I'm excited to join my brother-in-law Ken Thomson every Tuesday night on SiriusXM to recap all of the awesome NFL action, and to find out what in the Wylde world of sports is going on.
— Zakk Wylde
I don't think it's ever changed, whether its Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller, Zeppelin, Guns n' Roses or anyone today, the reason why you get into music is because you love it, and if you're good at it, that's a plus.
For me, the music dictates the melody. Give me a riff to sing over, you know?
With Nine Inch Nails, it's all Trent Reznor. So when we get a new record from Nine Inch Nails, it depends on what side of the bed Trent's waking up on and what he's been eating lately and what he's been into. Because he's preparing the whole meal.
If I sit down with an electric guitar, what's going to come out are Sabbath/Zeppelin type riffs, but if I'm sitting behind a piano late at night, I might write something like 'Desperado.' You're not going to write 'Desperado' between a wall of Marshalls and thumping, crushing volume.
You've got certain guys that just want to be famous and then you've got the real musicians that just love playing music.
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.
Back when I was jamming with Axl and the guys they had boxes of cassettes with song ideas. How do you know which ones you like now when you have that many ideas.
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!
I'm just worried that there's enough beer on the bus. That's the top priority at all times.
If somebody says they really like my playing I say thanks a lot.
It's pure Black Label. It's about violence and booze. That's all it is. There is no plan.
Ozzy has dyslexia.
The tours are campaigns.
We just done doing The Blessed Hellride tour and Ozzfest.
You're never going to learn everything.
For Black Label Special Opps, adversity is what you thrive on. General Patton is a huge fan favorite in Black Label.
Great musicians, you don't just hear them, you feel them. When I listen to Randy Rhoads, I feel every note. I learned a lot from him.
All my writing, I always do it in the studio, 'cause everything sounds good. The piano's there, the keyboards; if you want to put strings on something... And everything sounds good when it's in the cans; it sounds killer.
You listen to Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio in it, and it's not Black Sabbath. They should have just called it 'Heaven and Hell' right from the beginning. Because you listen to that 'Heaven and Hell' album, that doesn't sound anything close to Black Sabbath.
Around my house, I won't even speak to my family unless they first address me by my official Berzerker name, Godred Crovan, Victor of Sky-Hill and Ruler of Man and the Isles. And now that I think of it, that's probably why nobody speaks to me unless it's time to feed the dogs or take out the garbage.
As much as I love heavy riffs, I like The Eagles, Neil Young, Elton John, Crowded House.
Another time I cracked two of the vertebrae in my back and broke a rib.
Because with Black Label and all the fans it's just one big family.
I feel sorry for these kids in bands. Everything is so disposable nowadays. These kids don't even get 15 minutes of fame, it's like a minute and a half.
I've messed myself up more playing music than when I played football.
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.
On the tour we get a case of beer on the bus every day from Ozzfest.
Since day one my thing has always been to play the music.
The way I look at it you can always get better.
We were sitting on the bus one day and there were 5 of us hanging out. There was only one beer left in the cooler and we actually all took a little cup and split it. It was a pathetic day in a rock and roll when five grown men have to be sitting there sharing a beer.
You have to pay attention, like with tours and expenses; you have to factor that all in. You want to play music for the rest of your life, you have to pay attention to all the things. You want to know what's always going on.
I had throat surgery. We had to check that out and make sure it wasn't cancerous. I had a polyp on my vocal cord, so I had that taken out.
I love the whole process for each new album. The writing, the touring, everything. For me, it never gets old.
Without a doubt, even when I play with Black Label, when we have different guys I play with, everyone always brings their own magic, their own flavor to the soup, hands down.
I'm a good Catholic boy.
You had better love the music... because sometimes the music doesn't love you.
Any guy that's not working with the same amount of intensity and passion that I do, I don't want to know.
Chris Jericho is a great guy. He's beyond hysterical. He's good people. They're really good. Chris wanted me to throw down a solo. He sent it to me and I knocked it out.
I screwed my knee up once because I fell off the stage.
If I'm playing with Ozzy it's just a guitar thing. But with the vocals I feel like I'm studying for the SATs.
It isn't a band. It's bigger than a band. It's a lifestyle.
One day my wife went and saw the accountant and said she's pulling the plug. She said you guys are done. I said, how bad can it be? 10 grand? She said you're not even close. It came out to almost $50,000 in alcohol for two months.
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.
There's only one Sabbath guitarist and he is the architect for everything, Tony Iommi.
You never toot your own horn.
