When I Made a Digital Magazine About Zakk Wylde (and Ended Up Getting a Gift from Him!)

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The Year Was 1997…

Back when the internet was still in its infancy in Brazil and lots of people were connecting to BBSes (Bulletin Board Systems, a kind of online community accessed through dial-up modems, long before social media existed), I decided to create a special edition of my digital magazine dedicated to one of my favorite guitarists: Zakk Wylde.

Little did I know that this Brazilian programmer’s little hobby would lead to an exclusive interview with Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist and, a few months later, an envelope from the United States containing a surprise I still treasure to this day.

But let’s start at the beginning…

The WarmNews

I created the WarmNews digital magazine back in the ’90s, when I was the SysOp of WarmBoot BBS (SysOp = System Operator, the person who ran a BBS).

The first editions were available on WarmBoot BBS itself and distributed through RBT (Rede Brasileira de Teleinformática, a Brazilian BBS network) to other BBSes in the network, and maybe even to the rest of the world. The content was a mix of technical articles, humor, and interviews.

Why Zakk Wylde?

Being the frustrated wannabe guitarist that I (still) am, Zakk Wylde was already one of my favorite guitarists. With the amazing work he was doing alongside Ozzy and as a solo artist, I thought dedicating a special edition of WarmNews to him would be a great idea.

Back then, news didn’t travel nearly as fast as it does today, but Zakk already had a basic website. I decided to take a chance and email Randy Canis, who ran the site, and he was more than happy to help me out with some information.

And that settled it! The next WarmNews would be all about Zakk!

A Digital Magazine in the MS-DOS Days

We’re talking about a time when PCs with sound cards were becoming increasingly common in Brazil. Even though Windows 95 had already been released, plenty of people were still using MS-DOS, so the magazine was developed for DOS. The Zakk Wylde special edition introduced a fully graphical interface (still running on top of DOS, though), with mouse navigation and support for Sound Blaster-compatible sound cards (if you had a sound card, you could read the magazine while listening to MOD, XM, and other music formats playing in the background).

I’m a programmer, not a designer, so obviously, if I wanted the magazine to look halfway decent, I’d need someone who actually knew what they were doing. I got in touch with Binho Miranda (whom I’d met through the BBS), sent him some pictures of Zakk I’d found on the internet, and he used them to create the artwork for the magazine’s index and “pages.”

An Exclusive Interview with Zakk Wylde!

Since the magazine would be distributed on the internet, including through Zakk’s official website, all the content was written in English.

I wrote the articles myself, based on the information (sometimes pretty scarce) I could find online and in magazines at the time. But something was missing. Something better, something more exclusive…

I asked Randy if I could send over a few questions for Zakk to answer, hoping to get an exclusive interview for WarmNews.

Since Zakk was busy touring, Randy interviewed him over the phone and sent me the answers. Sure, it took almost two months of waiting, but hey, it all worked out in the end! 🙂

An Unexpected Gift

A few months after the magazine was released, when I thought the story was already over, an envelope from Randy showed up in my mailbox.

Inside was a promotional photo of Zakk, autographed and personally inscribed to me. As if that weren’t enough, there was also an original film photograph (yes, an actual photo developed from film!) showing Zakk backstage at a show, having a good laugh with none other than Billy Sheehan and Eddie Van Halen!

I still have both photos to this day.

Looking back, almost 30 years later, it’s funny to think that a digital magazine made by a Brazilian programmer, using MS-DOS and a healthy dose of enthusiasm, could have led to all of this.

Back then, all I wanted was to combine two things I really loved: programming and playing guitar. Instead, I ended up with one heck of a story to tell! 😉

And Maybe the Story Isn’t Over Yet…

Next week, I’m going to a Black Label Society concert (Zakk’s current band). Who knows? Maybe I’ll finally get to shake his hand and, while I’m at it, get him to autograph the original 1.44 MB WarmNews floppy disk I’ve been keeping for almost 30 years! 🙂

That would be a pretty cool way to bring things full circle. Or maybe start a whole new chapter!