BARBARANNE WYLDE

"It's something we're really passionate about. We love it and it's our Death Wish coffee family" Barbaranne Wylde, manager and wife of Zakk Wylde

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ABOUT BARBARANNE WYLDE:

Mother. Manager. Badass. All of this and more describes Barbaranne Wylde, and she came to the studio to join episode 145 of the podcast. Barbaranne was in the area to attend a gala benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and she talks about how she and her husband Zakk Wylde first got connected with this incredible facility.  Zakk has been playing guitar with Ozzy Osbourne since the late 80s, and the Wylde's have been a part of the Osbourne family ever since. Barbaranne and Zakk have a beautiful family of four kids and multiple dogs, and she works hard to balance family and business, helping to manage much of Zakk's career since the beginning and talks about her own start in the music business. Also, find out how Death Wish Coffee partnered with the Wylde's to create Valhalla Java Odinforce Blend and hear the story of Barbaranne and Zakk's first date in eighth grade!

TRANSCRIPT:

Jeff: First of all, I want to thank you so much for joining me.

Barbaranne: I'm so happy to be here. Thanks for having me.

Jeff: And it's rare that you get to come out to the east coast-

Barbaranne: I know.

Jeff: ... it seems, you know? You're out here for a really great cause, the St Jude gala-

Barbaranne: Always, yeah.

Jeff: ... that's happening. And you and Zakk have been doing so much for St Jude's. How did you guys first get involved with St Jude's?

Barbaranne: Actually, it's funny. My mom, since I was a little girl, always donated to St Jude's. And we didn't have money, but she found whatever little bit of money she had, and she'd always send. And then when I went to work, Zakk's mother owned an acting and television workshop. She was a casting agent originally, for Barbizon, when Barbizon wasn't a modeling school, it was actually an agency in New York. And she was a talent scout and an agent. And she started to work with St Jude's too, so I got her company to participate.

Barbaranne: And then when, when Zakk got the gig with Ozzy and stuff, and we had money, it was always, "Let's donate to St Jude's." And then at one point my brother, when he was 28, got cancer. He had Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, touch wood, he's been in remission since 2000. So, and he has three beautiful boys and he's, touch wood, healthy. But St Jude's has always been near and dear to our heart. And Zakk always said, "You know what? When we have something, I want St Jude's as my cause." And we've been to St Jude's many times.

Barbaranne: Funny enough, I was getting my hair done in Beverly Hills, I don't even know, maybe 20 years ago now, and I saw a woman's bag with rhinestones, and it had St Jude's. And I said to the woman, "Oh my goodness, you know, St Jude's." And she's like, "Oh, I'm like the regional donor liaison for St Jude's children's hospital."

Barbaranne: And I said, "Oh my God, like, I need to talk to you. This is so special to me." And she and I forged a friendship, and I told her, "If there is any way that we could have some sort of relationship with St Jude's." She flew Zakk and I to Memphis. We toured the hospital. The research lab is through the hospital, like you can't walk into the research lab without going through the hospital. So those doctors and those researchers, every day are reminded of these kids, and the cause, and the drive, and the dream, and trying to cure these kids.

Barbaranne: I mean, there was like a 12% cure rate for childhood leukemia before St Jude's really built the hospital and got involved. And they have doctors, and nuclear physicists, and these researchers, and pharmaceuticals are developed there from all over the world. I mean they have the Nobel Peace prize-winning physicist who developed the bird flu, the bird flu vaccine, excuse me.

Jeff: Right. Right. Not the bird flu.

Barbaranne: Yeah, not the bird flu, but he's there in their research facilities, coming up with vaccines. And the AIDS vaccine, they have someone working on there. It's the most incredible place that you could ever imagine.

Barbaranne: And so we, when you become a donor for St Jude's, they allowed us to tour the entire facility, and then let Zakk decide if he wanted to focus his donation in one specific area. So Zakk was pretty enthralled with, they have like a robotic system, where they'll take cancer cells and they'll put it into this robot, and the robot takes all different chemotherapies, or even you know, herbs and natural resources as well. And they'll test it on cancer cells in an infinite amount of different variables, so that they don't have to test it on children or animals. And that really resonated with Zakk, so that became where our Barbaranne and Zakk Wylde or Zakk Wylde and Barbaranne Wylde foundation for St Jude. So when we have a fundraiser for them, the money is concentrated in that area right now.

Jeff: That's so, so interesting.

Barbaranne: Yeah.

Jeff: And I mean, that's just the future right there, you know? Tech, and medicine, and all that kind of stuff.

Barbaranne: Yeah, it's incredible.

