest last year and I had the
titles for the majority of the songs before we even went in the studio. Like
" Genocide Junkies" and fucking "Graveyard Disciples," "Lords of Destruction,"
" Mass Murder Machine," everything like that. So it wasn't so much that it was
based on World War II, it's not, I just don't feel like singing "Whoops, I did it
again" or cheese-ass shit like that. I had the title of the record, so I said
we'll just use World War II footage and stuff like that. Then the September
11th thing happened and the record company was like "Dude, you have to change
the title of the record" which fucking sucked. I said how about Osama Bin Laden
I'm Going To Blow Your Fucking Brains Out with a photo of me shoving a shotgun
up his ass. They said why don't you have another six pack and figure out
fucking another title.

But my wife was like why don't you use the World War II stuff and just add
more. It's got the whole Black Label mentality, with all the SDMFers - strength,
determination, merciless, forever. My dad is 82-years-old, he was fucking
over in Europe for four years, he laid my mother to rest, he was in an orphanage
when he was a kid and he still works five nights a week and doesn't complain
about a goddamn thing. 1919 was the year that he was born.

B: Is it true that a lot of the songs that you had written were for Ozzy's
new album?

ZW: Well yeah, we were supposed to write some bonus tracks for Down To Earth.
So I would go down to rehearsal everyday and I was banging out just about
every tune you heard on the Black Label album. Oz was like "I don't want to go
through the whole process of writing songs again." The stuff was done. I was
like whatever tunes you want to go with man. If you're happy with the ones we
got, then we'll just do them. He's the boss at the end of the day.

It doesn't bother me at all because whatever doesn't make it, it's always
going to end up on a fucking Black Label album if it gets my dick hard. We just
wrote a batch of tunes, I wrote about another six songs for a live album we
recorded at the Budokan. We did that when I was over there with Ozzy. Sharon was
like "we're going to need three more songs" so I was just writing riffs,
keeping it as ugly, fucking heavy, as alky as possible. I wrote six of them and a
couple I think the guy was terrified when he heard them. He was like "I'm not
that fucking metal band!". But everyone he passes on, we just stick it in the
fucking Black Label file.

B: So basically he just kind of had a different head space on what he wanted
to do.

Everyone thinks you made it because you have a record deal. You made it if
you have a guitar in your hand fucking 24-7 and you don't have to get up and
swing a fucking hammer everyday.

ZW: Whenever I'm writing it's not like I have to put on a different hat. It's
not like I'm doing a fusion record. As far as I'm concerned, you take that
new fucking Black Label album and you stick Ozzy's vocals on it, it's a new Ozzy
record. Let's put it this way, if I wouldn't want to put something on my
fucking album, why would I want to do that to Ozzy. You gotta be proud of what
you're putting on the fucking thing.

B: Compared to your other albums 1919 Eternal is more straight up heavy,
whereas your earlier stuff tended to be bluesier and have more of a southern rock
influence. Was that just a product of the time or is this a direction you
think you'll be heading more towards?

ZW: Yeah I guess so. I really don't put much thought into it. I just sit down
and start writing some riffs. It always starts with the riff. After that, the
rest of the thing falls into place. I don't know how you write songs just
singing the melodies. Who the fuck does that? The riff is going to inspire the
melody over it. If you have a cool riff, it's like alright let me just sing
something over that. I'll have a couple beers relaxing in the studio and just sing
over it. It's like "Everybody go watch Sportscenter for a little while, have
a couple fucking cold ones, and let me write some fucking lyrics. Give me a
half an hour and I'll see what I got."

B: Lyrically, this album is a lot darker than your other ones. Was it a
harder year for you?

ZW: Nah, it's just that's what I like. It puts you in that place. I don't
know, maybe it's the fact that I've been listening to a lot of N'Sync and a lot
of New Kids. But this was still when they were hanging tough, the early stuff.

B: Are your kids old enough to start getting into bands yet?

