ZAKK WYLDE: 'DIMEBAG Was My Partner In Six-String Crime'

Dave Wedge of the Boston Herald recently conducted a short interview with BLACK LABEL SOCIETY mainman Zakk Wylde. Read on:

Herald: What was your relationship like with "Dimebag?"

Wylde: "He was my partner in six-string crime. He was a beautiful guy. A BLACK LABEL guy. He was one of the most beautiful souls you'd ever meet. If you were having a crappy day, he'd come in and light the room up. Aside from being one of the greatest guitar players ever, he was an even better person."

Herald: What's been the reaction to the [Dimebag tribute] song ["In This River"]?

Wylde: "I have to sing it every night and it's hard not to break down."

Herald: You just pitched a pilot to MTV. What's it about?

Wylde: "It's like rock boot camp. Their parents don't want them to be in bands. They wanted me to go in and talk to them. I said, 'I can't do that, man.' I just went in there and got them drunk, what every friendly, neighborhood rock guy would do."

Herald: What's the longest you've ever gone without showering on tour?

Wylde: "Seventy-seven days without showering or brushing my teeth. I think the whole brushing your teeth every day thing is a fallacy. I don't have a cavity in my head. You just have bad breath. But so what. Then no one wants to talk to you. Good. Don't talk to me."

Herald: Why didn't you beat down that kid on MTV's "Battle for Ozzfest" who wore your roadies' leather vests?

Wylde: "They didn't even show what I said. I said, 'Dude, I'd never go in your parents' house and stick my feet up on the furniture. It's disrespectful. People don't like wiseasses. They get their asses handed to them. Are you going to go up to a Navy SEAL and put his uniform on? You know what it took to earn that uniform?'"

Herald: What makes a great riff and what are some of the best?

Wylde: "A lot of times the best riffs are the simplest ones. Something like 'Smoke on the Water' or 'Iron Man'. Look at with Dimebag. 'Walk' was just two notes. It's like, gotta be catchy and hooky. Less is more when it comes to great riffs. You're not talking about jazz fusion here. This is rock and roll."