Joining full-time in 2014 after a fill-in stint in 2012-13, Jeff Fabb is the longest tenured drummer of Black Label Society and the backbone of what has been by far the most consistent lineup in the band’s history—joining guitarist/vocalist Zakk Wylde, bassist John “J.D.” DeServio and guitarist Dario Lorina for the past 10 years. Some may know Fabb as the original drummer of In This Moment or for his time with bands such as Sixx:A.M. and Filter, but recently he has added something else to his resume: solo artist. Handling vocals and all the instruments, Fabb released his debut album, “Stealing Souls,” in November 2023, and he’s quickly followed that with a series of singles in early 2024, with another album planned for later this year. Live Metal’s Greg Maki recently caught up with Fabb to discuss his solo music, Black Label Society and more.
LIVE METAL: You’ve definitely been keeping busy lately. You’ve got a new song out, “Love and War.” What can you tell me about this song?
JEFF FABB: When I started writing it, at first it was honestly about death. It was about everybody’s gonna die. It’s inevitable, right? And then, as I was writing it, it became this story of me kind of just going for it with music—as a kid and moving to Los Angeles when I was young and just trying to go for it. It’s basically, in a nutshell, go for whatever you wanna do, because we’re all gonna die anyway. (laughs)
You worked with your old bandmate from In This Moment, Blake Bunzel, on it. What was his role here?
Well, I play all the instruments and then, on these last few songs, sent him the songs and let him re-track the guitar parts that I played and then basically— “Do whatever you want, man. Come up with your spin on it. This is my loose arrangement, a skeleton of what the guitars are playing, so go for it.” So I let him do the guitars and the production side of it, as well. He’s mixing it and co-producing it with me. So it’s pretty awesome.
And you can only really do that with someone that you really know and really trust, right?
You can do it with someone you really don’t trust, too, I guess. (laughs) But yeah, it makes it a little more fun. Plus, we have such a history together, him and I, so it’s pretty awesome.
How long have you been writing your own music? I didn’t know you played guitar and sang until you started putting stuff out.
I didn’t really know either. (laughter) I kind of always was dabbling, and I started learning more and more guitar playing in Black Label with all the fellas, ‘cause they’re all so great. It’s like going to music school with those guys. So sitting around learning from J.D.—he’s a fountain of musical information, and he taught me a ton. When COVID hit, I was playing a ton of guitar. I had already been writing songs here and there. I really just started practicing—recording myself and playing it back and going, “Eww.” That’s the best way to learn—record yourself no matter what you’re doing. And I just started doing that, and that’s basically where it all began.
As you were writing and recording the songs that are on the album, before you were working with Blake, did you have anyone that you were bouncing ideas off, or was it all you?
Yeah, I had a few of my buddies that I grew up with here in New York, that I grew up playing with, that I was jamming with, that I basically was bouncing stuff off of. I had my buddy Brian Green play on “You’re Complete” off of “Stealing Souls.” But mostly, it was me. So this is a little bit different. It’s kind of cool. Sometimes you can go down some rabbit holes by yourself if you don’t have somebody to be like, “Hey! That’s enough!” So it kind of is nice this time.
Did you make a conscious effort to have a sound that’s a little different from Black Label, or is it just kind of how it came out?
It’s just how it came out. I throw some paint on the wall, and then I throw a little more paint, and then before I know it, I have some kind of piece of art up there. (Iaughs)
What would you say are your influences?
I have so many. Growing up, I had Sabbath and Van Halen and AC/DC and Ozzy Osbourne. I had those records in my house from my mom and my siblings. From there, I got into hardcore. I was in some Long Island hardcore bands when I was a kid. Metal, hip-hop, jazz. My influences have been really broad through the years. On the “Stealing Souls” record, a lot of people have told me it reminds them a lot of the ‘90s, like Alice in Chains and Soundgarden-ish stuff and maybe some Nirvana. I don’t know, man. I didn’t say I’m gonna write these songs a certain way or anything. Like you said, I just wrote, and that’s what came out.
On one of the songs on the album, you had your Black Label bandmate Dario on it. Have you reached out to J.D. and Zakk about doing something with you?
Definitely. I want to have both of those guys do something at some point. They were just so busy at the time that I didn’t ask them, because they were already doing a million things. But I would love to have them, yeah, absolutely.
Are you sitting on a bunch of songs right now, or are you releasing them as you finish them?
I’m sitting on some songs right now and writing more. This is gonna be the third single. I don’t know how many more I’m gonna release until I release this record, but I’m definitely writing still. I was just writing before we got on the phone. You never know, you what I’m saying? If you’re feeling inspired, you might as well get it down because that might be the song that everybody likes.
What kind of things inspire you? It must be a lot of things, because you’ve been very productive.
Fear. (laughs) That can be inspiring, right? I don’t know. I guess that feeling of I just want to do everything I can do before I’m dead. I’ve gotta be honest with you. That’s pretty much what it is. It’s like all the things I ever wanted to do, I just want to do ‘em—now. Because you never know what’s around the corner.