ZW: Yeah. They listen to Sabbath and stuff like that. It'll be like "Oh put
Uncle Ozzy on." As far as what they listen to, my son listens to the new album.
Him and his buddies will walk around with BLS shit on all the time. A couple
years back they'd listen to what normal fucking kids would listen to. They'd
crank Britney Spears and all that, but they don't listen to that shit anymore.
They're more into Linkin Park and shit like that now. We got them hooked on
Sabbath already so.

B: Kind of turned them around in the end.

ZW: Oh yeah without a doubt. You know how it is, everybody goes through that
fucking phase where you listen to the goofy ass shit. The only reason you know
about all that stuff is because it's what you're exposed to. But then you get
into high school and people are like "What the fuck are you listening to?!
Here's a fucking Motorhead record." I didn't even know about those guys. Or the
Allman Brothers. My older brother used to listen to them and he was like
" Check these guys out, they're cool."

B: From the sound of the new disc it sounds like you and drummer Craig
Nunenmacher are working together really well. His style seems to mesh with yours
nicely on "Battering Ram" and "Genocide Junkies."

ZW: Then I had Christian Werr play on three of the tracks because we did
those when Craig went back home. So Christian was around and I called him up to
and said "why don't you come down and jam on some of the tracks." Then when we
got him in the studio, I was like "Craig, well can you do it like Christian"
and he was like "Dude, Christian played fine, just leave the tracks the way they
are. You're not going to hurt my feelings." Craig is fucking an amazing
drummer.

B: Especially hearing his Crowbar stuff, the way he uses toms and everything
else, it seems to fit. That huge triplet fill he uses on "Battering Ram."

ZW: That's all fucking hands and feet. You warm up for about 15-20 minutes
before you go out and do that one, or you might have a fucking stroke. Even on
the guitar that thing doesn't stop throughout the whole song. It's a workout
and a half.

B: The new disc seems a lot more instinctive and stripped than the last two,
even production wise.

ZW: It's still the same process. Get a good drum track, we'll do all the
drums in a couple days. After that, I go in and put the bass on it. Then I just
double my guitars and then we start with solos. After that I put on my vocals
and maybe I want to double my vocal or put in a harmony part.

Audio Samples

Battering Ram

Genocide Junkies

Requires Real Audio Player

B: So you're still not quadrupling your guitars?

ZW: I only put two tracks. That way you can put them out in the middle,
spread them out, do whatever. If you don't have a thick enough fucking sound, if
you need more than two, you're getting a little bit overboard.

B: You're kind of in a unique position where you get to play in front of
really huge crowds with Ozzy and then still get to do whatever you want with BLS.
You get to play for the mainstream crowd but you don't have to cater to the
mainstream crowd.

ZW: I'm definitely fortunate man. Put it this way, I don't get any pressure
from the record company telling me I have to have a hit single. You know "Can
you do something more like Limp?" What are you fucking high?! I don't fucking
play that kind of music and I'm never gonna so fuck you for asking me. You know
if you are on a humongo record company, they'll be like "dude, we don't hear
a fucking single" and this and that. I always tell friends who ask me for
advice for musicians: I know guys who were amazing players back in the day, but
now it's like "Oh what's Tom doing?" and it's like "Well, he sells real estate
now." You gotta be joking, it's like he doesn't play anymore. For me, being a
musician isn't a passing phase in your life where you're doing it for a while,
and then you go "Well, I don't know about this. I'm going to get on to
something else." Either you know its in your blood or it ain't. Put it this way, if I
wasn't playing with Ozzy or Black Label Society, if I was in a cover band and
I'm doing five nights a week and then on weekends playing in a fucking
wedding band, then I'm making $4,000-5000 a week. Plus I'm making money doing covers
of cool bands I fucking like, having a 70s cover band where I can play ZZ Top
and everything. It's like I win. I don't have a normal fucking day job.
You're still playing guitar and still playing music the rest of your life.

Everyone thinks, well that must be great because you "made it." Everyone
thinks you made it because you have a record deal. It depends on what you are in
it for. You made it if you have a guitar in your hand fucking 24-7, you're a
musician and you don't have to get up and swing a fucking hammer everyday.

B: There's a vast graveyard out there of people who had record contracts,
basically didn't make a dime, and went bully up and never did it again.

