Zakk Wylde Talks about a New Guitar and the Secret of Life

by Tom Watson and (Maria) Leonor Paiva Watson.

2007 represents a milestone in the life and career of the commander in chief of the Black Label Society family: He turned 40 in January, his association with Ozzy Osbourne began 20 years ago, and Zakk Wylde recently discovered the secret of life. Yes, he shares the secret.

It's early September. Wylde's home from Ozzfest where he did double duty with Ozzy and Zakk's own Black Label Society (BLS). Time to rest? Hardly. He's up at 4 a.m. doing whatever it is he has to do as hard as he can do it. The BLS motto of Strength, Determination, Merciless, Forever is no marketing gimmick. The son of a now 87-year-old WW II D-Day Omaha Beach veteran, combat intensity is in Zakk's blood.

Over his 20-year-stint in the rock 'n' roll limelight, New Jersey-born and raised Wylde has evolved into a Rock persona. But, don't be fooled by the merchandise on the right. He's a character, not a caricature. The man lives what he preaches. The entertainment world of pampered celebs, whose primary talents are the self-based arts of absorption and victimization, needs a breath of fresh Zakk.

We're not the only ones who appreciate a dose.

Zakk Wylde is one of the world's greatest guitarists and one of the hardest working musicians in the business. Gibson Guitar has a long partnership with the Black Label Society frontman and his signature models remain one of our most popular. Who wouldn't want to be able to play like Zakk on stage? The Zakk Wylde Gibson Custom Model, The Epiphone Bullseye and the newest Zakk Wylde Flying V are only some of the great collaborations we have been able to produce with Zakk. Aside from his great music and signature model guitars, meeting and hanging with Zakk is definitely one of the highlights of the business. —Henry Juszkiewicz, Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar

The Wylde persona is an American Rock blend of hard playing, beer drinking, leather wearing, combat swearing subculture mixed with a serious dedication to a code of ethics centered on hard work, family, duty and loyalty. This Wylde man's a rock 'n' roll anti-hero with a strong sense of purpose.

If you're looking for an in-depth Zakk Wylde gearhead interview, this isn't it. If you're offended by raw language, click elsewhere. If you want to read Zakk comment on reports of his sex change, his graphic recipe for freedom, a new Zakk Wylde Gibson guitar and the secret of life, scroll on.

Tom Watson: You're back home in Southern California after Ozzfest. I can't picture you as a SoCal kind of guy. You're East Coast.

Zakk Wylde: Totally. We've got 10 acres out in the middle of nowhere about 40 minutes from L.A. It's beautiful if you want to just get the hell away from everything. When you're out on the road it's just a madhouse all of the time so when you get off the road you want to get the hell away from everything. This is definitely the place to go.

I never go out anyway. There’s a little shoot-and-stab bar right around the corner from my house. It’s got two pool tables and an old jukebox. It’s just like a little bar. The tour bus is bigger than this thing, you know what I mean? I’ll go down there and it’s, like, nobody knows who the hell I am. I don’t go down to any Hollywood clubs or shit like that.

Tom: You’re not hanging out on Melrose or at the Beverly Center.

Zakk: No. I never go down there, man.

Maria: Hello, Zakk.

Zakk: Hello, Maria. How are you doing? What’s happening?

Maria: We're doing fine, thanks for asking. Why did your last album [Shot To Hell] have three nuns on the cover?

Zakk: Oh, the nuns on the cover? We were just talking about the whole thing, you know … the funny thing is, it’s like the nuns hanging out with the devils. It’s just like the insanity of life. I grew up Catholic. I’m Irish Catholic. So the whole thing, it’s like … it’s just nuts. All I know is when we did the photo shoot that day, that was quite possibly some of the funniest shit I’ve ever been around because it was almost like having your aunt and your grandmother and your uncles and your grandfathers doing the photo shoot. And they were all drinking the whole time. Those drinks? Those aren’t fake drinks. They were all getting fucking hammered. It was fucking hysterical, man.

Tom: Are you taking the month of September off?

