ZAKK WYLDE Says Everything He Does Is A Tribute To DIMEBAG

FMQB.com recently conducted an interview with Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY). A few excerpts from the chat follow:

FMQB.com: Did you try anything different for "Shot To Hell" [the new BLACK LABEL SOCIETY album] that you haven't done in the past?

Zakk: I always look forward to getting into the studio, whether it's with OZZY or BLACK LABEL. When you look at LED ZEPPELIN or BLACK SABBATH, it's like, "What's your favorite record of those bands?" And it's all of them — I love all of their records. They're all great, it just depends on what mood you're in. So the bottom line when I'm writing is there is no formula. It just comes down to — the riff has to be cool. Or if I'm sitting behind the piano, if something sounds cool, you just know. I'll just say, "Let's record this one and that one." It's like a crackerjack thing — you never know what's at the bottom of the box. We don't know what prize we're going to get. That's why I look forward to it — you never know what's going to happen once we get in the studio. That's the beauty and the fun of it. You just keep writing and writing, and you know when you get something special. I mean, ZEPPELIN had to know when they wrote "Stairway To Heaven". Or when SOUNDGARDEN wrote "Black Hole Sun", they had to know it was great. I don't care if you don't like that kind of music, nobody can deny the greatness of that song.

FMQB.com: Did you write anything as a tribute to Dimebag Darrell, as you did on the last record with "In This River"?

Zakk: No, but everything is always a tribute to him. Even on his mass card, it said "Keep on keepin' on." No matter what, you gotta roll. So every day that we get up on stage, we have to whoop some ass. That's the whole thing with Dimebag — you gotta keep kickin' ass. That's what he always did. But as far as songs go, "In This River" will always be his song, so that will never leave our live set. There's no song specifically on this new record about him, because "In This River" pretty much says it all.

FMQB.com: You recently wrote some music for ESPN too.

Zakk: Yeah, they'll call me up and say they need some music for the X-Games or something, like a heavy riff for background music. Or for example, let's say someone passed away, I'll get behind a piano and do some really mellow, melancholy stuff. I love doing it and I' m a big sports fan too, so it's cool. It's just background music, but I love doing anything with music.

FMQB.com: What is the status of the next Ozzy album?

Zakk: As soon as Ozzfest is done we're taking five weeks to finish the record. We already have like 20 songs, but Ozzy has to start singing his ass off on the stuff. So we'll have five weeks before I start the BLACK LABEL tour for "Shot To Hell", so we'll get in the studio and finish the record. Ozzy has to start fleshing out the vocal melodies.

FMQB.com: Wasn't there talk of you having a television show?

Zakk: There was talk of us doing something like "The Osbournes" — maybe called "The Wylde Bunch" or something like that — but I don't want to do that. It was awesome when Ozzy did it, but even he was like, "I'm done with it." Once that thing ended, Ozzy was like, "Thank God I don't have to do this shit anymore." I remember before it even happened, Ozzy said, "Sharon's got me doing this thing now. All they're going to do is follow me around with a camera." And I said, "Ozzy, Sharon's just looking out for you. She loves you to death. She always wants you to succeed." And he said, "But Zakk, it's so f--ing stupid. Who the f--k is gonna watch this thing? Who wants to watch me just walking around? Zakk, I'll bet you right now, nobody is going to watch this thing." He really thought there would be three episodes and that would be it. And the next thing you know, he's locked in for like four years doing the f--ing thing! He was like, "When is this shit going to end?"

Read the entire interview at FMQB.com.