ZW: Yeah and they quit. They got out of the music business because they got
fucked. Everybody does. Everyone thinks you sign a record deal for a million
bucks and the guy from the record company comes and hands you a million dollars
so you can go to Vegas whenever you want. It's hysterical what peoples'
perceptions of this shit is.

B: What was the Rock Star movie shoot like?

ZW: It was fucking great. I'm not really an aspiring actor, but the director
was like "Zakk you want to be in it? Just make it look real, the guitar
playing and shit." For the solos and everything when they show my hand. I was like
" What do I have to do?" He said, "Just come down to the set, hang out all day,
play guitar, drink beer, lift weights, fire shotguns, and do some acting in
the movie." I was like, "You're going to pay me for this?!" I had a great time
doing it. Jason Bonham played drums on it and Jeff Pilson played bass. You
listen to Jeff in Dokken and he's just laying down a foundation. When I got with
him, he's playing all these Yes tunes and Mahavishnu Orchestra. I said, "Man, I
didn't know you could play like that." He was like, "I can't be playing this
shit in Dokken." He's ripping all over the bass like John Entwistle. I had a
great time. Mark Wahlberg is really good people. Jennifer was really cool.
Everyone on the crew. I had a great time.

B: How are you getting geared up to play two sets each day at Ozzfest this
year?

ZW: Just drinking heavily. I told the Down guys, "You guys are on fucking
crack if you think I'm hanging out with you motherfuckers in between the sets."
Otherwise, by the time I get on stage with Ozzy, I'll be looking at the Les
Paul like it's a fucking Rubik's cube. I'm not going to be out there walking
around all fucking day long. I'll probably get out there and beat some ass with
Black Label, and because you have all this adrenaline rush after you get off
stage, I'll have to just chill out for awhile, play some Triple-Play Baseball or
some shit on the Playstation. Either that or watching porn or having sex with
my wife. Who is six month's pregnant right now…

B: So that will be going away.

ZW: Exactly.

B: How many kids do you have now?

ZW: This will be our third one. We have a daughter and a son, now we're
having another boy.

B: Has she laid down the ultimatum yet with "Don't ever touch me again!"?

ZW: Well, I told her we'll probably have to have another one because the
other kids are like 9 and 8, and by the time this one's born they'll both be 10
and 9. Then the little dude's going to be born and he'll be all fucking by
himself. We'll probably have another one just so he has somebody to hang out with.

B: Or has somebody to beat up on.

ZW: Right. By the time he gets old enough to hang out, the other kids will be
in high school and not want to have anything to do with him.

B: Probably the stand out guitar solo on the new disc was the one on
" Genocide Junkies." Did you pull that one off the top of your head or did you put some
thought into it?

ZW: I just jam for a couple seconds. Obviously you always want to have a
structure for something, but then there are sometimes when you do a one-off,
improvised solo. It has parts - you start off with a long note, then it goes into
some finger tapping thing, and then you end real fast so it climaxes. It's like
a song within a song. That's how Randy Rhoads' solos are.

B: Finally, the harmonic. How do you do that goddamn harmonic you use all the
time?

ZW: The false harmonics and shit? My guitar teacher showed me how to do it.
It's just what ZZ Top does, that Billy Gibbons type shit where he's doing "La
Grange" and shit like that. Like "Tush," he does tons of that in that fucking
song. Billy Gibbons did tons of the false harmonics and shit. I just do it on
the low strings and then when I doubled it on the first Ozzy record, I was like
" Damn, that sounds fucking slamming!"