Zakk: No, no. Not even. Let’s put it this way, even when I’m sleeping … there isn’t any time off. I mean, the whole thing is, you know, whether we’re dealing with merch ideas or dealing with this, I’ve got to do press, I’ve got to do this. There still isn’t any Saturdays or Sundays, man. There are no Saturdays or Sundays in Black Label. I’m sitting here going over the setlist right now.

As soon as I got home, I was in bed for about two days, me and Barbaranne, my immortal beloved, we just waited around and didn’t do anything. And then we got the kids. The kids are in school now. Our daughter’s 15 [Hayley Rae], one son is 14 [Jesse John Michael], and our other son, Hendrix [Hendrix Halen Michael Rhoads], he’s 5. Now they’re all in school and they’ve got different times, so it’s a madhouse. We’re up at four in the morning every day. As soon as I get off the road, it’s back to reality. You know what I mean? That’s just the way it goes. When you’re out on the road, it’s a fuckin’ madhouse. As soon as you get home, you’ve got to get back to fuckin’ reality here because you’ve got the kids and you’ve got everything going on. That’s just the way it goes.

Maria: So, it’s like you have one persona when you’re on the road, and then you have to go back to what you really are.

Zakk: Oh, yeah. Totally. Put it this way, I mean, this is the best. We were at PNC Arts Center in Jersey, we were doing a show out there. I had my father come out – my dad’s 87 – and I’ve got family, my sister Amy, she brought the triplets down. I’m the godfather of one of the kids, Alexander, so the triplets are down, I’ve got my nephews, my nieces. My nephews, they’re like 23 years old, 22 years old. I’ve got all these friends. They were all loaded out of their minds.

And I’ve got Bob, I’ve got my manager coming on the bus talking about doing these business deals. I’m meeting another attorney. I’m trying to do all this and I’ve got the kids running up and down the friggin’ bus and here we are trying to do a normal deal. I mean, like big, major deals. And I’m sitting there talking and the kids are running up and down the bus, jumping on the bed in the back, smashing shit, and then I’ve got my nephews coming on the bus. They’re all wondering where the fuckin’ beer’s at. They’re smashed out of their fuckin’ minds. I can’t even talk. My manager Bob’s trying to talk about, “Well, this is the deal, this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to do this and that and this and that … this is the attorney over here.” I don’t even remember the attorney’s name, because I’ve got the kids fuckin’ running around all over the fucking place.

My dad’s just looking at me in the front lounge, and goes, “Oh, you like that shit, don’t you?” because that’s what I had to fuckin’ deal with all my life, you know what I mean? It’s a comedy fuckin’ special. It’s like a gift that keeps on giving. You try to keep shit pro, but it just doesn’t fuckin’ work that way, you know what I mean? There [should be] a camera on, it’s just some of the funniest shit you’ve ever seen.

Maria: Do you consider yourself a family man?

Zakk: Yeah, without a doubt. I’m not a rockstar. I don’t go to parties and shit like that. Like, when I got home, Barb will go, “You know, we haven’t been on vacation in how many years?” And I just go like this, I go, “Barb, when I get home? That is a vacation,” because I’m already sleeping in a bed that’s not mine, you know what I mean?

Maria: Do you take your kids to school?

Zakk: Yeah. Barbaranne most of the time will take the kids to school, because I’m not going to be around here, or I’m going to practice. I’ve got shit I’ve got to do. Barb’s running around like a fuckin’ mad woman, you know what I mean?

Tom: Was she with you this summer during Ozzfest?

Zakk: Yeah. What we’ll do is sometimes we’ll take the kids out with us on the road. We’ll actually give them a job, you know what I mean? So they’re actually making money. We do work them. But, you know, it’s summer so they want to hang out with their friends and shit like that. They’ll come out for maybe about a week or two and then they’re like, done. “I want to go home, and I want my friends.” You know what I mean? You can’t blame them. I mean, they’re kids.

Maria: What's the craziest thing you've seen Ozzy do?

Zakk: Not too long ago, me and Ozzy were in Prague when we were doing a show. We played in front of about 60,000 people. We were headlining this festival. [After the show] me and Ozzy were just talking about some goofy shit. We were talking about John Bonham stories, because Ozzy was good buddies with him and everything like that. We were just laughing, like, you know, Zeppelin back in the day at the Riot House, throwing TVs out of fuckin’ windows, running motorcycles through the hallways right through the walls and shit like that. And we were just laughing about it. You know, obviously you’re going to pay for the damages, so, the only person you’re hurting is your wallet.

