Zakk Wylde has never been one to slow down, even when life throws a few obstacles in his way. In this 2010 interview, the Black Label Society frontman opens up about dealing with recurring blood clots, giving up alcohol, and maintaining a strict no-drinking policy while on tour. He also shares his views on traditional rehab programs and explains why he’s chosen to handle things his own way. When it comes to making music, Wylde prefers to keep things simple, recording at his own Bunker studio and letting songs come together naturally rather than spending too much time overthinking them.
But Black Label Society has become much more than just a band. Wylde talks about expanding the BLS brand into products like coffee and hot sauce, building a business that reflects his personality and connects with his loyal army of fans known as the Berserkers. He also discusses plans to grow his own record label and the importance of staying true to the music and the people who support it. Through it all, Wylde’s trademark humor, strong work ethic, and determination remain as much a part of his personality as his unmistakable guitar playing.
Originally published by Rock Confidential on December 8, 2010.
Zakk Wylde and his Black Label Society have become a worldwide phenomenon with die-hard fans all across the globe – affectionately referred to as “Berserkers.”
In the two decades since Ozzy Osbourne hired him away from his job at a New Jersey gas station, Zakk Wylde has established himself as a guitar icon known and revered the world over. Writing and recording with Osbourne led to multi-platinum success, inspiring him to create the now legendary Black Label Society in 1998. In the 12 years since, BLS has turned the notion of what a rock band should be upside down by inspiring legions of fans all over the world to follow the mantra: Strength, Determination, Merciless, Forever. Wylde and his Berserkers have established a heavy metal institution true to the vision of uncompromising, unfiltered and unrestrained rock n’ roll.
Black Label’s latest release, Order Of The Black, is Zakk Wylde at his strongest. With roaring tracks like “Crazy Horse” and “Parade Of The Dead”, Wylde takes no prisoners unleashing the full sonic bombast of his Gibson Les Paul and Marshall amplifiers.
Zakk recently took a few minutes out of his self-imposed “25 hours a day, 8-day week” to talk about the new album, giving up booze and the strength of the Black Label brand.
Jesse Capps: Zakk, thanks for taking time out for this. I guess the first thing on everyone’s mind is your health. How are things?
Zakk Wylde: Right before we started the Bezerkus tour the doctors took me off the medication I was on for the blood clots I had last year. After a year they’ll take you off of it just to see if your body doesn’t need it anymore. They prefer you not be on it for the rest of your life but they wanted to see how it’d go. After about a month being on the road I woke up with that same pain in my leg again. You gotta be kidding me. It was in my other leg. I went back to the doctor, did an ultrasound and they found a couple of blood clots in my left leg. I had to start taking the shots again and I’m back on Coumadin. I was right back where I started a year ago. It was more a pain in the ass than anything. I’m fine now. Right before bed I’ll take some of the Lovenox. It’s not really a big deal because every morning I take vitamins so it’s just throwing another one in the mix – along with the steroids, growth hormones, the Morning After pill and the Flintstones chewables!
Jesse: You’ve always been a road warrior so it sounds like the blood clots haven’t really forced you to change too much.
Zakk: The only difference for me is no more booze. People ask me if I’m in a 12-step program. No, dude. I’m in the Black Label 1-step program! I don’t need to spend $30,000 in a rehab for someone to tell me something I already know. It’s beyond ridiculous. The running joke is I tell all the guys I’m so weak and pathetic that I have to cut their salaries in half so I can bring on a sponsor so we can afford to have someone wipe my ass while we’re on the road! It’s also a sober tour – nobody can drink or have any fun because if I can’t drink or have any fun then nobody else is! Don’t get me wrong. We’ll still hit Hooters or a sports bar and go watch Monday Night Football. I know some guys that if they see a drink around them they go ballistic! You’ve gotta be kidding me! No willpower, dude. With Black Label it’s G.I.F.D. – Get It Fuckin’ Done. You Patton-up, as in General Patton, and deal with it. What are they going to tell me if I go to counseling? Are they going to get in touch with my innermost feelings? If somebody tells you if you smoke one more cigarette you’re lungs will explode, do you need a counselor to stop? Jesse, if you want me to follow you around and change your diaper for $30,000 a month, I got no problem with that. I’d do it. I’d take your money.
It’s like Tiger Woods. The sent him to sex rehab. What did they tell him? I can see the session now: Dude, you’re a millionaire. You’re the greatest golfer of all time. You’re young. You could have any piece of ass you wanted on the planet. Yeah, you’ve got a disease. You know what it’s called? A wife and two kids! What can you tell him? His only problem is he got married! If he was a single dude nobody would even be talking about this. Every red-blooded guy on the planet would be bumpin’ knuckles because of all the hot tail he gets. Pussy is not a disease! It’s not like Tiger Woods can’t go to a tit bar now. You think he’s gonna go crazy and start bangin’ every chick in the bar? A disease is cancer. Dr. Drew told me Lindsay Lohan’s drug addiction is a disease. C’mon! Hanging out with your friends and having a good time is a disease? Nobody’s ever pulled up to an Irish pub and ordered a pint of cancer or a pint of Lou Gehrig’s disease. Those are diseases, bro. Having a cocktail while you’re out partying with your friends is a choice. There’s a difference. That just shows you how pathetic our country is. There’s a doctor for everything, dude. Put it this way. My dad was an orphan. His sister died in the orphanage. He went straight from the orphanage to Normandy. He was in World War II for four and a half years. He gets back and his first wife Marilyn died. He laid her to rest Christmas Eve. He laid my mother to rest on Christmas Eve. My father never saw one psychiatrist, dude. He was 89 and he never complained about anything.