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In 1988 the guitar world was turned upside down then Ozzy Osbourne announced
Jake E. Lee's 6-string wielding replacement - a virtual unknown, going by the
name Zakk Wylde. By now, most people have at least heard of Zakk. He's jammed
with the some of the greatest artists in the world (most recently, Les Paul),
he composed the entrance music for the WWF's Stone Cold Steve Austin, he's
even been spotted playing the national anthem at several baseball games. On top
of all his music accolades, Zakk has added acting. In addition to writing the
songs for the bulk of the soundtrack, he appears in Rock Star as Ghode - the
ripper guitarist of Steel Dragon.
While getting set to head off to England for a promotional stint, I had a
chance to interview the "Wylde" man. Sitting in Cheers, "working on another pint
of Samuel Adams," and chatting with me on his cell, he gave some very specific
answers to some rather specific questions. For those of you who follow his
escapades, the contents of this interview will come as no surprise. He's
blunt...and makes no bones about it. Zakk is prone to honesty - speaking his mind
with integrity and an down-home slant on the English language.
This is a very different kind of interview for DVD Angle to run. While I had
intended to talk more about DVD, something strange happens when you put two
guitarists together. The conversation inevitably turns towards the musical side
(especially when one of the people is a bonified "guitar God" and a large
influence on the other person). So, this interview has been split into two parts -
part 1 deals with Rock Star and DVD while part 2 branches out into everything
else (and takes on a decidedly different tone). With that said, let's jump to
it.

How did you get involved with Rock Star?
Zakk:I guess Steve Herek approached [me about] doing some of the music for
the movie. I was down there and he asked, "Well Zakk, you're gonna be doing the
music, do you want to be in the movie?" Because you had Dominic [West], Jason
[Bonham], and the guys…Dominic just started playing guitar, so they said for
the solos and everything, "Do you want to do the movie just to make it look
real. Do you wanna do it?" What, I'm gonna say no? It's like, fine. I get to hang
out at the set all day, drink beer, and play my guitar…can't beat that, know
what I mean?
With Rock Star, what was it like not only to be on set, but also on stage?
Zakk:To me it was just like making…ya know…when you do videos, it's the same
thing. It's just a lot of sitting around and waiting until they need you,
know what I mean? When we do videos, or whatever, as long as you got some beers
down there and I got a guitar with me…I'm jamming all day. I used to do
construction - it beats swinging a hammer, bro. Let's put it that way [and with that
we both break out in laughter]. It's just like doing music videos, it's just
longer. Instead of doing it for two days, it's like you're there for a couple
of months.
This "sort of" brings back some memories for you from when you started with
Ozzy. What was it like?
Zakk:Yeah, it's like people said, "Yeah man, it's about Ripper Owens" and
that, and it's about Ripper's story. The fact that some guy who's a huge fan ends
up in his favorite band, 'cause people were going, "It's a Judas Priest
story." I go, "It's not a Judas Priest story - the bottom line, that's where the
similarities end. I'm a huge Priest fan and the movie's not about Judas Priest."
Otherwise they'd get the original band to do it and there'd be consultants on
the picture and everything. I tell everybody, it could be about my life
story: I'm a huge Sabbath fan. I love Ozzy and Randy Rhodes and I end up in a band.
My friends are all psyched because they get free tickets, but, ah, it wasn't
that it brought back memories. Let's put it this way, I had an ass kickin'
time on the set…the whole time. Steve kicked ass, the crew, Mark [Whalberg] - all
super people.
When you were doing the movie, you don't say much......
Zakk:I don't say much anyway [more laughter]. I think it's better that way.
The one scene in the screening that got the best reaction from the audience
is where you walk off-stage, grab two beers and chug 'em…
Zakk:Yeah, well, that's a daily ritual man. A lot of practice.

Let's talk about DVD for a second here. So far, to your credit, you're on
four DVD's - the documentary on Little Nicky: Platinum Series, obviously Rock
Star, Ozzy Osbourne: Don't Blame Me, and Ozzy Osbourne: Live and Loud. When are
you going to make a DVD?
Zakk:For Black Label?
Yeah…
Zakk:We've got a lot of footage already from the last tour and shit like
that. We're probably gonna make one, man. On this next tour, probably, just a
bunch of behind-the-scenes action and shit like that with us getting completely
fuckin' in pure berserker mode. So, ya know, when we get out on the road it's a
little out of control.
We were out on the last Ozzfest, Paul…we were out there for like two months.
Every night that we got done playing we'd go out and eat - hit steak houses,
Joe's Crab Shack, every night. When we got home, between the booze and the food
- that's it, just booze and food…I didn't buy anything else - [my credit
card] was twenty-five thousand dollars! And all there is, is like eight guys -
four guys in the band, four crew guys, and a tour manager - so actually ten guys.
Just in alcohol consumption was close to twenty-five thousand dollars. It was
twenty-four somethin' - it almost tapped out at twenty-five. The wife was
really happy about that credit card bill when it came in. We don't even spend
that much money on kids clothes…in the past five years. This booze is killing me
- it isn't the liver, it's the wallet.