So releasing your own music—is this something you’ve wanted to do for a long time?
I don’t think so. Maybe in the past 10 years or so, yeah. I was a hired gun kind of guy, so I wasn’t really in the creative process as much as I used to be. I think I missed that, so I think I wanted that again.
Are there gonna be physical releases of the first album and the next album?
You know what, man? There is definitely gonna be that, because I’m tired of the streaming stuff. Whatever. It’s fine. But I’m gonna start pressing vinyl and doing something special for people, like signing it and throwing some stuff in there. I just think that having that in your hand, that physical copy, and maybe some artwork and some cool stuff—you know what I mean? It’s something to look at while you’re listening to it. I don’t give a shit. I’d rather sell 100 copies of it that way than 20,000 streams—I don’t know. I’m just kind of over this whole thing.
I am all about physical media, which is a pain when you move, but I’ve gotten heavily into vinyl the past few years and have a pretty large collection, and I still have all my CDs.
I’m definitely gonna do it, man. Absolutely. I’m excited for that, ‘cause I want to have it, too. I want to have a physical copy of it, too. And nothing against streaming. It’s cool. But I miss that, though.
That’s what we had growing up. I remember going to stores and sometimes you would just buy something because the album cover looked cool.
Dude, that’s how I got “Killers,” Iron Maiden. I was like, “Whoa, what is this?!” So yeah, I hear ya.
Do you have plans to put together a band and play some shows?
Yeah. I was thinking about doing it this summer at some point. Trying to get it together, and I’ve got some buddies that want to do it. So yeah, I’m into it.
What will your role be? Will you be out front playing guitar and singing?
I think, yeah, I’m gonna be up front. I’ll be cooking eggs and everything up there with everybody else. (laughs) I’m looking forward to it. You never know. Who knows, I might be on the drums. I don’t know yet. That’s kind of still up in the air. I’ve been practicing playing and singing, so that’s my vision—either bass or guitar, either one.
You’ve been in Black Label for 10 years or so. I think this is by far the longest one lineup has been together throughout the band’s history. When you joined, did it click right away? Was there that instant chemistry, and did you know that it was gonna last?
Well, I filled in, and I loved everybody, man. I loved the whole vibe of the whole band and the crew. After that little stint I did with them, I was like, “Man, that was fun.” Then I went and played in Filter for like two years, and then Black Label called me. It was like going home. They’re my bros, and it’s very much a family kind of vibe over there. It’s awesome, man. It felt like a hand-in-glove kind of feeling.
When you were in In This Moment, you did a couple tours with Ozzy. That must have been where you met Zakk, right?
That’s where I met him, yup, in 2007. And they’re still my family, too—In This Moment. We all text each other all the time, and we’re always in contact with one another. That all is a very cool thing how it all worked out.
I know lots of bands say, “We don’t have fans, we have family,” but it really feels like that with Black Label Society. I know because I’ve been a fan for 25 years. How does it feel to you playing in that kind of atmosphere?
I gotta tell you, they’re the best. When I came in, they remembered me from filling in a little bit, but everybody was nothing but cool and welcomed me with open arms. They’re just the best! They really are. They’re so cool. They’re always retweeting stuff that you do on your own. They’re really supportive and just awesome. You know what else is cool? Seeing the generations come—the parents bringing their kids and then their kids having babies. At the meet-and-greet, it’s so cool to see so many father-and-sons and them going to the concerts together. It’s cool, man.
I know there’s been some work on a new album. Can you say anything about that?
Yeah, we’re still working on it. I’m actually gonna go play some more drums here. We already had, I think it was a thousand songs already. Zakk is a songwriting machine, man. He wrote some more, so I’m actually gonna go play some drums on those, too. I believe they’re fixing to release it in the beginning of 2025 or something like that. We’ve got the Bezerkus Festival coming up in September. That’s gonna be awesome. That’s gonna be kind of the start of Black Label starting to play again. I’m looking forward to it. That was another reason why I was trying to get so much music done, too, of mine, because I don’t really ever have that much time off. So when I had this time off, I was like I want to do something constructive.
What would you say is the highlight of your music career to this point?
There’s been so many. Traveling around the world, for me, is the highlight. Meeting new people and cultures. Playing these awesome places—Royal Albert Hall. Before we went out there to play, I was watching videos of Zeppelin playing there in 1977 and The Beatles and Cream and Hendrix. Those things, to me, are just like I can’t even believe I’m here right now. So there’s been many highlights, but that’s one of them, the Royal Albert Hall. Madison Square Garden. Polish Woodstock—500,000 people, free for the whole country. There’s just been so many cool things.
Is there anything else you’d like to say before we go?
Just check out the stuff. It’s streaming on all the streaming things, so just go to Jeff Fabb. I’ve got the new video up on YouTube right now, “Love and War.” Yeah, just keep supporting, and I love you all. Thank you.
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