“With Black Label it’s G.I.F.D. – Get It Fuckin’ Done. You Patton-up, as in General Patton, and deal with it. “— Zakk Wylde
Jesse: You were cranking out new records pretty regularly for a while. It’s been four years since your last studio album. How did that happen?
Zakk: Well, we were on the road and definitely still working but I can’t believe that much time went by. I wasn’t sitting around for for years writing songs. It didn’t take me four years to write these 14 songs. I did have “Chupacabra” lying around, but that’s just a guitar piece. I had the music for “January.” That’s actually the first thing we recorded because we didn’t have any drums in The Bunker yet. The entire record was written, recorded and mastered with George Marino in 94 days.
That’s pretty much how we do every record. To me every record is just a snapshot in time – where you were and what was going on. It’s kinda like a high school yearbook photo. You may look at it and crack up laughing but when that was going down it was cool.
Jesse: Now that you’ve got The Bunker to work and record in, do you find it easier to get things done or are you more particular about every little detail?
Zakk: It’s the same as any other album we’ve done. Putting me in a studio is like a kid with a giant coloring book and a thousand crayons. You can’t help but get inspired when you get in there. Everything sounds great. Next thing you know song ideas start flying out of your ass. It’s not like I redo everything over and over again. I just go in, record, move on to the next song and it’s done.
Jesse: Having your own studio also opened up the opportunity for you to start your own record label.
Zakk: When I find somebody I want to sign – whether it’s a band like Stone Temple Pilots or a singer like Sarah McLachlan – we’ll produce them in The Bunker and then off they go.
Jesse: Are you actively accepting demos now?
Zakk: Yeah, definitely. Not only demos but by word of mouth, too. If you tell me you’ve got a band I should hear then lay it on me, Jesse. Let me check it out. You and me could be having a cup of coffee in a coffeehouse somewhere and see a chick like Jewel. It could happen just like that.
Jesse: One thing I’ve always loved about Black Label Society is you’ve really made it a brand. You’ve had the family vibe going from the first record but you plan on expanding that with things like beef jerky, coffee, hot sauce, beer and even pubs.
Zakk: It’s gonna be quality stuff. It’s just like anything I endorse. If you get anything that has Black Label on it then it’s going to be top-shelf stuff. It’s awesome to be in a position where I can do that. The design of the band from the beginning is it’s bigger than me.
Jesse: And you’ve got the “Guitar Bible” coming up soon, too.
Zakk: The book is going to have everything in it. It’s not just about playing guitar. It also has mic techniques, recording tips, and will even make you an omelet! It goes over solos and scales. It breaks it down so there’s no mystery the song structure. It’s like me showing somebody how to drive a stick shift. It seems like a big mystery and then I’ll tell you about that other pedal and the mystery is gone and you get it.
Jesse: It’s hard to believe but it’s been 20 years since Pantera’s Cowboys From Hell was released. Fans have speculated for a while about Phil and Vinnie setting aside their differences and doing a Dimebag tribute tour or a few shows with you playing guitar. What do you think about that idea? Would you do it?
Zakk: I get along great with all the guys. I love Vinnie and I get along great with Phil and Rex. It’s all up to those guys. If they ever asked me I’d do it. If it’s about Dime and the guys then of course I would do it. It’s almost like Led Zeppelin, though. Them not getting back together is what keeps it what it is and adds to the legend. In that genre of music nobody came close to Pantera.
Jesse: Let’s do something a little different. I’ll name some guitarists and just tell me the first thing you think of.
Billy Gibbons – Billy F. Gibbons! That’s all you’ve got to say. He’s amazing. That’s where I get my pinch harmonics from.
Dickey Betts – I love Dickey. It was an honor for me to fill in for him with the Allman Brothers. He’s the king of the pentatonic scale, man.
Ace Frehley – We were just talking about Ace the other day and how killer his solos always were. Everybody talks about Kiss wearing makeup, but they really had great songs! Really great, catchy rock songs. As simple as Ace’s solos are, they are perfect for those songs.
Yngwie Malmsteen – Definitely one of the greatest living guitar players, hands down. If Paganini was a guitar player living today he would be Yngwie Malmsteen. I believe part of Paganini’s soul is in him. Yngwie stands alone.
Ted Nugent – Balls the size of America! I love Ted. You can’t beat a match like Ted Nugent and a Byrdland guitar.
Jesse: Zakk, thanks for taking time out for this. What would you like to say to wrap things up?
Zakk: Keep bleeding black. We’ll be seeing you all soon.