And so ends part 1 of the interview. If you'd like to get more information
about the Rock Star DVD, you can check out the menus by clicking here. My review
will be posted later on today - check back then to get the scoop.
If you'd like more info, visit the official website at www.rockstarmovie.com.
If this interview has peaked our interest, you can visit the official Zakk
Wylde website at www.zakkwylde.com.

Dude the first thing I have to ask about is what's up with you starting a
brewing company for BLACK LABEL beer?
It all started because me and the drummer, Filth (Phil), we’re ah… (Zack
say's in an insane voice) just crazy about BEER! (Laughter).
So the whole thing is just brewing stuff here at the house and I’ve got a
microbrewery about a mile walking distance from my house. This guy, Rob, down at
Wolf Creek, just brews up some ass-kicking beer. He does the whole seasonal
thing. I’ve been brewing at the house and that's like the apex. People are like “
you’re gonna brew your own beer?” Well dude let me tell ya something, I’m
gonna make a hell of a lot more dough brewing beer than I will making music if
ya understand…the DEMOGRAPH IS A HELL OF A LOT BIGGER!!! (Laughter). So we’re
talking about brewing it. This stuff is going to be ass kicking. What I
eventually want to do is have Rob brewing the stuff. He’s actually a brew master. I
brew stuff around the house and the stuff I brew, you can drink a pint and a
half of this stuff and you’ll be fucking tanked! As far as taste-wise – I haven
’ t got it perfected yet. It tastes all cidery. It’s more of a sweet thing
cause of the sugar and shit like that.

What is your favorite beer?
Actually, check it out; we were trying to get a beer endorsement with Sierra
Nevada. When we were talking about a beer endorsement with the record company
I was like “If I’m gonna get a beer endorsement, it’s got to be stuff I’m
going to drink.”
If they’re going to be peddling case upon case of Coors Light on me, then I’
m liable to either you know…. I can use that stuff for an enema, but that’s
about it! I’ve been drinking Sierra Nevada, which is ass-kicking beer, the
seasonal beer’s and everything man. And that stuff tastes good, if I want to drink
water, I’ll drink water.
Or try some Canadian beer eh?
Exactly, Canadian stuff is good as well.

So lets talk about your new album...what is "Stronger Than Death?"
It’s just a good stout (laughs). As far as I’m concerned, Black Label is a
lifestyle; it’s bigger than a band. Put it this way, if you’re in the Marines,
it’s bigger than just being in the armed service. It’s a mentality you carry
with you for the rest of your life. You can’t be a candy-ass. If you want to
howl with the owls, you gotta scream with the eagles. There’s no “I’m not
feeling good today.” If you got interviews to do – get your ass up and do them.
So that’s the whole thing with the Black Label philosophy. It’s stronger
than death and just can’t be stopped.

Can you tell me what some of the fuel is (besides beer) for the new CD?
Listening to CRAP bands like Third Eye Blind and Blink 182. The whole thing
is, I have to thank these acts because without their CRAP music and WHUSS
philosophy, I wouldn’t be inspired to write the songs I write. After I hear a
couple of their songs or BackStreet Boys I just get a penchant for violence and I
just start writing riffs. As far as I’m concerned, it’s gonna be like the
whole disco thing. There is going to be such a backlash right now because if this
planet needs to hear another boy band or these chick bands… I’ve got an 8
year old and a 6 year old so I can understand Brittany Spears or the BackSteet
Boys, maybe one or two of them. But every other one of them! I can’t tell it
apart it’s so fabricated. First off, none of these people write any of their
songs so I have no respect for them whatsoever. The whole point is to write your
own stuff. It’s like painting a picture and somebody else paints it for you
but you color it in. There really isn’t much of a difference between them and
Milli Vanilli. It’s a factory. I’ve seen this “Behind The Music” thing and it’
s just like this guy has a choreographer working with people. He gets the
people, he submits them, he goes through the whole thing and each guy has to fit a
certain criteria. Like, the girls will like him because he’s kind of butch,
this guy they’ll like because he’s sensitive, this guy whatever! It’s
absolutely hysterical man. Back in the day when I was buying Black Sabbath records, I
was buying them because it says written by Toni Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Terrance
Butler and Bill Ward. I’m actually getting a piece of them. At least that’s
what I felt like. If it was like Sabbath was working with songwriters – well
give me a gun because I need to kill myself now. Like when you get a Zeppelin
record, it’s written by the band. There is going to be such a backlash against
this. The whole metal community is going to rise up and put a severe ass
beating on all this crap music!

