ZAKK WYLDE's Advice To Young Musicians: 'Play What You Love' And 'Go All In'

In a new interview with Ronni Hunter of the 99.7 The Blitz radio station, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY frontman Zakk Wylde spoke about what it takes to grind it out in the music industry. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Somebody's, like, 'Do you have any advice for my son or my daughter, 'cause they're aspiring musicians?' I go, yeah, play what you love. Go all in. The whole thing is, treat your band… Be like Jimmy Page. LED ZEPPELIN is his entire existence and his entire life. He dedicated his life to it. Like the priesthood — you dedicate your life to it. And Jimmy Page did it. So the whole thing is, 'why would you wanna put your eggs in another basket? You can't put all your eggs in one [basket].' No — definitely put all your eggs in one basket. That's how you live your life — all in. Why would you wanna live any other way? You could either be miserable or be happy. You choose your reality."

Zakk continued: "You gotta play what you love. Look at AC/DC. It doesn't matter what comes in, what comes out. The weather changes. It doesn't matter. They just make the best AC/DC records you can make. That's it. And it's almost kind of, like, 'What, are you guys living under a rock?' It's, like, 'Yeah.' It doesn't matter what else is going on in the world — just do what you do."

Wylde previously talked about the challenges facing younger musicians during a July 2022 interview with Consequence's "Two For The Road" series. He said at the time: "People go, 'Oh, Zakk, you got any advice to give my son or my daughter or whatever about being a musician?' And I'm, like, either get in a van and start building your mom-and-pop shop now, and build your BLACK LABEL, build your SOUNDGARDEN, build your LED ZEPPELIN, build your [BLACK] SABBATH, build your FLEETWOOD MAC — whatever it is you love.

"I was talking the other day. I was doing an interview and I go, 'Things are different now.' But I go, 'You cannot stop driven people,'" he continued. "What I'm saying is if Arnold Schwarzenegger never became Arnold Schwarzenegger, the body builder, Mr. Olympia, and all that stuff, and then became a movie star and did all the action movies, if that never happened, if he owned a donut coffee shop in Austria, it would be the most popular donut coffee shop. He would be successful and have nice things. What I'm saying is he would go, 'I refuse to be miserable.' … Jimmy Page looked at success… 'Cause he's the same age as THE [ROLLING] STONES and THE BEATLES. He was like a bird in a cage watching them flying around outside, looking and going, 'I definitely want… I can taste that from here. And I'm gonna have that.' And then he had to wait his turn. 'Cause they made it in '62, and he just bid his time until he got the right guys around him and then it was time for him to do it… After THE YARDBIRDS, he was, like, 'All right. What am I gonna go? 'Cause I want some of that. And I'm gonna figure it out. I'm in the middle of the ocean right now. I can't see land anywhere and I don't have a compass, but I will find land.' There was no quitting him. He was gonna figure out how to make this… 'I'm gonna will this thing to become successful.'"

Regarding how the music business has changed over the last few decades, Wylde said: "Yeah, it's definitely changed, and it always is evolving. From when Ozzy [Osbourne] started, from watching Elvis [Presley] to THE BEATLES to when SABBATH [was around] to when he had to start with Randy [Rhoads] again to where it's at now.

"When BON JOVI was the biggest thing on the planet when 'Slippery When Wet' hit, and being from [New] Jersey, if you didn't make it by the time you were 30 years old and had a record deal, the dream was over, bro. It really was," he said. "You might as well get a real job — as in something you're miserable [doing] and can't stand. It's over; the dream's over. But nowadays, you can literally put our… We can put our stuff up on YouTube and start our own mom-and-pop shop and start building the empire — each day put another brick on and another brick and another brick and another brick and just keep building it. Which I think is great for all bands, especially the younger bands or anybody that… if you're not getting signed."

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's latest album, "Engines Of Demolition", was released on March 27 via MNRK Heavy. The follow-up to 2021's "Doom Crew Inc." contains 15 tracks, including the four singles — "Name In Blood", "Broken And Blind", "The Gallows" and "Lord Humungus" — as well as a tune titled "Ozzy's Song", which is a tribute to the BLACK LABEL SOCIETY guitarist/vocalist's longtime bandmate, the iconic BLACK SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne.