Page 22 - RockRevoltMagazine-Fall2016

“ I gave you the last word
And that’s the last thing you’ll take from me

Last thing you'll take from me You’ve been quite the road dog as of late with various tours. Earlier in the
Last thing you'll take from me year you did the Experience Hendrix tour, you just got back from Europe
with Black Label, now you’re jumping into the “Book of Shadows” run.
What does each tour experience offer for you – how is each one of these
things different? Is it fun to change things up like this as far as touring?

Yeah we just did the Generation Axe thing as well. The Experience Hendrix
thing, I’ve done that for several years now, so it’s like going to summer camp
to see all your friends. The Generation Axe thing, we’re talking about going
to Asia right now as well. After the “Book of Shadows” tour, we’re going out
with Clutch in Zak Sabbath, and after that, I may start working on the next
Black Label record. I love working. Every day if me and you owned the New
York Yankees, we’d be dealing with the team – even if it weren’t baseball
related. We’d be meeting about the stadium and meeting with different
people, and trying to make the parking lot better and things like that. To
me, there’s always something going on. I tell kids all the time starting out:
“Make the band your job and be all-in.” If me and you owned a restaurant,
it’d be all-in. The fact that you can make a living doing this, you have to be
all-in. Don’t’ do this part-time bullshit, because that’s what it’s going to end
up being.

I guess that feeds into your work with things like Wylde Audio as well…
I’m completely hands-on with all of that; the way the necks are, the way
the frets are, down to the woods we choose on the body. Why wouldn’t you
and me be involved with everything making sure everything’s coming out
slamming?

How did you come up with these designs for the Wylde Guitars? They’re
pretty unique – I’m partial to the Warhammer model.

Well, we all love guitars, you know? I have a lot of books on guitars, and I
always thought about, “What if we put some of this one on that one, and mix
up the design.” I’ve got these big block inlays; I dig what Django Reinhardt
had. One of his guitars had that big block – you could see it a mile away and
it was really cool. It had the binding on the fretboard, and stuff like that. I
tweak all the designs; like I take a Flying V and say, “How can we make this
one different than a Flying V?” We’ll take traditional designs and morph it
and twist it. It’s seeing something you really like, and incorporating it into
something you dig.

Your “Valhalla Java” coffee line is doing well, too. I love the Instagram
videos you’ve done where you’ll do something outrageous while drinking
the coffee.

Well, you know, I traded the brew for the coffee now. So, it’s like every year
the guys give me a trophy to say, “Congratulations, you’re a bigger asshole
than you were last year.” (laughs)

I can’t let you go without asking your thoughts on Ozzy and Sabbath
hanging it up in 2017. I mean, obviously, they’ve got nothing left to prove
at this point.

Well, if you’re going to make an analogy, you can’t go out any better than
John Elway or Peyton Manning. You win the Super Bowl and then you just
fade into the sunset – “I did it!” (laughs) I mean, a number one record,
touring the last couple of years to sold out stadiums – you really couldn’t
script it any better. For them to go out on top, with one last go-around, they
are at the Super Bowl and they actually win it. 