I love the album opener "All For You" and "13 Years of Grief" also stands out
- as you can tell I get off on the more aggressive songs and that is what
attracts me to your music! So what tracks are your favorites?
We’re in rehearsals now for the tour and 13 Years is a lot of fun to play
because it’s just so stupid heavy. “All For You” I like playing, “Stronger Than
Death”, “40 Smiles” is cool. It depends on what mood I’m in. If at the end
of the night I want to drink a couple of beers, then I take a listen to “Rust”
or “Just Killing Time” – stuff like that. At the end of the night when I’
m winding down I can take a listen to the Allman Brothers or Neil Young. Much
like when I’m lifting, I’ll listen to Mesuggah and Pantera, it depends on the
mood you’re in.

How long was the writing process for this CD?
Let’s see, I had a bunch of songs written when I was on the road. I had some
riffs written but until I find something I like singing about... I don’t like
writing about, well “Rust” was about my old lady, but I can’t write songs
about, and god bless ‘em I love ZZTop, but if I wrote a song called “Legs” I’d
want my friends to all beat my ass. Lyrically, I can’t sing it, it has to mean
something to me. It’s more based on reality, things going on around me. Like “
13 Years of Grief” I wrote about these kids that were on, it must have been
Sally Jesse Raphael or one of those talk shows…There was one kid on there who
was beating his mother up repeatedly and they were all going to go to a maximum
state prison and they’re all like “bring it on man, I ain’t afraid! I’ll go
to jail, don’t mean nothing to me.”
Give me a break man. They were all bad asses and were all like 13 years old –
that’s where I got the title from. They all ended up going to jail and the
guards couldn’t keep the bucket full of crap behind them. It was ridiculous when
they got to jail, their whole tune changed. But there were all just a bunch
of hard asses before they went down there. But usually I write about something
like that or something I read in a newspaper or something that has happened
to my friends or myself. It usually starts with the riff then I come up with a
melody and the lyrics over it last.

Were any tracks recorded that didn't make the CD that you may release on a
b-side or something?
Ummm…no, we just did one extra track for Japan and that was it. So we did
twelve songs altogether. It’s a song called “Bullet In Your Head.”
And what’s that song about anyway, the obvious?
Actually it’s about this guy I knew when I was in high school. I was in 9th
grade and these guys had just graduated. It’s the whole big bully syndrome.
This guy was a big ass bully and him and his buddy were selling weed to this one
guy, I didn’t know him, but his name was Brian Warlock. He was a real nerdy
guy. He went over there to collect his grass, he must of spent like five-hundred
bucks on weed, and he kept telling them to fuck off and he eventually came
back with a gun and fucking shot them both man. I remember we got out of school
early. At least we got half a day out of school, that’s the only thing I cared
about. But the cops were out looking for him around where I used to live it
was a real wooded area. They had dogs out looking for him and stuff like that
cause he was armed and shit like that. So that’s what I wrote the tune about.

