‘The rock is ready’ for Wylde, band

By John Benson

If you believe everything Zakk Wylde says, apparently the Black Label Society singer-guitarist spent some time many years ago in the Youngstown area working as an adult entertainment actor.

“Yes, that’s when I first started doing porn,” quipped Wylde, calling from Montreal. “I started my career there. It makes perfect sense with Youngstown. I had no idea what I was doing, but I learned. My name was Mule Boy.”

While there’s a really good chance that Wylde is telling a bit of a white lie regarding his “Boogie Nights” past as Mule Boy, he does readily admit to having brought his heavy metal act Black Label Society through Youngstown in the past. He returns with Black Label Society’s appearance on the “The Pedal to the Metal Tour 2009” July 29 at Covelli Centre.

“Every time we come to Youngtown, we have a good time,” Wylde again quipped. In fact, laughing is something the 42-year-old does quite often in conversation; however, you have to respect the guy who as a teenager was pegged by Ozzy Osbourne to replace guitarist Jake E. Lee.

Looking like Rob Zombie’s younger brother, Wylde, who often talks with a thick and garbled New Jersey/New York City accent, has carved himself out quite a career with both Osbourne (Wylde affectionately calls him “Dad” and “Pops”) and Black Label Society. Basically over the past three years he’s been touring with both acts. Most recently he’s been working with “Mr. Tinkertrain” on his next studio effort.

“First of all, Dad has to put vocals on the thing,” Wylde said. “So he’s gotta deal with that. The way we’ve always made the records is, my thing is the music department and then Dad can do whatever he wants when he sings. That’s the way it’s always been. So it’s like he’s got to knock that out, and the tour isn’t starting until June next year.

“So I was like, all right, we’ll start pumping out another Black Label Society album. It’s game on. Unlike these other bands, I don’t sit around for five years in between records. I just don’t do that.”

To be fair, it’s been three years since the last Black Label Society studio effort “Shot To Hell.” While a concert DVD “Skullage” came out earlier this year, Wylde said a new project is on his mind. And when it comes time to write a new CD, Wylde doesn’t make it sound like a convoluted affair.

“As soon as we get into the studio, you start knocking out,” Wylde said.

“I don’t sit around planning what’s going to happen. It’s like a box of crackerjacks. It’s like as soon as we get in there, the songs sound great, the drums sound great, and once you get bored on the heavy stuff, you sit down on the piano and write a song or break out the acoustics. And then it’s like, ‘Cool, let’s get back to the heavy stuff.’ You just can’t help but get inspired when you’re in the studio. That’s what it’s all about.

“We don’t do any rehearsals. I just go, ‘Dude, here’s a song. Boom-bam, here’s a cool riff.’ And there ya go. We have a song. And then I’ll say, ‘Go watch “Seinfeld” for a half an hour and I’ll come up with some lyrics.’”

When asked what to expect at the inaugural “The Pedal to the Metal Tour 2009,” Wylde keeps the “Seinfeld” references coming, along with a little dose of “Spinal Tap”-hi-jinx for good measure.

“It’s a family gathering,” Wylde said. “It’s a festivus miracle with the Youngstown chapter of the Black Label Society. We’re going to bring the sex-itude, we’re going to bring the rock. We’ve been caressing the rock, and the rock is ready.”