So, me and Oz are like, "oh yeah," and he goes, “You know, I’ve done some crazy shit, but I’ve never thrown a TV out of a fuckin’ window.” We’re in Prague at the time and I go, “Well, you know, Sharon and Barbaranne are going to have our fuckin’ balls tomorrow if we fuckin’ do this.” He goes, “Oh, fuck that. I’m paying for everything anyway. Let’s fuckin’ heave the fuckin’ TV out the fuckin’ window.” So, we’re so fuckin’ loaded, we’re about on the sixth floor, I go, “For the love of God, look out that fuckin’ window because the last thing we need to do is to fuckin’ kill some motherfucker when we launch this thing out the fuckin’ window.”

It’s about 3:30 in the morning right after we got done doing a show. So it’s like we end up heaving this fuckin’ TV out the fuckin’ window. When this thing hit the fuckin’ ground, the explosion that this thing made … all’s I remember is that me and Ozzy are on the floor fuckin’ crying laughing, and Oz goes, “Zakk, I’ve heard a lot of things in my life, but I’ll never forget the fuckin’ sound of that.”

All I remember is the next day, Oz got charged $34,000 because they couldn’t use the suite for 34 days because the window was broke, which was bullshit. They could have fixed that thing in about an hour. But the whole thing is, he got clipped for $1,000 a day, and I got clipped $10,000 for that fuckin’ TV. This TV must’ve fuckin’ cost them about $500. Yeah, I paid $10,000. I go, “This TV had better give a fuckin’ blowjob and a handjob and eat my ass.” I said, “$10,000 for a fuckin’ TV? This thing’s a fuckin’ piece of shit. You’ve got to be fuckin’ kidding me."

Put it this way, $10,000 for a TV, about $1000 in beer, $34,000 for the room, and the look on Ozzy’s face? Priceless. You can’t make this shit up.

Tom: Black Label Society is more than a band. It’s developed into a subculture, a lifestyle. How would you describe it?

Zakk: It’s just one gigantic family, man. That’s what Black Label’s all about. You know, the whole lifestyle is just that you’ve got to work your fuckin’ balls off, you thank the good Lord for everything you’ve got, you know, and you love the good Lord. That’s what Black Label’s all about.

Tom: Are there similarities with motorcycle culture?

Zakk: No. My father’s a World War II vet, D-Day, Omaha Beach. The brotherhood thing is all about the military. That’s what it’s all about. We raise millions of dollars for St. Jude Children’s Cancer Foundation and everything like that. No, it’s not a motorcycle club because otherwise, we’d have an MC on the back. It’s SDMF, which means strength, determination, merciless, forever. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, you know what I mean? So, that’s what it’s all about. The three piece patch, that just represents brotherhood and unity. And the military is the fuckin’ ultimate brotherhood.

Tom: I get that “don’t tread on me” feel from it.

Zakk: Yeah, without a doubt. It’s all about the military.

Tom: Who came up with the motto SDMF?

Zakk: Me. I’m the fuckin’ commander in chief when it comes to this shit.

Maria: What do you mean by merciless?

Zakk: That’s just fuckin’ relentless. There is no fucking quit.

Maria: So, more or less persistence?

Zakk: Nah. It’s just, you know, my love for the good Lord, it’s merciless. Fuckin’ relentless. Never fuckin’ quit.

Tom: What’s your idea of guitar culture? You can relate to other guitar players, other guitar players relate to you. You have something in common. But there’s also a lifestyle involved with guitar playing.

Zakk: Totally. I just thought of this the other day, the whole secret to life is? You just find what you love and you do it to death. That’s it. People looking for, searching for the secret of life, that’s it. That’s all there is. I mean, you’ve just got to find what you love and then do it to death. People ask me, “Man, what do you do when you go on vacation?” I go, “I am on vacation when I’m fuckin’ playing.” I don’t have any aspirations and go, “I can’t wait until I don’t have to do this shit no more so I can fuckin’ do something else.” I’m doing what I want to do. You know what I mean? It’s not like I go, “I can’t wait until I can go sailing around the world.” It’s like, no, I’m doing what the fuck I want to do. I’m playing fuckin’ music. I’m afforded the fuckin’ chance to do what I dream of when I wake up every day, I get the fuckin’ chance to play fuckin’ music.