You play just about everything on this CD except for the drums. Is there any
reason why you don’t use a full band for recording?
Well yeah, it’s just like making beer. The whole process of making beer is
making it yourself. With a microbrew it’s one guy. Like, somebody hovering over
a bass player saying, “no, no...can you do it more like this.” Here dude, do
it your god damn self. And like painting a picture. You look at a picture by
Salvador Dalai, these guys don’t list co-painters like Salvador Dalai and Andy
Warhol. It just says painted by Salvador Dalai. If Salvador had a problem
painting skies or something like that you don’t get one of your buddies who knows
how to paint that. That’s what it’s like with me. When you come to a part
and you get a little stumped, you know, just have a beer and use a little bit of
your imagination and come up with the next part. To me, that’s the whole
challenge of it. It’s like "I can’t do that, I just did that in another song like
two records ago or I did this on an Ozzy record – I can’t do that because it’
s something I’ve did before."
So it’s like “alright scumbag, come up with a different part.” That’s the
whole fun of writing, is the challenge of it, to come up with something to top
yourself or go down a different avenue then you did last time. At the end of
the day, I’m still a musician so I listen to my Al Demolia records and
Mahavishnu Orchestra and stuff like that. For me the juice is how good you can get as
a musician, not about the money and the fucking chicks. That was never my
juice to begin with. The whole thing is, if you want to get laid, what the hell
do you have to be in a band for? Just go up to a chick and ask her if she
wants to fuck, you know what I mean? (Laughs). It’s like oh do I have to learn how
to play guitar to do that – I don’t think so!

You recently played the US National Anthem at a baseball game. What was that
like and how did people react? Were they like "who in the fuck is this guy?"
or were they into it?
Naw, it went over great! I just did it at Dodger Stadium. The first time I
did it with the Mets, yeah people were kinda like “what the hell is this?!?”
Mind you, I did a Hendrix / Black Label version of it. I didn’t play it like
national anthem paint by numbers. I didn’t want to play this super white version
of it. But at the same time I thought I did it justice. My old man was there,
he’s a World War II vet, so I’m not going to sit there playing a jazz version
of it where people wouldn’t even recognize it. The Shea Stadium one – there
was 53,000 people there and they were a little confused. I think the younger
people liked it but I think the older people were like “get this asshole off
the field.” But I did it again just on Tuesday night right after Memorial Day at
the Dodger Stadium with the Mets. They are 2 and 0 now, so hopefully they
will use me for a ringer in the playoffs (laughs).

Something else I wanted to talk to you about is your part in the upcoming
film - Metal God (loosely based on the Ripper Owens story).
Yeah, I just got back from wrapping that up last night. It will be coming out
around spring break sometime and it’s with Mark Whalberg and Jennifer
Aniston. It was a great experience man.
Do you think the film is going to accurately portray what life is like in a
metal band?
Put it this way, if a 15-year-old kid saw it, it would be like me in the 80’s
if a movie came out about the 70’s. I’d be psyched and I’d go check it out.
Let’s say if it was about a band based around Led Zeppelin or Sabbath that
would be a real cool movie cause of the clothes or whatever and just because I
wasn’t there. I think for my niece, who’s 19 now, for them (her) the 80’s was
like the Culture Club and Duran Duran and crap like that. This movie is based
around metal and I’m playing my ass off on the soundtrack so I don’t care
what anybody says, they can’t take that away from me. So if somebody’s like “
this is a cheesy movie”, they’re missing the whole point. It’s supposed to be a
timepiece around the 80’s. The band is supposed to be from like ’75 to ’85
and we’re going near the end of our career and we’re older guys. Then we get
Mark Whalberg in the band who’s this huge freak for the band. He’s in this
tribute band (to Zakk’s band in the movie) and we eventually get him into the
act. The movie is really about Mark and Jennifer and how they go from Indiana
to LA and all the music business crap they have to go through once he gets in
the band. Then there’s the booze and the drugs and the whole 9 yards. Then the
grunge thing comes around and he goes to Seattle and he gets involved in that
crap. We had a great time doing it. Jason Bonham is in it and Jeff Pilson
from Dokken. I had no idea, I mean Jeff’s in Dokken so I never really knew
anything about his bass playing, but I couldn’t believe how good on the bass he is.
He was playing Mahavishnu Orchestra shit and YES and everything. I was just
like “holy shit, dude I never knew you could play bass like that.” And he says “
I’m in Dokken.”

