Vancouver Chapter Presents:
Bassist John 'JD' Deservio
By Nathan Stafford
Black Label Society has kicked out a decade’s worth of the raunchiest, raddest riff rock known to mankind. At the group’s core is front man and longtime Ozzy Osbourne guitarist & co-writer Zakk Wylde. Zakk’s penchant for the heavy, headbanging, hallucinogenic hard rock has led him to recruit some of the tightest musicians on the planet to round out the band’s sound.
The current lineup consists of:
Zakk Wylde (Lead Guitar, Vocals)
Nick Catanese (Rhythm Guitar)
Craig Nunenmacher (Drums)
John Deservio (Bass Guitar)
I recently caught up with John “JD” Deservio. John has played an integral role in the group, starting with the 1st album ‘Sonic Brew’ to touring, promotional appearances, and of course, this interview!
When he’s not busy touring the world with Black Label Society or one of his side projects, John is always eager to give back to the fans. He recently toured Western Canada as part of a speaker series to promote Hartke Amps. One of his stops included Kelowna, BC.
On the solo tour:
“I just did a little clinic out there. It was awesome! It went really great. We have the best fans all over the world. They come out and support, and it’s really fun for me to do the clinic thing, because I really get to play the way I can and educate the kids about all kinds of other music and the gear I use.”
How does JD spend his downtime here in BC?
“I had a couple beasters (laughs). Yeah, the BC Bud rules. But I never have any time to do much of anything. I’m always in & out, y’know? I’ve been to Vancouver a few times, and I really enjoyed that city. I love it! Very European, but it’s so beautiful on the water and the mountains and everything.”
JD on the underground metal scene, in Vancouver and beyond:
“It’s a bit seedy, but the best places in the world are a little bit seedy. I didn’t run into any problems, and usually people don’t fuck with us. They think we’re gonna robTHEM! (laughs)… We just look like we’re mean. Coming from New Jersey or the New York area, you gotta have some toughness, or you’ll get eaten alive, son!”
Black Label Society hit the road this fall for a lengthy tour through Europe, sharing stages with some cool Euro bands along the way.
“We’re headlining a bunch of festivals. We headlined one festival a month back and TNT was there… We were in Norway and we actually played a show with them. Really nice guys. Ronni Lé Tekrø is a great guitarist.”
Any rock & roll casualties along the way?
“Fortunately nobody has really been trampled or hurt at our shows. But I know there was a problem in England with some punk-ass biker club that caused one of the Black Label shows to get cancelled, because they were actually beating up the fans who had black label shit on. Pretty stupid. It’s a band, it’s all about being cool and brotherhood, and here these fuckin punk asses are beating up on kids. That’s bullshit. I think that was in Manchester.”
A message to the masses:
“It’s all about love and being cool to each other. That’s what the whole thing (this band) represents, like a brotherhood. We aren’t bikers, we’re musicians, and we’re just trying to do good to everybody… Like Marvin Gaye said, “Only love can conquer hate, man.”
Speaking of spreading the love - Any special gifts from fans around the world?
“In Japan, I’ve received many gifts, like Godzillas and shit, because I love Godzilla. In Europe, I’ve gotten some cool flags and stuff that the fans have made and thrown up on the stage. I got one from Ireland. I got one from Canada, actually, that I brought with me on my clinic tour… Yeah, we get stuff from all over the place.”
Black Label Society recently toured South America and Mexico. How’d that go?
“That was amazing. We did 3 weeks with Korn and Ozzie. That was a few months back. We were in South America and Mexico, and the fans were great. They love metal down there. It was really, really cool. It was great to play with Korn. My buddy plays drums with Korn now, Ray Luzier. He’s an amazing drummer, so it was really nice to be on tour with a good buddy of mine, that I didn’t expect. And opening up for Ozzie is always awesome.”
Did the fans in the Mexico Chapter know the words to your songs?
“They were yelling some Spanish shit at me. (laughs) I didn’t know what they were saying.”
So what’s up with the Chapters anyway – how do I join one?