Jeff: It's absolutely incredible. And since I've been connected with Death Wish and with you guys, I've gotten to learn a lot more about St Jude's and their incredible facility. Everything that they do there-

Barbaranne: Oh, it's amazing. It costs 52, at least the last time I was there, it's probably increased because of the economy, but $52 million a day, to run that hospital. And it's all pro bono. The only thing you have to do in order to have your child to be treated at St Jude's, is have one of the diseases that they focus on and that they treat. So many childhood cancers. They do some sickle cell anemia work. There are a couple of other diseases but, and then they also do protocol from their incredible wealth of research and doctors there.

Barbaranne: If you don't go there for treatment, if you're in New York, and your child has one of the diseases that they treat, your child's oncologist can work with St Jude's, and they'll help them with the protocol, so that you could stay local too. But it's the amount of things that they do for these children's, the things that they've thought of, it's spectacular.

Jeff: It really is. And it's so amazing that you guys are such a big part of that as well. You know, and giving back to that, because as you've said, what an incredible facility, what an incredible organization. And what brings you here now is, you know, we're going to have a gala tonight, which is great.

Barbaranne: Yeah. Super exciting.

Jeff: ... which is great because it's raising money through a bunch of different auctions. A bunch of different local businesses are getting together, Death Wish has done some stuff, and you brought an incredible guitar saying, signed by Zakk and Ozzy, which is-

Barbaranne: Signed by Ozzy twice.

Jeff: Signed by Ozzy twice. Of course, because once isn't enough.

Barbaranne: Everybody is like, "You know, Ozzy, signed the guitar twice". And I said, "Well, I went over to his house, and I asked him if he would sign it." And of course, he was so gracious, and Sharon and Ozzy do what they can for the kids too. It's special to them as well. And I mean, they're so philanthropic. They're incredible people.

Barbaranne: I opened the guitar and I hadn't looked at it before. I went down and it's a Wylde Audio Guitar, one of Zakk's signature guitars. And I opened it and it's a pinstripe one and I brought a black sharpie, and I thought, "Oh great", because where is he going to sign? And I asked Ozzy to sign the back of the neck, and because it's maple, and he's like, "I don't sign the back of guitars, so I'll sign the front." So he had a gold sharpie on the table where he was sitting, and he signed and he's like, "Barb, is this okay?" And I said, "It's great, Ozzie, thank you very much." He's like, "No, I don't like it. I'm going to sign it again in black." So it has his signature twice, as well as Zakk's on the back of the headstock.

Jeff: Amazing, amazing. And unfortunately when this episode goes out, that'll already be auctioned off, so you none of you guys can get it. One lucky person's going to get it, and that's going to be amazing.

Barbaranne: I can't thank you guys enough for bringing me up here and letting me be a part of this. It's two of my favorite things in the world. St Jude's and Death Wish. We love our relationship with Death Wish and Valhalla Java's been a dream come true for Zakk. And you know, it's the greatest thing.

Jeff: Can we talk a little bit about how this came to be? Because I know a little bit from our side of it, but how did it come to be that Zakk wanted to even have a coffee?

Barbaranne: Well, yeah, it's not such a secret that Zakk used to love beer as much as he loves coffee. And so when Zakk got sober 10 years ago, he really started to, you know... knowing what I know about addiction, it's like you have to trade one for another, right? Because you're not going to change that part of somebody's personality. He plays guitar 10 hours a day. He still practices that much, I mean everything.

Jeff: I think he's addicted to guitar.

Barbaranne: Yes he is. He is. It's all or nothing, with everything that he does. And most of the people that I know that have that personality, you know, and that's why he's incredible at what he does, you know? But, so he really started to get into coffee and he loves it. He loves the taste of it. He loves everything about it. It became like his new thing. And he doesn't do drugs. He doesn't smoke. He's sober, he doesn't drink alcohol.

Barbaranne: So coffee became like his, you know, his guilty pleasure, and he's very disciplined as far as his diet and health. He's always been, you know, really into bodybuilding and all of that. So it's something he really loves. And also for the fat burning properties as well. All of it.

Barbaranne: And so when over the years he's had a different manager, and now Blasko, Rob Nicholson, manages Zakk with me. And you know, when Blasko first started working with us in a marketing capacity, he basically asked Zakk, "What are some of the things that you want to do, like on your wishlist?" And Zakk said, "I really want to do a coffee. But nothing, you know, I haven't had anything brought to me that isn't just white labeled, that I don't feel good about, that I don't like the taste of it. I want to be involved. I don't want to just associate myself with a coffee. I want it to be mine, you know, and I want to love the people that make it."

