Everybody knows who he is, bassist, lyricist and founding member of the first and most influential heavy metal band of all time: Black Sabbath. In1995, Terry "Geezer" Butler decided it was time to experiment with current hard music sounds. He joined forces with drummer Deen Castronovo, guitarist Pedro Howse and fear factory vocalist Burton C. Bell to form g/z/r and release their album "Plastic Planet." Burton's commitment to Fear Factory prevented the act from achieving the goals Geezer had in mind. In 1997 the band is back under the name Geezer, armed with new vocalist Clark Brown and their new release on TVT Records, "Black Science."

David La Duke : First off, tell us how the Ozz Fest is going so far, especially the audiences' reaction to the 'Sabbath reunion.
Geezer Butler : It's going really well, great. The audience loves it. Or they're pretending to, anyway. They seem very, very satisfied every night.

David La Duke : Many have been wondering why original Sabbath drummer Bill Ward is not doing the tours. Could you give us some details on that?
Geezer Butler : I really don't know. I didn't have any part in putting this thing together.

David La Duke : You've been at this game of rock and roll for many years, no doubt. I'm sure if you choose, you can just lie back and take it easy, in other words, retire. I was wondering what keeps you motivated and moving forward. I mean, you obviously have a passion for what you do.
Geezer Butler : Yes, I love writing songs, I love playing. I do it well enough, I suppose. I just think that the older you get, you realize that the day is looming closer and closer when you can't do it anymore. Until that happens, you want to keep doing it. That's inspiration in itself.

David La Duke : Your '95 solo release, "Plastic Planet," with Fear Factory's Burton C. Bell was met with much critical acclaim. But after listening to your upcoming "Black Science," I personally feel that it will outshine "Plastic Planet" by a longshot. I was just wondering what your thoughts are on that.
Geezer Butler : Well, I wanted to have a more varied album. The last album, we had such a short time in which to do it. Literally ten days, that's all we had, because Burton had to go on the road with Fear Factory. I was right in the middle of the Ozzy thing then. I was doing a tour and an album with Ozzy. It just sort of came together really quickly because Burton became available and he wanted to do it. We literally had ten days in which to go in and do the whole album. We had to write the lyrics as we were doing it in the studio, so it was just a complete rush. The music was already written, but all the vocals and the lyrics were just done in the studio. But this one ("Black Science"), I had a lot more time to get it together & experiment a lot more.

David La Duke : How much time did you actually put in the studio for "Black Science?"
Geezer Butler : Actual studio time, it was about four weeks, then two weeks to mix it. About six weeks, then a couple more, so, 'round about seven or eight weeks altogether.

David La Duke : The production is definitely awesome. Your experimentation with the keyboards definitely works well. Hell, I think it even gives the album a heavier edge.
Geezer Butler : I was working alot with the keyboards when I had time off last year, when I was on vacation. As usual, I have one day off and I'm bored. So I brought this keyboard and I started really getting into it with all kinds of things. In fact, for the "Black Science" album we had about fourty songs written, so we really had to cut everything down. We had to choose about thirteen songs to give a variation to the album.

David La Duke : Clark Brown also does a terrific job on the vocals, no doubt about that. How did you find him & how did he become part of the group?
Geezer Butler : It's really strange, because the women who own the studio where we recorded "Plastic Planet" also manage Clark Brown. Last summer I was auditioning singers & after about sixty or seventy tries, I just couldn't find the right person. We picked out about three or four singers, then we called that studio & said we needed some time to come over, audition some singers & record there. They said, "Oh, you're looking for a singer, we manage a guy called Clark Brown, you might be interested in him." So we went over there, we auditioned the people we'd already had in mind, then we go, "Oh, well we may as well audition this guy while we're here." He was the last one we auditioned, and he blew everybody away! Then everything just came together.

David La Duke : He definitely does justice to the group, no doubt about that.
Geezer Butler : And he's a really nice guy as well. He's easy to get along with.

