ZAKK WYLDE - "I Was Having Fun With The Drinking, And Then The Drinking Started Having Fun With Me"
November 22, 2010, 13 years ago
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY frontman / founder Zakk Wylde is featured in a new interview with metal Israel. An excerpt from the interview is below.
Q: What do you live for – I mean, I read that you quit drinking because the doctor said you wouldn’t live to hit 50 if you didn’t… so what makes you want to live?
Wylde: "Yeah, well it’s not only that. The drinking… the bottom line is like the doctor told me to quit, and you know, it’s just like it used to be the point where I was having fun with the drinking, and then the drinking started having fun with me. So I was just kind of like, 'You know what, man, it’s time to say goodbye.' You know what I mean? So it’s just like an old friend or anything like that. Of course, I’m going to miss it, because it’s just like you know I went to one of these AA meetings and it’s just nothing but depression and I go, 'Guys, I gotta be honest with you, I’m sorry. I can’t tell you any bad stories! The only stories I have of boozin’ with my buddies and us hanging out is good times. I never lost everything and I’m not in the same place where you guys are at. I never woke up everyday going I feel sick and tired, I’m feeling sad. I’m sorry.' That’s just pussy ass candy ass shit. I never felt that way. I just wake up kinda still buzzed from the night before from us having a great time, and I’d just crack a couple of more beers and I’d feel human again. And then just get on with the rest of the day. Go get something to eat, go hit the gym, what time are we going on stage? I never was like, I never had any problem. We still answered the bell like all the time. I never missed a show – the whole nine yards. So, I don’t know. But then again, I never did drugs or all that other stuff, so… it’s just like anybody, it just got old, and that’s that."
Q: So do you have a plan for what you’re doing with Black Label or is it just like, off-the-cuff creatively?
Wylde: "No. Well, the whole thing is that Black Label is bigger than a band. It’s a mentality and it’s just, you know, one gigantic family. Like I said, we don’t have fans, it’s a family. We’re one of those bands, the whole mentality is kinda like how the GRATEFUL DEAD is, you got all the Deadheads, and it’s just like we all roll together, y’know what I’m saying? It’s just its own universe, you know what I mean? It’s pretty much the same thing with Black Label."
Go to this location for the complete interview.
Robert Gray at Ultimate-Guitar.com recently spoke with Wylde about the band's new song, 'Overlord', and the Bruce Lee-inspired video. An excerpt from the story is available below:
Eric Zimmerman and Nik Jamgocyan of Master Cylinder directed the music video for 'Overlord', having previously worked with Black Label Society on the music videos for 'Fire It Up' (from March 2005's Mafia) and 'Blood Is Thicker Than Water' (from September 2006's 'Shot To Hell'), not to mention the August 2006 DVD release The European Invasion – Doom Troopin' Live.
"Nik and Eric are super-talented guys, and they're my buddies" Wylde beams. "They're Black Label brothers, so I love working with them. We're talking about doing movies together as well, writing scripts and stuff like that. It could be anything from doing goofy, funny Mel Brooks type send-ups like 'Blazing Saddles' (1974) to 'Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels' (1998) and films like that. Not only would I be doing soundtrack work, but I'd just be involved with the whole thing."Click here for the complete article.