Barbaranne: And so Blasko brought him the Death Wish to try, and Blasko made the call, and he's like, "Okay, the world's strongest coffee, the world's strongest guitarist." You know, it kind of just seemed like the perfect marriage. So Zakk tried it and he loved it. And then Blasko got him in touch with John, John Swedish, and Mike, and they started to give Zakk some things to try. Asked Zakk what he was looking for, what he loved. And Zakk really loves a dark roast and he loves the espresso. So basically Valhalla Java, which, you know, it's got the whole Viking, you know, Zakk's vision in the moniker of the Viking thing. So because everything, like the first guitar is a Odin. He a Viking. I mean, let's face it. He's six foot, and blonde, blue eyed, and that's who he is. The Viking on guitar. And he's even wearing the kilt all the time now.

Jeff: Exactly.

Barbaranne: But he just developed it with John and Mike, and he loves the profile, and literally, I mean, he doesn't put his name or likeness on anything that he doesn't use on a daily basis. And I kid you not. The canteen, the coffee, everywhere all day. You're not allowed to be on a black label tour without a black label tee shirt on, or Zakk Sabbath. It's the uniform. You're not allowed to drink any coffee in Zakk's presence that isn't Valhalla or Death Wish. So it's just a great thing. It's something we're really passionate about. We love it and it's our Death Wish coffee family, you know?

Jeff: And you guys are totally part of the family, and that's what's awesome about it is, it's not just... A lot of people who find out that we make coffee for Zakk Wylde, are like, "Oh", you know, like, "How much money did you pay for that?" Or like, "How many contracts did you sign?" It's like, no, you guys are passionate about it.

Barbaranne: No, we love it.

Jeff: And that's what we love. We're all about feeling passion and it's just this symbiotic relationship.

Barbaranne: Yeah. No, it's really like a perfect marriage. It's just been the greatest thing. And then, when you guys bring St Jude's into it too, it just gets better and better. And I mean, I walked in yesterday and you were wearing your Blasko shirt. We're all just kind of interconnected. It's a good thing.

Jeff: It's so great. And I love having the different blends too, because like Death Wish being the, OG, you know, we always try to push that. But having Valhalla, and having that little bit of a different flavor profile, I love it. Seeing it crop up in different areas. Like one of our good friends here at Death Wish, astronaut Nicole Stott, who actually helped us bring our coffee into space. Her favorite blend is Valhalla Java.

Barbaranne: Really?

Jeff: Yeah, she just likes the flavor a little bit more than Death Wish. And she touts that from the rooftops all the time, which is great. And I know you were telling me recently, Ozzy's been drinking a lot.

Barbaranne: You know, it's so funny, you know Zakk and I actually went over there a couple of weeks ago, and we had breakfast with them, with Sharon and Ozzy, and Ozzy was like, "Yeah, Zakk, I need to get some more of that coffee." And I called John and I'm like, "Can you guys put him on the subscription?" Because he's another one that's all about the coffee now, because, you know, he has no drugs, no alcohol, it's all about the coffee now. So it's great.

Jeff: That is so, so great. And I mean, that's what, again, going back to passion, that's what really draws us to people like you and Zakk. You guys are passionate people and you're passionate for each other. You know, you guys are the rock star royalty couple, when it really comes down to it. Correct me if I'm wrong, you're high school sweethearts, right?

Barbaranne: Actually we first stayed in an eighth grade.

Jeff: Oh my God.

Barbaranne: Zakk always tells everybody we dated in sixth grade, but we did not date in sixth grade. We've known each other since sixth grade.

Jeff: Okay. You dated in eighth grade. What was your first date?

Barbaranne: Okay, this is funny that you bring this up.

Jeff: I've got to know.

Barbaranne: So he asked me out, and I was class flirt in eighth grade, and also won it again senior year, so I have a little bit of a reputation. But anyway, so Zakk and I started dating, and he asked me to go to the movies at Jackson Cinema, which is no longer there, in our little town of Jackson, New Jersey. Great Adventure's the only thing that put Jackson on the map. So we went to see the Urban Cowboy-

Jeff: Oh my God.

Barbaranne: ... and Zakk tried to go up my shirt. I wouldn't let him. So he broke up with me the following Monday. So this is very funny. So all throughout high school, from eighth grade on, I'm like, "Oh God, Zakk Wylde's such a jerk." Like I didn't like him at all. I thought he was just a total, total jerk. And then our senior year in high school, we became best buds again. He was dating a girl that was a friend of mine.