“It’s like being part of a fan club. Where ever you are, let’s say if you live in New Jersey, and you come out to the Black Label show, well that’s the New Jersey chapter. If you’re in Idaho, you come out, that’s the Idaho chapter. Fans are all part of it. People ask me all the time, “How do I join the Chapter? Well dude, you’re already in it, because you’re a fan and that’s it is. We say, if you’re from Jersey, you’re in the Jersey Chapter, y’know?”
Rumour has it, the band will be featured in the new Guitar Hero.
“Yes, the new one is coming out, I think Zakk is on the cover and everything, and we recorded some music for it a little while back, so I was pretty psyched about that, and I’m actually trying to get my new band on a track, that would be insane.”
“I have a side project that I’m doing, it’s called Cycle of Pain and my record comes out in March. I’m hoping we can get on Guitar Hero ‘cause that’s just such great exposure.”
Now that you mention it, John’s new band Cycle of Pain has been gaining ground and recently had their song ‘5’ featured in the TV show Sons of Anarchy.
“I was really psyched. My whole family was calling up, the phone was blowing up and stuff. It’s really cool. It’s exciting.”
How did that deal come about?
“My record company pimps out my music to networks… They sent out a couple of my songs to Fox, ESPN and the like, and they all called back right away and said they loved it, so I’m gonna get more stuff on television, which is another great avenue. The record company is responsible for that.”
Speaking of side projects, didn’t JD play with members of David Lee Roth’s band? Is there an album floating around out there?
“That’s like a completely different style of music from Black Label. More like Prog-rock/fusion-jazz. We get along great and I actually went over to Japan with Ray (Luzier) and we played. Me Ray and Toshi, who lives over in Japan played together. He brought us over there as part of the Toshi Hiketa World Project. We’d go to music colleges and teach. We did a couple gigs, played the instrumental stuff. The Hideous Sun Demons is the name of the band. I never got to record the record with them because we started jammin’ and we wrote a whole record of stuff that was insane, but then I went out (on tour) with Black Label and Ray went out with Army of Anyone at that point and we never got to record our record, but we WILL eventually. We’re gonna record another Sun Demons record!”
Has ‘Diamond Dave’ heard any of the Sun Demons’ tunes?
“I’m sure he has, man. Yep. He loves all kinds of music. He’s a good dude.”
Here’s an odd collaboration. I heard that professional baseball player and metal fan Mike Piazza actually growled on one of Black Label Society’s records. Is that true?
“He did. He growled on Stronger than Death… I remember I was in Jersey at the time and Zakk called me. He’s like ‘Mike’s here” and we’re talking on the phone and Mike was all excited, he says “Dude, I just sang on the record!”
Rumour verified. How about the great Nate Watts?
“Nate, he’s the most beautiful guy in the world. He’s been Stevie Wonder’s MD since like 1973 or something. In my book, he’s sittin’ at the right hand of the father. What a beautiful, beautiful guy. The life he’s lived, the experiences are just insane. And for me to actually be able to call Nate my friend is insane for me. I love all kinds of stuff. I love funk music and gospel and soul and for me to be able to call Nate Watts one of my friends is amazing.”
“We did a thing together, it’s called Tales from the Bottom. It’ll be on the Hartke site, and you’ll see me & Nate sittin’ there talking about James Jamerson. It’s pretty interesting. Tales From The Bottom! (laughs) We had fun with that one.”
JD on the fuzzier side of Nate Watts.
“Nate’s like a 300-pound Teddy Bear, so I feel safe wherever I go with Nate y’know?”
Now JD, hit us with some other collaborators. Let the name-dropping begin!
"On my record, yeah Zakk played on it, and I got Hugo (Ferreira)from Tantric singin on some stuff and Clip Payne from Parliament/Funkadelic did some backups on a track for me. He’s a beautiful dude. I’ve had a lot of great experiences with a lot of great different musicians. Ray from Korn played on some stuff for me, Brian Tishy, another great drummer and friend of mine, who plays with Billy Idol and all kinds of other cats. We went to Berkley together so he’s another life-long friend of mine as well. I’ve had a lot of great musicians on my shit. Also, jamming with Vinnie Moore, that was great. Derek Sherenian is another guy. He’s pretty amazing."