How did you get asked to do this film?
They came down and were talking to me about the soundtrack and seen me doing
it and this guy Steve Herrick who seen me doing the Stronger Than Death record
just came down to meet me and I was just tracking in the studio and once he
saw me playing he was like “Zakk, do you want to be in the movie?”
I was like “Well I’m sure you have other people to meet.” And he said, “No
I want you to be in the movie.”
So put it this way Geoff, It was the stupidest chump change I ever made in my
life. As far as actual output of work and it’s like “you want to pay me this?
” So yeah, fuck me up I can be an actor. It was just ridiculous man.
I've heard rumors that they might call the film "Rock God" instead because
they are afraid audiences will stay away from a film about heavy metal.
Yeah, I heard them talking about it but it is a heavy metal movie. It is what
it is. If it's a Zebra and it’s got stripes, it’s a Zebra. It’s like "oh let’
s not call it that." So what do you want to call it? It’s got stripes, it’s
black and white and it’s kinda horse looking kinda thing…it’s a Zebra. The
Warner Brothers people came down and they were talking about this and that and
changing the movie name. I was like whatever, I understand. Metal God is pretty
cool and rock...well what are you gonna call it rock or metal or "Music God"…
ya know??!
So are they definitely renaming it?
Yeah, it’s like you say they are afraid that people….it’s like metal has
blinders on it.
Are Mark Whalberg and Jennifer Aniston metalheads or had they even heard
Black Label Society before the movie?
No, but Mark Whalberg was in my video man, we just got done cutting it so I
should actually be getting the edit today. We did the video for "Counterfeit
God." I figured Mark was cool enough to let me be in his movie, I figured the
least I could let him do is hang in “the society” for a day. Mark’s a great
guy, and any guy that’s drinking beer 8:30 in the morning…you open up his
trailer, and you know I’m not a pot guy, but its like “Fast Times At Richmount High.
” It’s like this cloud of fucking smoke coming out of his trailer and he’s
pretty damn funny man. He keeps it together; he’s not like waste product. It’
s nice when you don’t need to drive anywhere, you can take advantage of
drinking at 8:30 in the morning.

Now that you've had a taste of acting, do you think you'll pursue any other
parts?
Well yeah, put it this way, if Mark asked me to play a drug dealer in a movie
or some guy with a shotgun, you know…but it’s not like I’m going to go take
acting lessons and learn how to be an actor. I’m a musician, and that’s what
I love doing. I can understand why people get into the movie business. The
only thing that’s a bummer is getting up at like 3:30 or 4 in the morning and
having to take a shower like every other day.

What was the deal with you and Axl Rose? I've read you WERE working with him
or there was talk of you replacing Slash, what happened?
When we were doing the Stronger Than Death record I saw Axl at the studio.
Phil and me were there we just got tanked one night. We started drinking at
about 1 in the morning. By the time we got done it was like 4:30 the next
afternoon. But it’s like, Del James is there and he was like “What happened” and Axl
goes “Zakk I heard your people wanted 2 million up front and a tour bus.” And
I go “2 million?!? What do you think I’m some sort of cheap dishrag whore? I’
m fucking worth at least 6 to 7 million.” But that was like the running joke
when we were there. 2 Million dollars and a tour bus kept me from playing with
G-n-R. I told them if I got to publish on a G-n-R record, that’s 2 million
dollars right there. And a tour bus, my OWN tour bus? Yeah, like that’s what I
want to do – hang on a bus all by myself. So let me see – I could be hanging
with the guys drinking beer, listening to tunes, playing vids whatever or yeah I
’ d rather be on a bus all by myself in the back whacking it to fucking porno
movies. Give me a break!

So did you ever actually record anything or jam with G-n-R?
Yeah I did some stuff over at Duff’s house and eventually that’s how Black
Label got started. I had these riffs lying around and things weren’t…Ozzy
started playing with these other guys, Axl and the whole thing with the lawyers
just went down the shitter so I said fine, I’m just gonna do it my god damn
self. If you’re gonna do something, just do it yourself. I could of wrote all
these riffs, it could have been on the new Ozzy record but Ozzy would have been
like it has that flat 5 in there, that Sabbath note…