Barbaranne: He was dating a girl that was a friend of mine and I was dating a bass player in his band and we just really, he came to me in school one day and he said, "Do you really like Donny, this bass player?" And I'm like, "Yeah, he's okay. I mean, you know, whatever." And he's like, "Well, I just want you to know I broke up with him for you because you, I can't marry you if you're dating him and I'm going to marry you one day." We were like, you know, I was 16 at the time and he just... The only reason I agreed to go out with him was because I cut class and I asked my English teacher for a pass, Mr. [Balderi 00:15:40], and he's like, "I'm only going to give you this pass if you agree to go on a date with Zakk.

Jeff: Your teacher said that?

Barbaranne: He's like, "This guy is crazy about you. He's a good guy, the way he looks at you." And I'm like, "But he's got blonde hair." I only dated brunettes at the time and, and I said, "All right, I'll go on a date with him," and we've been together ever since.

Jeff: Oh my God, I seriously, that is-

Barbaranne: Four kids and I don't know, 30 some odd years later.

Jeff: That is a movie in itself right there.

Barbaranne: It's funny.

Jeff: That that is a Shakespearian play I've ever heard one. Romeo and Juliet. That's adorable though. It just goes to show that anything in the world can happen if you put it out into the universe. I say that a lot on this show. If you say it out to the universe and I think that's amazing that Zakk and you being young says to you, 16 years old, "Well, I broke up with your boyfriend for you because I can't marry you without it because that's what's going to happen.

Barbaranne: Zakk is just one of those really, I mean, I do agree with you. I do agree with, you know, the laws of karma and putting things out there and they come back and I believe in all of that. But also Zach individually is one of those people where he puts his mind to something, it comes to fruition. He has yet to really think of, something that he wants to do that he hasn't made every headway to get there, and even if it doesn't always happen, it's still there. He's still this, teenager whose drive and passion is to, we were talking last night at dinner a little bit about, the Ozzy shows have all been postponed because of, Ozzy's recovering from surgery and he's doing great.

Jeff: That's great.

Barbaranne: So the Madison Square Garden, which was a pinnacle show for Zakk, that was like, you know, on the dream ladder, that was one of them. He played there once with Ozzy back maybe, I don't know what year it was, like early 2000s, but that show is rescheduled. But the other show that was rescheduled, which he's never played is the Hollywood Bowl.

Jeff: Oh wow.

Barbaranne: I was saying that's one of his, he got to play the Royal Albert Hall last year with Black Label Society, which was a goal and a dream and he's pretty much hit every dream.He played with the Allman Brothers, he played with Lynyrd Skynyrd. Ozzy is, I mean he was the biggest Ozzy fan on the planet, Black Sabbath on the planet. I think that's my phone. I'm sorry I turned it off, whatever.

Jeff: That's all right.

Barbaranne: He still has that childlike way about him, that he's like, "These are my dreams and my goals," and he's hyper focused to make them happen.

Jeff: That's so amazing.

Barbaranne: It's just one of those things where it's just... But I do think if you put things out there and you really believe in them, I do believe, and I believe that with negative thoughts too. If a negative thought comes into my head, which I try not to have them too often, I'm like, "Cancel, cancel," make that go away because you do reap what you sew, you know?

Jeff: Yeah, for sure and speaking kind of on Zakk's career, now like you said, you and [Blasbow 00:18:56] kind of split managing duties for everything Zakk does, which it seems like he's got a new band every other day, which is crazy. He's always busy.

Barbaranne: I know. With the Experience Hendrix and Regeneration X-

Jeff: Oh, it's crazy.

Barbaranne: The Zakk Sabbath thing has been, it's literally my favorite band. I have to be honest because I mean black, Ozzy era Black Sabbath is my favorite anyway, and then to have Zakk sing these songs-

Jeff: I know.

Barbaranne: And play them and it's just so much fun. I mean, I'm literally, I'm like, "Zakk, I'm going to, I'm going to need, you know, some serious wrinkle treatment from these shows," because I'm grinning the entire time if I'm not singing or like, it's so much fun and he's having a blast. And Blasko plays bass for the most part. I mean, JD's filling in right now, but Blasko is the basis and Joey C, who's-

Jeff: Ah, Joey C.

Barbaranne: He's, I mean-

Jeff: A mad man.

Barbaranne: The most beautiful human being on the planet. I mean Zakk and I love him so much and his family and his, he made us godparents to his little guy Cave. It's just again, another family situation, but it's my favorite. He has that which is turned into, I mean Blasko and I can't fend off the offers.

Jeff: That's so awesome.

Barbaranne: We could literally have him touring all year on Zakk Sabbath.

Jeff: That's so awesome.

Barbaranne: It's just become, we haven't taken it to Europe yet, which is where we're hoping to go, and South America. Zakk Sabbath is just the greatest thing. It's so, it's so much fun.