JD’s musical tastes are as varied as his rolodex.
“People definitely don’t know that I am huge into Soul Music. I’ve always been. I just connected with it. Soul music actually came from the church, y’know. It’s all God, and I totally get on with it. The feeling is just amazing. You can’t match the intensity and the adrenaline of a metal show, but the feeling you get from Soul Music is a completely different thing, y’know? As far as a bass player, in Soul Music and Funk Music, Jazz and stuff like that, the bass is just way more involved. It’s more of a compositional instrument rather than in metal and rock where you’re just following the guitar player, basically. I really get into James Brown tons, so much great Jazz. Miles Davis, John Coltrane, they’re like my favourites, there’s just so much music that’s out there. Reggae music too. Bob Marley is amazing. And the feeling you get from the music is just unmatched.”
JD on playing Metal vs other genres.
“Metal… onstage with the adrenaline; you can’t match that energy but all the other music has so many different things to offer and I’m just trying to let all the people know about that. In metal and rock, there’s a void of soul. Back in the 70’s, Black Sabbath was bluesy and soulful. All the metal bands, all the hard rock bands had an element of soul to them and I’m just trying to re-educate the kids about that, bringing that back.”
Does Zakk Wylde approve of his bandmates’ side projects? (Guitarist Nick Catanese also started Speed X with Mike Stone from Queensrÿche)
“Zakk played a couple solos on my record for me the other day. He was Jersey here and he came out to the studio. We had a blast and he’s so proud of me. It all strengthens the Black Label Tree, whatever anybody can do in the band y’know?”
Looks like Zakk is on board with Cycle of Pain, then?
“He’s like my biggest fan and I’m his biggest fan. He’s so proud of me and so psyched for me. It’s awesome. It’s more of like a family, just an extension, y’know?”
Speaking of The Family, JD does what he can to give back to the fans. He also has a message to other artists out there.
"I’m doing more and more signings and stuff, and it’s awesome that people actually care enough to get my autograph (laughs). That’s pretty funny. I’m really grateful for that. The fans are what it’s all about. If it wasn’t for the fans, I wouldn’t have a job y’know? I think more musicians should think about that. There’s a lot of dicks in the business. But we’re not, we’re cool (laughs)."
So what is the next year looking like for Black Label Society and JD?
“We’re going to Europe in a couple weeks, we’re gonna headline a bunch of festivals over there and then I’m gonna be mixing my (Cycle of Pain) record. It should be done pretty soon, and it’s gonna be comin’ out in March. I’m slated to go out on tour again with Black Label in March, and I’m hopin’ that by some chance, my band Cycle of Pain can maybe open up a couple of shows for Black Label. That would be amazing. Zakk always mentions to me (in deep voice) ‘You’re gonna be doin’ double duty, bro’ (laughs). I can’t wait dude. That would be insane. We’re going out with Black Label March through April and then I’m gonna try to go out with my band Cycle of Pain for the whole rest of the year.”
Will Black Label Society be back in Vancouver any time soon?
“Like I said, next March we’re supposed to go out through America and Canada, and I’m really hoping we can get out to BC, because I love the whole Western Canada scene.”
Now to wash down the interview. Is there really a Black Label Society Hot Sauce?
“There is! I think it’s out now. I’m not sure where you can get it, if it’s in the stores or if you have to get it online, but you can go on the website and I’m sure there’s some information about it. I think the hottest one has Zakk’s piss in it!”
Woah! There you have it! Crazed fans can now take home a little piece of Black Label Society! If you’d rather take them home in another form, be sure to check out one, or all of the albums.
Don’t forget, John’s side project Cycle of Pain will be releasing an album in early ’09.
For more information, check out:
www.blacklabelsociety.com
www.blacklabelsociety.net (Official Fan Site)
www.johnjddeservio.com
www.myspace.com/cycleofpain
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