BLACK LABEL SOCIETY mainman Zakk Wylde (ex-OZZY OSBOURNE) spoke with Joe Golfen from Azcentral.com recently about a number of topics. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Q: You've had a reputation as a big drinker for a long time, and you've said in interviews that you used to drink beer even when lifting weights. Did giving up drinking change performing or recording for you at all?

A: "Well, people ask me that a lot and I always say, 'Dude, I wasn't wasted when I was making the records.' I know there are bands out there that'll say they were so wasted they don't even remember making their albums, but I never got that hammered. If we were drinking, it was usually at the end of the night listening to the playbacks. We would sometimes be drinking throughout the day while we were tracking or recording, so maybe there was a little beer buzz going on, but there's a big difference between having a beer glow and being so blitzed that you can't even stand up.

So for me, not drinking hasn't been a big deal. I never wrote songs completely wasted anyway, so nothing's changed. I still go to Irish pubs and sports bars with the guys, but I'll just hang out and watch the game. It's no problem."

Q: Ozzy Osbourne decided to bring in a new guitarist (FIREWIND's Gus G.) for his latest album (Scream), after working with you for more than 20 years. Did that affect the way you approached the new Black Label Society album?

A: "Yeah, I didn't work on the new Ozzy record at all, but we're still on great terms. We did the Ozzfest recently, and I just talked to Ozzy a couple of weeks ago, so everything's great. But no, it didn't change much about the new album. With Ozzy, I was just the music department. I never wrote lyrics or worked on mixes or anything. Black Label has always been a separate thing that I did on my own, and that remains the same."

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