Jeff: It really is and you can tell and I tell this to people all the time, like if you ever get a chance to catch Zakk Sabbath live, go do it because not only are you going to get all the songs you know and love, but you can see those three guys literally having the time of their life every single night on stage.

Barbaranne: And you get to see Zakk on a bar top. He thinks he's coyote ugly in a kilt play. It's so much fun.

Jeff: It's so much fun and I got to talk to Zach about that actually on this show, about like the inception of that because it's born from fun. It was literally them just in rehearsals for like Black Label or just kicking around ideas like, Oh, let's just you know, screw around with this cover.

Barbaranne: It actually came about, Zach and Blasco did some kind of a metal-

Jeff: Thing.

Barbaranne: A metal thing over in Europe where they, I forget what it was called, metal something or other. It started out like doing a couple songs and Blasco was like, "Zack, you know what, you're always screwing around in rehearsals. You're doing Sabbath," or he sings Ozzy when they're rehearsing for Ozzy. And he's like, "Why don't we just do, you know, we'll do a couple of covers, we'll do Black Sabbath." And Zach's like, "Killer, love that idea." So they did it, it went over famously and then Billy Morrison has that Royal Machines.

Jeff: Yep.

Barbaranne: They were asked to do, they do an annual Christmas show in LA where they do like three nights. It's become a really big thing. They asked Blasco and Zack, they're like, "You want to do it?" And Blasco's like, "Yeah, what are we going to call this? Like cause it's not, you know," and then Zach was like, "Oh, just call it Zach Sabbath," and Blasco's like, "Zach Sabbath. Absolutely." Actually, I think maybe even Blasco came up with Zach Sabbath, I don't know, but Zach will take credit for it. It was just the greatest thing and then it's just turned into, "Hey, that Zack Sabbath thing, do you want to make it a real thing and Blasco's like, "I got this offer to do this," and it's just, it's just become a thing.

Jeff: It's so great, and like I said, with you and Blasco kind of managing everything that Zach's been doing, including Zack Sabbath and everything, this is coalesced from an entire career. Did you always kind of have a hand managing Zach right from the beginning?

Barbaranne: Yeah, I mean, I'm not really so good at tooting my own horn, but honestly, yeah. I mean, he had a manager for a lot of years and literally the manager would call me and throw something by me and say, "What do you want to do, young lady?" So I kind of made all the decisions anyway, and when Blasco came into the fold, we started talking and he's really phenomenal marketing. That's his passion and he's great at it. He knew a lot more about the social media world and where things were going with ecommerce and stuff much more than Zack and I. I knew a little bit from my kids, but my background originally I'm, I'm a business girl. I went to school, I was going to be a CPA until I realized that I was going to have to wear a suit every day and be in a business setting, and I was just like, "Too conservative for me," and I have a mouth of a sailor, so I couldn't exactly, I'm not so good being in that world. I'm a Jersey girl. I don't usually admit that, but I am a Jersey girl.

Barbaranne: I definitely, when I moved to California I had said to Sharon Osborne, "I really want to work in the music industry." I had part time, the guy who discovered Zach Frazi, Mark Weiss, he's a photographer. I worked for him once a week when I lived in Jersey when I was still a teenager and I got bit by that bug. I was around these crazy musicians and this world. And I'm like, "These people don't have any idea what they're doing in business. I have a business brain. These people and I get on. I think I could lend something to the party." And I love to be around it.

Barbaranne: When I moved to California, I had said to Sharon, "I really want to work in the music industry," and she gave me a list of people to meet and I got my first gig at A and M records at the time was like... I was so spoiled because it was the most incredible environment to be introduced into the music industry. It was such a fabulous time with a Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss. Great, great men to work for and that was very much like a family situation even though it was on a global scale. I worked for the CFO and then I worked for him for a little bit and then when A and M records sold to BMG, I went over and worked at William Morris Agency on the booking side of things. I was a tour coordinator and then after that I went to go work for Rod Stewart at Stiefel Phillips and did the management side for a little bit.

Barbaranne: Then Zach and I had babies and Sharon was, shopping Zach's solo deal as a solo artist. Then I kind of jumped in and I took the meetings and we, you know, made our first record deal with Geffen Records. Yeah, I've always been, for all intents and purposes, I have always managed him. I didn't want to be that person by myself because it was much more important to me to be Zach's lover and be passionate and be his partner in life-

Jeff: Yeah, there's that dichotomy.

Barbaranne: Than business partner. But then it evolved and Blasko is, Blasko is his manager and he does, you know, but yeah, it's the both of us together and we have a great relationship because Blasko will say, "I say no, you say yes," and most of the time we, you know, he'll bring things to the table that I don't think of and I bring things to the table I think that he doesn't think of and we have a really great partnership.