David La Duke : That's good. What made you decide to change the name of the group from g/z/r to Geezer?
Geezer Butler : Well, the record company always wanted the band to be called Geezer. Apparently, on the last album, everybody was calling it that anyway. Most people were asking for "The Geezer Album" & record shops would say, "We don't have an album by Geezer." Apparently, the record shops were calling TVT saying, "Where's the Geezer album?" They'd say, "We've already got it, it's g/z/r."

David La Duke : Yeah, I can definitely see how that would happen.
Geezer Butler : There was a lot of confusion over the whole thing, and so we simplified things and decided to go along with the record company.

David La Duke : I understand your wife, Gloria, is the manager of Geezer.
Geezer Butler : Yeah.

David La Duke : I was wondering, what is the actual advantage & disadvantage of having your mate handle the business side of things? Also, does she travel with you?
Geezer Butler : It's good because you don't have to wonder if things are being done. I've had bad managers in the past where you tell them to get things done & they go, "Oh yeah, we'll take care of that," and then they don't. And then, even if they do things for you, then suddenly your bank account goes down about 90 percent. You know, a lot of managers in the past have had a habit of disappearing with the money. And although there's not much money involved with the Geezer thing, it's just making sure that everything's done. She's great at what she's doing. She's a good manager.

David La Duke : What type of rig & gear are you using at the moment? Also, what type of rig did you use in recording?
Geezer Butler : At the moment, I'm using brand new Peavey Bass stuff. I'm not even sure of what it's called. It's literally brand new; I think I'm one of the first people to be using it. I've always used Ampeg on albums in the past. Ampeg amps in Marshall cabinets. This time for the Ozz Fest thing, Peavey said, "Please try Peavey stuff." I'd used Peavey before & it was absolutely awful. I hated it! So I said, "All right. Send it to the rehearsal, I'll try it, but I'm telling you, I'm not going to like it." They said, "Please just try it, give us a chance." When I tried it, it blew me away! It's brilliant! All the bands on the Ozz Fest tour are coming up & asking what kind of bass equipment I'm using! It's really good!

David La Duke : Getting back to Black Sabbath, do you have any idea as to what Tony Iommi's plans are? Is he planning to keep Black Sabbath going with the other members as he's done over the years? Or is he going to be stepping out on his own as yourself, Bill & Ozzy have done?
Geezer Butler : I think he's going to be doing a solo project. I don't believe anyone could possibly carry on with the name Black Sabbath unless we were all involved.

David La Duke : He's been doing it for quite a few years now.
Geezer Butler : Yeah, but I think he's seen the difference with the original lineup.

David La Duke : By the way, I was wondering if you've heard Bill Ward's new record, "When The Bough Breaks?"
Geezer Butler : Yeah, he sent me a CD about four months ago. I like some of the tracks.

David La Duke : I think it's quite good. I like some of the tracks too. It really suprised me.
Geezer Butler : Yeah. It suprised me as well. It's very bluesy.

David La Duke : Definitely bluesy!
Geezer Butler : I liked some of the ballads that he does. Acoustic stuff.

David La Duke : I'll tell you what, Geezer, I won't keep you long. If I've got my information right, you have a gig tonight in St. Louis. I want to wish you much luck in the success of "Black Science." I personally believe that this is going to be one of the heaviest, most successful releases of '97. In closing, would you like to pass anything on to our readers?
Geezer Butler : Well, we just hope that this time, we'll be able to take it on a tour, which I couldn't do with "Plastic Planet." This time, we're getting a tour together.

David La Duke : Do you have any idea when you would actually start a tour?
Geezer Butler : Maybe the middle or the end of August through until Christmas.

David La Duke : Is this going to be a domestic tour or a world tour?
Geezer Butler : We're going to try to come to the 'States and play a few gigs in Europe just to get the name around. Obviously, radio won't play it, it's too heavy for them.

David La Duke : It's definitely heavy. I sure appreciate you giving us a call. I wish you the very best of luck.
Geezer Butler : Okay, thanks very much, David. All the best.