Guitar legend ZAKK WYLDE (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, ex-OZZY OSBOURNE) recently spoke with ArtistDirect.com, discussing the music industry, his book Bringing Metal To The Children", BandFuse and more. An excerpt is available below:

AD: Bringing Metal To The Children definitely captures your personality.

Zakk: "Thanks a lot brother! When Eric Hendrikx and I were doing it, I went, 'We have to include in one chapter Definitely Things Not To Attempt!' (Laughs) Uncle Zakk tried them, and they don't work. It doesn't exist. It's hysterical. One of my buddies right now is trying to get a band signed. The perception and what reality is aren't even close. They're miles apart. I look back at when I was 17- or 18-years-old and we were actually sending out stuff to record companies and getting all excited because it's a magical time. You look back on it though and go, "What in the fuck were we thinking man?" (laughs). Your perception of what things really are is ridiculous. It's as ridiculous as the shit you got upset about in high school like when Julie Anderson broke up with you. You're like, 'Dude, come on!' Nowadays, you'll go, 'Alright, see you later! I'm going to Hooters you dumb fucking moron!' (laughs). You look at what was important to you back then, and it's mind-blowing."

AD: Did writing this stir up a lot of memories or was it more about giving something back so to speak?

Zakk: "I'd always be sitting around with Eric or any of my friends talking. It's like you and I talking about how ridiculous the music business is and how goofy it is, your perception of it, and reality. What was I thinking? Some guy says he's going to sign us. Then, he's going to blackball us, and we'll never work again. You go, 'Fuck off, man!' Trust me, if the band means money, nobody's blackballing anybody (laughs). It's like, 'Dude, this guy's going to put a new wing on my Malibu mansion. Hire this band!' Nobody cares. We'd be sitting around talking like, 'We've got to write a book someday.' It's not an autobiography so much as it is about the pathetic goofy bullshit the music industry is.

AD: You're selling something intangible.

Zakk: "Totally! It's not like we have a restaurant or anything like that. I completely agree. Sitting around with Ozzy Osbourne, I heard the horror stories. It was the same back then. As long as they had booze, weed, blow, and hot chicks, they were like, 'Dude, we made it!' In the meantime, you and I are managing them. If he wants a Rolls Royce, we sign it and put it in our name (laughs). You want a house? No problem! Of course they had enough money! They were doing Madison Square Garden. You and I get a realtor find houses, Tony, Ozzy, Geezer, and Bill want, and we get them houses, but they're under our names. These dumb fucking morons don't know anything (laughs). Ozzy says, 'There was no ass left to be raped!' It was gone. It was vaporized. Everybody conceiving Motown deal that could be possibly done was done to BLACK SABBATH!"

Go to this location for the complete inteview.

Originally published as a hardcover book last past April by William Morrow, Zakk Wylde's Bringing Metal To The Children – The Complete Berzerker’s Guide To World Tour Domination, will be issued as a paperback on April 9th. In support of the release, Zakk will embark on a series of West Coast acoustic performances/book readings/Q&A; session, launching April 21st in San Francisco, through May 1st in San Juan Capistrano, California.

Dates include:

April

21 - San Francisco, CA - Independent
22 - Chico, CA - El Rey Theater
24 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
25 - Reno, NV - El Dorado
26 - Modesto, CA - Fat Cat
27 - Las Vegas, NV - Hard Rock Hotel
28 - Scottsdale, AZ - Pub Rock
30 - San Diego, CA - Belly Up

May

1 - San Juan Capistrano, CA - Coach House

Check out a Bringing Metal To The Children teaser clip below:

Speaking to BraveWords.com, Zakk described his book as “the sacred parchment of stupidity.” To read BW&BK; scribe Aaron Small's review of Bringing Metal To The Children, click here.