Tom: How much do you practice?

Zakk: Every day I’m fuckin’ jamming. It doesn’t matter, it could be fuckin’ two hours, it could be fuckin’ six hours. You know what I mean? I’m always playing. Either that, or I’m writing. Or, when I wake up in the morning, if I’m not jamming we’re coming up with merch ideas … everything revolves around Black Label, and, you know, me taking care of Ozzy. When Ozzy needs me, it’s like, Zakk, I want to do another record or this and that, then we’ve got to whoop some ass. I’ve got to take care of Ozzy. My life revolves around my wife, my kids, Ozzy, the band and the boys, you know what I mean?

Tom: What does Barbaranne do? She’s involved with your career also, right?

Zakk: Well, my immortal beloved over there? No. Me and Barbara have known each other since sixth grade … no, Barb, aside of taking care of me and the kids, she has her own thing going on with merch stuff and everything like that right now. And then she’s getting ready to launch this whole thing, Wylde Child, designs for children and everything like that. But, she’s real instrumental in my career as well, you know what I mean?

Tom: Since your deal’s over with Roadrunner Records, what’s coming up in the future?

Zakk: When it comes down to the business and stuff, I couldn’t even care less because my whole thing is just concentrate on the music and the creative part of everything, whether it’s the merch, the shows, the fuckin’ production, songs, the writing, the artwork, all the stuff. When it comes to business, Barb will deal with that shit. I’ll come in, I know kind of what the fuck’s going on, but at the same time, you put me on any fuckin’ record company? I’m still going to whoop ass. Like, if I play fuckin’ sports, you can put me on any fuckin’ team, trade me, I’m still going to be that same motherfucker that’s going to go out there and whoop some ass every time I get out on the field.

Tom: Any idea when the next album will come out?

Zakk: Well, you know, this one hasn’t been out that long. We’re still going to be touring behind this one for a bit, because after we got done doing this tour [Ozzfest] with Ozzy we’re [BLS] doing four shows right now out in California, out on the West Coast. We’re going to knock these out and as soon as we get done with them I’ve got to go on Ozzy rehearsals, and then we [Ozzy Osbourne] go out with Rob Zombie throughout October, November, and December. The last show we wrap up is like December 22nd at Madison Square Garden in New York.

After that, we take a little bit of time off and then we’re talking about going to South America with Black Label and Ozzy and right after South America we go straight over to either Japan or Australia. Then we’ll come back to the States and figure out what the hell we’re going to do, whether Ozzy wants to take a break or whatever the hell he wants to do, you know what I mean? So pretty much for about the next 9 months I know what I’m doing - touring and touring and touring. After that, I’ll probably come home for a little bit and then obviously go back in the studio and we’ll start pumping out another record.

Tom: How’d you get involved with St. Jude’s?

Zakk: Well, we’ve always given money to them and everything like that. Then Barbaranne came up with the whole thing of maxing it out so we can give as much money as we can. So, we go down to the hospital now all the time. It’s the saddest thing in the world, but at the same time it’s the coolest thing because at least these kids have hope, you know what I’m saying?

Tom: Were the kids at St. Jude's familiar with your music?

Zakk: Well, yeah, put it this way, I’ve actually done a gig when we were down there. They set up a piano for me and I jammed on the guitar for them and we had a little PA and I did a show. We had the little kids coming up and jamming on the piano and the guitar and stuff like that. It was really cool, man.

Tom: How are your Gibson guitars doing?

Zakk: They’re doing great, man.

Tom: Which ones are you playing the most?

Zakk: They made me the Flying V, so I’ve been jamming on the V a lot. I designed this other one, it’s called a ZV, Zakk-V, it’s a combination of an SG meets a Flying V, which sounds slammin’. They did an awesome job with that, so they’re going to end up putting that one out as well. I’ve just been using, you know, same thing, my Les Pauls and then the Flying V.

