BILL WARD Interview Page 7
By Bob Nalbandian and Mark Miller

SW: You have a particular writing style with Tony, you and Tony seem to feed off each other riff-wise which gives Sabbath that signature sound...
BW: I have my relationship with Tony, we have what we do, Geezer has a relationship with Tony at the same way I have a relationship with Geezer and Ozzy. We all have different relationships, so you combine all that and get something else. I call it a phenomenon - something happens when us four guys get together. There's something extra that happens.

SW: It's like four brothers coming from the same exact place, you got the same experiences and that's why I say it's almost like Aston spawned Black Sabbath.
BW: I look to do another album with Black Sabbath if it's possible. We did three months of rehearsals last year, January, February and March of 2001. I have a good idea of my instrument but I never know what I'm gonna play next, Tony never knows what he's gonna play next, Geezer doesn't know what he's gonna give us on any given day.

SW: Do you feel there's a lot more of an appreciation nowadays, of what you all have accomplished?
BW: I feel very proud of what we were accomplishing onstage, there were just a few concerts in the early part of the reunion where I was mixed up a little bit because of certain complications, but in the bigger picture, I loved all the gigs and I thought we played a lot better and tighter than we did in the day. But one of the things is, I'm sober. My ears aren't exactly the best ears in the world now. But where we were at, I thought Geezer was playing unbelievably well, Ozzy was doing great, and I love working my chops with Tony. I would just answer back to Tony with some off-the-wall jazz lick and just carry on with the track. And I don't know if the audience heard it, all I know is that we really connected and was that tight.

SW: Your drumming was so unique, especially for a metal band back then. Those off-the-wall drum licks totally added to the music of Black Sabbath. Most other rock and metal drummers would just play simple 4/4 beats. A lot of these "technical" drummers would say, "Bill Ward plays sloppy, he's all over the place." But I always felt that was the art of Black Sabbath and what made the band so incredibly unique. It was like there were no rules, nothing was formulated...you just went off!
BW: I don't know what's supposed to be. I'm not that clever. I just play what feels right for me. I also feel that being sober has really improved me, because after I've been sober for a while I found the courage to go to a drum teacher because I was so ashamed at myself as a drummer. There was a part of me that felt eager to learn, I'm still learning what six year-old kids are learning!

SW: You were 100% self-taught, right?
BW: Yeah.

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