Jeff: Yeah, and you're so just badass. I.

Barbaranne: Oh, thank you.

Jeff: I'm just going to say it. When it comes to all of that and you had, like you said, not only were you lucky in some of your early jobs, you were lucky to be able to have a soundboard like Sharon who has done this, six ways to Sunday.

Barbaranne: In every way possible. In every capacity. I mean, let's face it, the Ozzfest happened because... She's a pioneer and, it's her whole life. Since she was a little girl, she was involved in the music industry and she's I love them and her so much. For all intents and purposes, Zach calls her mom because his mom passed away a couple of years after he joined Ozzy's band, and for all intents and purposes, she is his mom and she'll even say it a lot of times it's my firstborn about Zach. She's been known to call him in a bar when he was drinking and say, "Get your ass out of that bar." Pull him out of a club or a bar by his ear. I mean, he listens to her. She's mom, you know, and, but I love her so much.

Barbaranne: She always says, "I'm a second mom to you," and I was like, "No, you're more like a big beautiful older sister because you're too young to be my mom." She's, personally, professionally, and there isn't a business deal or something really important to us that I don't run by her ans personally, our daughter's getting married in October our first born and there isn't a night that I'm like not sending her pictures of the wedding dress or, she's like, you know, this is where we're having it. I talk to her most, you know, a couple times a day mostly, and they're family to us.

Jeff: Well, again, it goes back to that theme of passion. If I can parallel you and Sharon together in your roles, you both are passionate about what you do about, having hands on, not just being, "Oh, I'm in a manager position and I'm just going to sign the contract and make the phone call and whatever." You're very hands on about it. I've actually told this story before. I don't know if I ever told it to Zach, but I've been in bands my whole life and I was in a, I was in a rock band. This was late '90s, early 2000s and Ozzfest was coming here to Saratoga.

Barbaranne: You know, I had asked, John just took me around and I said, "Have I been here? I think Zach's played in this area, not just recently, but like with Ozzy." And he's like, "Well, there's the big stadium. So I would think-

Jeff: Saratoga Performing Arts Center. That would have been either '99 or 2000. I can't remember what it was and I wrote a letter to Ozzfest, which was, you know, basically run by Sharon asking for my band to play like third stage or whatever.

Barbaranne: That's amazing.

Jeff: Just as a whim, just hoping for it. I got a letter from Sharon-

Barbaranne: That's great.

Jeff: Basically explaining we can't do this because we're working towards getting three stages. We're working towards being able to have local bands. Giving me the whole thing, but being very nice about it and literally from her. And I cherish that because it's just like, you know, that's that hands on mentality and that's that passionate mentality.

Barbaranne: Oh no. And, and even as she's become such a huge celebrity in her own right, I mean, honestly, people love her and it's like, you can't... I mean, television is a very powerful medium, but you can't go anywhere with like Sharon, Sharon. Sharon and I will be shopping, she'll have people auditioning for her. When she did America's Got Talent, we would be in a clothing store going to dinner or something and a mom, would run up to her because she's so approachable and they'd say, "Sharon, my daughter, she sings or whatever." And Sharon would go, "Go get her. Come on, bring it on." And Sharon will be like, "Well, if you want this, you're going to do it for me right here, right now." I've been in parking lots with her, kid you not, Cross Creek in Malibu where she's had 12 year old little girls sing her heart out and Sharon will be like, "You need to audition. Go, here's the website, sign up. Go." Because they're real people, you know-

Barbaranne: They're real people and they know where they've come from and they treat everybody like they're worthy. We're really spoiled because Zakk will always say that he never has been in a band because he started with Ozzy. He's never been in a band where people don't like each other or people don't feel like their family. We've never had that and in the few times, it's mostly been crew, in the few times that we've had to get rid of people or my family, a tour manager we had to get rid of but that's a whole, another podcast, no nepotism. But we've never had a situation where we don't love the people that we work with or that we, it's way more... And the fans too, call the fans fam and I know it's become a little, everybody says it now, but it's for Zakk and for Black Label and for Ozzy, it's true and Ozzy's been the best form and model. Zakk always says, when our kids were getting ready to go to college and they were looking at schools, he's like, "I went to Ozzy Osborne university." Which for all intents and purposes he did.

Jeff: It's true.

Barbaranne: But we've really been spoiled and really blessed.

Jeff: Well, I mean, and again you're talking about family and that's something that is bred from passion and it's not just on that business side. It's the other side of how bad ass you are, is raising four amazing kids and having a family and how many dogs do you have now?