Maria: How was this year’s Ozzfest?

Zakk: Every Ozzfest is like always different, but I mean, put it this way, I’ve been doing it so long now. Especially with a crew and everybody, it’s like one big family get-together. You know, this gigantic barbecue. And then a lot of the fans, you see them again when you go into certain areas, whether we’re in Texas or Jersey or Seattle. It’s like, “Hey, Zakk. What’s going on?” because you haven’t seen them for like a year, you know what I mean? It’s always cool. It’s just like a whole big, gigantic family environment, man. It’s always a good time.

Maria: I have one last question for you, Zakk.

Zakk: Okay. It’s not about my sex change operation, is it?

Maria: No, no.

Zakk: Oh, my God. Go ahead. What have you got?

Maria: What is your recipe for freedom?

Zakk: My recipe for freedom? Oh, let me see...my recipe for freedom...um...a case of beer and a blowjob from my wife.

Maria: Okay.

Zakk: If I could fit that in, that’s some severe freedom right there...

Tom: What started the sex change operation …

Zakk: ...yeah, without the kids knocking on the door.

Tom: What started the sex change operation story? The kilts you were wearing?

Zakk: Yes. Exactly.

Tom: What inspired you to wear a kilt?

Zakk: We were in Seattle at the time and I’d seen this store that’s called Utilikilts, and all they sell is kilts. So, we were joking about it and I walked in there and go, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Like the whole store, that’s all they sell is kilts. I couldn’t believe it. If you ask me to make a business investment and go, “Hey, Zakk, I’m going to give you a quarter million dollars and we’ll start a store,” and I go, “What is it? Are we opening a pit bar or what the hell do you want to open up?” And you go, “No, we’re going to sell kilts,” I'd go, “Are you out of your fuckin’ mind?” When we walked in there, they had nothin’ but kilts. People are walking around with sneakers on and shit like that, I couldn’t fuckin’ believe it. So, I said, “I’ve got to make a purchase. I’m going to get one for Hendrix.” He’s 5 years old and I let him go to school in his fuckin’ kilt. I bought them for, like, everybody in the fuckin’ band. It’s some funny-ass shit. When Ozzy saw me wearing it, he just goes, “You are fucking kidding, right?” I go, “Oh, no. This is the new look.”

Tom: What about your 14 year old? You going to let him go to school with one?

Zakk: Yeah. Why not? I’ve just got to make sure he’s not wearing any underwear under there.

Tom: Oh, boy.

Zakk: Feel the breeze.

Tom: Any of your kids playing guitar?

Zakk: Oh, no. None of the kids. I play video games with my son, Jesse John Michael. He’s into baseball right now and school. Eventually he wants to become a pediatrician, which is awesome. And he’s playing sports. My daughter, Rae-Rae, was taking piano lessons from Randy Rhoads’ mother, Dolores, but, now she’s got her social life going on with friends, boyfriend, all that shit. She still noodles on the piano. Hendrix, he’s only 5, so he’s doing what 5 year olds do. He just plays with his friends, skateboards, does all that crazy-ass shit, video games, all that stuff. But, no, none of them … as a parent, I’m not going to force them to play the fuckin’ guitar and play music just ‘cause I do it, you know what I mean?

Tom: Of course. Dolores still has the music store?

Zakk: Yeah. It’s the same one that Randy taught in, man. Musonia. Right there on Tiara [a street in North Hollywood, California]. It’s got the same room where Randy taught, the same little amp that he taught through and everything like that.

Tom: And Dolores still runs it?

Zakk: Oh, yeah. And she still teaches.

Tom: About how old is Dolores?

Zakk: She’s like 87 now, 87 years old and still teaches.

Tom: That’s amazing.

Zakk: Yeah, it’s amazing.

Tom: Zakk, with that, let's call it a wrap. Great talking to you.

Zakk: Take care of yourselves and God bless. I’ll talk to you guys in a bit.

Related Links
Official Zakk Wylde Website
Black Label Society
2005 Modern Guitars Interview with Zakk Wylde
Ozzy Osbourne and Rob Zombie Invade North America

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