Simon Milburn at The Metal Forge recently caught up with BLACK LABEL SOCIETY / OZZY OSBOURNE guitarist Zakk Wylde. Following is an excerpt from the story:

At 19 years of age, who really knows where they will be in a few years time, five years time, ten or even twenty years time. When unknown shredder Zakk Wylde was chosen to replace Jake E. Lee in Ozzy Osbourne’s band in 1987, this beer drinkin’, hell raisin’, fret blazin’ teenager had no idea of where his new job would take him. His first outing alongside the Prince Of Darkness would be 1988’s No Rest For The Wicked, and soon enough as Osbourne churned out 1991’s No More Tears and 1995’s Ozzmosis, Wylde’s presence and stature grew accordingly. Zakk Wylde branched with Pride & Glory, a solo record (1996’s Book Of Shadows) and eventually his own Black Label Society, and all along the way, his commitment as Osbourne’s right hand man never faltered.

After six years, Ozzy fans were rewarded were 2007’s Black Rain and although Osbourne (who will be 60 this year) is looking to slow some aspects of his career down, the group (which alongside Osbourne and Wylde, consists of bassist Rob ‘Blasko’ Nicholson (formerly of Rob Zombie’s band) and ex-Faith No More drummer Mike ‘Puffy’ Bordin) are finally returning to destroy Australian audiences with their evil, aural assault. Enjoying some time at home in California (U.S.A.), guitarist Zakk Wylde is “just chillin’, liftin’ weights, practicing; life as usual” as he so succinctly puts it. I caught up with Wylde to talk about Ozzy’s return to Australia, the writing process for an Ozzy album, Wylde’s goals as a songwriter and guitarist, and just how unreal it is to think that the once unknown 19 year old has shared the stage with one of metal’s all time legends for over twenty years.

“It’s nuts man! We were just laughin’ the other day, I was 19, I’m 41 now. It might not be (unreal) at 41, but it is in dog years. So that makes me about 523 years old right now,” jokes the guitarist.

As daunting as a new job could ever be to someone so young, Wylde took it all in his stride with a strong focus, particularly when it came to expectations he had of his new job.

“I’m gonna get good and fuckin’ smashed drunk. That was about it. No, y’know, just try and do the best job I could and try and hang with Randy (Castillo, former Ozzy Osbourne drummer who died in 2002), and the guys, y’know? That was about it. Just do the best job I could, because they were some pretty big shoes man. That was about it. Just work my ass off, just try kick some friggin’ ass and that’s about it man. Just drink some beers and be cool, man.”

There’s no doubt that the vacant position of Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist was going to be a huge gig for whoever was chosen to fill it. They would not only be taking the place of Jake E. Lee, but they were also stepping into the position held by the legendary Randy Rhoads.

“With Randy and Jake, coming after Tony (Iommi, Black Sabbath guitarist), you can’t fill somebody’s shoes. You just gotta come down and kick the door down with your own shoes. So I just took the lead after that, y’know what I mean? You just give it your best shot and that’s about it, man.”

Over the course of the next two decades, Wylde’s profile as a guitarist would sky rocket from the humble beginnings of an unknown 19 year old to today which sees him feature regularly in just about every guitar magazine that budding guitarists read. But it’s a position that Wylde never gave much thought to.

“Um, no. I don’t think you ever think about that. You just play for the pure love of playing, and you can always get better. I don’t care what you do, you can always get better. I doesn’t matter whether it’s technique or song writing or whatever, I mean look at The Beatles! They could have stopped after ‘She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah,’ (referencing The Beatles single She Loves You from 1963)” sings the frontman of Zakk Wylde’s Black Label Society. “I mean that was massive! There was a whole bunch of stuff going on. Then they started moving along, and then they hit Sgt. Pepper’s (Lonely Hearts Club Band, released in 1967), and it was like ‘Oh my God! What the hell is this?’ You look back to the first couple of early Beatles records – Help and stuff like that, if they would have ended then, they still would have been a legendary band. Then all of a sudden, they released Sgt. Pepper’s and that topped everything, then Let It Be, and that was an amazing record too.”

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