Wylde
and his younger sister Amy, a classical musician, grew up in New Jersey,
and from an early age Zakk's only ambition was to accomplish his dream
of becoming a rock guitarist.
"I f**kin hated school. All I ever wanted to do was play guitar."
After taking guitar lessons for a couple of years to learn the rudiments,
Wylde went on to explore the parameters by experimenting and creating
his very own unique style of playing, a sound which is synonymous on
his work with Ozzy Osbourne.
"Every album I've done, I've had a fuckin' blast. I'm pretty easy
to get along with," laughs Wylde.
Mention his ill-fated meeting with Mr. Ozzy Osbourne and he will spin
you a line.
"I used to be his drug dealer!" he quips. "No, I just
auditioned. This guy Dave saw me playing in a club out in Jersey. He
was buddies with Mark Weiss, Ozzy's photographer at that time
y'know he did Circus magazine, Cream and all that shit."
According
to Zakk, photographs were taken and sent to Mark Weiss, who then forwarded
them to Sharon Osbourne who was suitably impressed and picked up the
phone to call Zakk's folks' home.
Zakk explains; "The next thing I knew they were flying me out to
LA. I shit my pants and got the gig".
The rest is history so to speak. The Osbourne/Wylde liaison has produced
some very fine heavy metal albums over the years including the track
'No More Tears' which Wylde has reworked for his current Black Label
Society album.
"It's part of the legacy from me playing with Qzzy
I just
wanted to do a Black Label version of it".
The Black Label Society album is live and was recorded whilst on tour
across America. The tour was not without its hiccups as Zakk remembers.
"The tapes cut out on one of the Atlanta shows
but I'm happy
with the record. It's a live album and nobody can accuse us of doctoring
the fuckin' album. We didn't add any crowd noise or go in and fix all
the mistakes. If you want the perfect version listen to the studio version."
Wylde
is currently recording a new album with his old friend and cohort Ozzy.
"We've been working over at AM studios in LA. I want this album
to be as heavy as fuck and piss all over 'No More Tears'!"
There
is usually a particular formula that most musicians follow when writing
new material. Zakk agrees.
"For the heavy stuff if you start with a cool riff everything else
falls into place. I sing about stuff that I see going on around me or
shit that's happened to me. It's pretty much reality based. Y'know,
if you are pissed off you can't go round beating people up - you just
write a fucking song about it. The first thing I do is either sit down
at the piano or get my guitar and jam".
To get a balance of musical influences Wylde regularly tunes into the
top 40 charts. But there is a valid reason behind this, as he explains.
"I listen to it so I'm not listening to other fucking super heavy
bands. I don't want to listen to bands in the same genre incase I pick
up something subliminal
and steal their fucking riffs
though
when I'm lifting weights I'll put on Pantera or Ministry."
No
one could ever accuse Wylde of sitting on his laurels. This guy has
a finger in every pie; he's even tried his hand at acting as a British
beer guzzling guitar hero in the movie Metal God which also stars Mark
Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston. The film was loosely based on the life
of Judas Priest's Ripper Owens. Wylde also created the soundtrack album.
"It was a great experience for me as Mark Wahlberg is a cool guy.
Jennfer Aniston is really cool too. I had a great time; it was fun!"
Zakk Wylde is a busy man but that's the way he likes it. He even has
plans to market his own brand of beer.
"I'll definitely make more fucking money brewing beer than I will
from the music industry - more supply and demand, y'know what I'm saying?
But I haven't got time to take a shit or a shave right now so
"
Too true. After a 14-week tour with Ozzfest, Zakk plans to return to
the studio with Ozzy to continue recording the long awaited new album,
and then afterwards to complete a new Black Label Society album. So
the immediate future is pretty much sewn up for the heavy metal axe
wielder. Life is manic at times but Wylde has a philosophy, which carries
him through.
"Find what you love doing
and fucking do it to death!"
Visit www.zakkwylde.com for more info.
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