Barbaranne: We have five, right now.

Jeff: Five dogs.

Barbaranne: Yeah.

Jeff: Four kids, five dogs. Well, five kids because Zakk's a kid.

Barbaranne: An internal child, yeah. I always say like, "You're 12 years old." And he'll always say, "I'm 13, get it right." But yeah, no, he's a perpetual child.

Jeff: And congrats again on Hayley and getting married this year. That's so great and I mean all your kids are great and has it been... What's interesting about your kids is they are from two separate generations. Hayley and Jesse kind of got to see this new age of technology, the new social media, that we were talking about with e-commerce and stuff, kind of come up.

Barbaranne: Yeah, totally.

Jeff: Whereas Hendrix and Sabbath, from the moment they're born, social media exists and all that kind of stuff happens. So do they kind of teach you along the way?

Barbaranne: Without a doubt. I mean, poor Hendrix has become our IT person at home. It's always like, "Hendrix, we don't know how to do this and you know how to do that." He's like, "Oh gosh, mom." Or like "Mom, there's YouTube videos. Google it or whatever." But no, and Sabbath is, I mean he's brilliant on the computer. I mean, he was a blast, it was like, this is the YouTube channel because Sabbath was teaching himself piano. He loves horror and he was teaching himself the theme from Halloween on the piano.

Jeff: Oh my gosh.

Barbaranne: The Exorcist, which Zakk is, most people know if they follow Zakk at all. He's an Exorcist aficionado-

Jeff: They can visit your house.

Barbaranne: Yeah. I mean, funny enough in the black vatican as he calls it, the studio, his recording studio, he has all this memorabilia and really cool things that he's been given from fans and friends alike of The Exorcist and when Sabbath, when Hendrix and his buddy Cooper were little, they would close their eyes with one hand and be aiming to pee with the other, because they didn't want to look at any of The Exorcist stuff. But Sabbath was teaching himself the theme for The Exorcist and Jaws. That was a big one and we had a blast, we were all dying, because he had the little, his iPad on the piano stand, not the sheet music, although he is learning to read right now.

Jeff: Oh, that's awesome.

Barbaranne: But he had the iPad on the piano and he was teaching himself these themes, these horror themes and it's just funny, but yeah, it's been a whole different thing. I mean, Hayley Rae and Jesse as well too, they were little people when Zakk was really coming into, they're born in '92 and '93 and Black Label started in '98 and he's been with Ozzy since '87. No Rest came out in '88 and so basically it was, everyone packed up, especially with Oz Fest. It was all summer, we're going on the road as a family. We even used to bring the Rottweiler too, Dorian, Zakk's first and his beloved Rottweiler, but we were this totally nomadic, bohemian, rock star family that just kind of did what we did.

Barbaranne: And then there were 10 years between Hayley and Hendrix and Hendrix was born in 2002 and so, kind of things chilled a little bit for us as far as like, the older two were older and they were in middle school and then high school and so I didn't get to go as much or they didn't get to go as much and Hendrix... We've been more at home, the kids have been more home bodies, although summer break, they do go out and then with Sabbath, because Sabbath and Zakk are so close and Zakk's been, he's just obsessed. I always say it's like his John Lennon, his Sean John Lennon thing.

Barbaranne: It's since Sabbath was born, we used to call him the productivity thief, because when Zakk would be trying to make a record up at the studio, he'd keep coming down to go play with Sabbath. He's obsessed and he just wants to be with him 24/7 and Sabbath, they're very, very close and he's like, "I really like being home." I'm like, "Don't get too used to it. You need to go out on the road, you need to work." But we took Sabbath out on the road last summer and Sabbath's like, "When am I going back on that tour bus?" I'm like, "Now you're in first grade buddy. It's not as easy as just..." He's like, "I need to go on the road. I need to hang out with the guys." He had them all doing the Fortnite dances on the tour bus. It was Jeff, Zakk's drummer fortunately had rhythm and he could actually dance. The rest of them, not so much, but-

Jeff: Oh my God, that's too funny.

Barbaranne: Yeah, it's really fun.

Jeff: That's really great though, that you guys afford your kids the opportunity to and like you said, like a nomadic family go out on the road. I'm completely, not really in the same camp at all, but my father was an accountant for the state and he traveled a lot, so he was on the road a lot and so there were a lot of times where I didn't see him a lot. And it's nice that you guys have this family unit where yeah, there's a lot of times where Zakk's touring Europe and stuff like that and I'm sure he's gone for a good amount of time, but then there's also the time when you can go on the tour bus and do Fortnite dances and stuff and that's great.

Barbaranne: Right. I mean, there's a lot, for every good thing about social media and the technology and the internet and our phones, is a bad thing, right? But the one nice thing, the really nice thing is the FaceTime. So that kind of changes the game as a family too, because Sabbath will say, "Can we face time with dad?" The timing sometimes is a really difficult thing, because Zakk will be getting up in the morning when Sabbath's going to bed for school, but we try to make it work and since Zakk got the gig when he was a teenager, we don't know any different. This is our life, so basically we never had the, Zakk comes home at 5:00 and dinner's on the table.

Barbaranne: My older son, Jesse, will be like, "I'm marrying a '50s woman. I'm going to have a traditional, my wife's going to have dinner on the table." And I'm like, "Yeah, right." And his girl that he's crazy, head over heels in love with, who I think he's going to end up marrying, I hope he ends up marrying her. She's going for her masters as an attorney. There's going to be no making dinners at 5:00 for her either, but-

Jeff: She's going to be like, "You make me dinner."

Barbaranne: Yeah, totally. Exactly and Zakk's actually, he's a great cook. I don't cook, that is one thing I'm not passionate about, but it's all we know and it's funny, because really one of my very favorite people in the world and really close friends of ours are Gilby Clarke And Daniella Clarke and Daniella and I have just, we have this incredible connection. It was pretty instantaneous and we're about to launch a podcast.

Jeff: Excellent.

Barbaranne: I'm going to plug a little bit here. It's going to be called the Honest AF, Honest As Fuck Show. Real conversations with Daniella Clarke and Barbaranne Wylde and we're going to launch it in the next couple of weeks and it's basically just, it's more of a lady show, but our situations are very similar. She and Gilby got together when she was a teenager and maybe Gilby was 20, because there is a little bit of an age difference with them, but we were talking about it the other day. It's all we know, we don't know anything else. She's had very successful businesses in her own right, she had the Frankie B jeans line, that was a huge thing and she's got a new line that's launching too, she's a fashion guru. We were originally going to do it based on beauty products, because we're both beauty junkies and we are very passionate about shopping and beauty and products and we're ageless. So we have to-

Jeff: I love it.

Barbaranne: We're going to reveal some of our secrets, but then we realized we're so much more than just that and our conversations... We don't know too many people that have been with their spouse for 20 plus years and still completely head over heels in love and I do think the big separations have a lot to do with that, because there's no monotony. It's like, still get passionate to see each other, still show up at the airport with the wig and nothing under a jacket, still have the role playing and all the fun things. Sorry kids if you're listening, because I know it's gross, but whatever. But anyway, it's just, you have to keep it alive and I think that that's, we were talking about that, because it's all we know, but it works for us and I wouldn't change it.

Jeff: That's so awesome. I can't wait for your podcast to come out.

Barbaranne: Thank you, it's going to be fun.

Jeff: And what's great talking with you, is just hearing again how passionate you are about everything that you have a hand in and that includes family, not just your immediate family, but the family that you've created and surrounded yourself with throughout the years and it's just amazing.

Barbaranne: I mean, if anybody could say anything about me and I thank you for that, I would hope that they'd say I'm passionate, because-

Jeff: Why?

Barbaranne: To me, what's the purpose in living, if you're not passionate about everything. I mean, life is, talking to my daughter about getting married, it's the only reason you get married is because your head over heels in love and you're passionate. It's your driving force, right? It's your heartbeat, it's everything so.

Jeff: God, it really is and speaking on all of that, I'm so glad that we've connected.

Barbaranne: Thank you. Yeah, me too.

Jeff: And that I feel that Death Wish Coffee and Zakk and Barbaranne, we're all this big happy family.

Barbaranne: It's really been, my kids ask me, "How's it? How are your meetings going? How's everything going?" And I'm like, "It's just the greatest thing." It's family, it's fun and we have so much passion for the coffee and you guys are so passionate about what you do. I mean, I've gotten the tour of where you started and got to know a little bit about everybody and it's, I mean we're really grateful and blessed and thankful and yeah. Thanks for having us and yeah.

Jeff: And the future is bright, it's going to be a lot of fun.

Barbaranne: And tonight's the gala for St. Jude, so it's just all good.

Jeff: Yeah, it's going to be great. Thank you so much for being on the show.

Barbaranne: Oh, thank you for having me.

Jeff: Excellent.

Barbaranne: I really appreciate it and maybe your wife, maybe not you, because maybe I love her crystals that she does. Have to come on my podcast, it'll be fun.

Jeff: Yeah, for sure, for sure. Excellent.

Barbaranne: Yeah, thank you.

Jeff: Awesome, thank you.

Barbaranne: Thanks a lot.