Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward and Producer Rick Rubin Returning to The Whiskey A Go-Go, where the band performed their first gig 41 years ago are here at 11.11am on November 11.

Announcing the first new studio album in 33 years and launch a world tour. Selling over 70 million albums, the Grammy-winning rock ‘n roll Hall of Fame inductees, dressed in all-black, hit the stage to answer some questions about their future.

Q: Why now are you getting together to make an album and play?

Bill Ward: This is a very special day obviously because it’s the 11/11/11, which is actually Remembrance Day, Armistice Day, and Veteran’s Day in the United States. And this is going out around the world, so just on behalf of the band I’d like to recognise and acknowledge all those who have fallen in wars in the past and present, and for all those that have been injured, either emotionally or are suffering from the wounds that they had come back. So we just want to honour that.

Tony Iommi: It’s now or never with us. We are getting on great, everything is really good, and we’ve got some great music to play.

Q: Was it any one of you that spearheaded the idea of getting back together? Did anyone of you have the bright idea and contacted the others?

Ozzy Osbourne: As time goes by, when you don’t do any album when you say you are going to do it, you miss that thing. It was just time to play. We had tried before, but this time for some reason we had written about seven or eight songs, and they were like wow, you know?

Tony Iommi: I mean, we’ve always been in contact anyway over that period, so it’s not that we haven’t spoke for all these years. It’s a constant thing, so it’s great that we can all actually get in a room and start playing together again.

Q: In 1997, when you all reformed and you went out and you did a lot of shows for a few years but no album came out of it. I think for a lot of people that was the great hope that not only would there be this tour, but there would be new Black Sabbath music and there were two songs at least, but not the full album. Who’s idea was it to bring in Rick Rubin?

Bill Ward: It was Rick. He kept phoning us up every five minutes you know… (laughter) Couldn’t stop him.

Ozzy Osbourne: Well it was… I’ve known Rick for many years and, people would be going, ‘I’m going to his house, and he’d be playing Black Sabbath and The Beatles as well,’ and he was always saying, ‘Do you think you want to get back together?’ He wanted to do it a long time ago. He said anytime, and it’s going to work with him.

Q: Geezer, are you looking forward to getting into this endeavour with the other three?

Geezer Butler: Yeah, I’m looking forward to getting out of here! (laughs) I mean, Tony has come up with absolutely incredible music, and it’s great to be part of that. It really is back to the old Sabbath style and sound and we tried that before and it just didn’t seem to work. It wasn’t to our standards, but this time, the stuff that Tony has been playing is just absolutely brilliant and great to be a part of it. So, we’re all excited again, and we know that this time, it’s going to happen.

Q: Rick (Rubin) a question for you, in preparation to bring the band in with these songs, did you have any environment set up for them or any strategy that you are going to employ?

Rick Rubin: It’s just creating an environment where they are as comfortable as they are in the rehearsals that we go to, where it feels natural and easy and it’s a no pressure situation. When I’ve stood in the room with them when they’ve played, it sounds remarkably like Black Sabbath, and as long as it sounds like that, we are on the right track.

Q: Is there any specific date on when you are planning on bringing the band in, has work begun?

Rick Rubin: We’ve been working on developing the material, and we are probably half way into the writing process, so hopefully early next year we will record.

Q: And how involved have you been in the writing process? Are you going to rehearsals with them, are you writing with them?

Rick Rubin: I come to some rehearsals. They play me songs and I tell them what I think, and the normal process. But it’s really inspiring hearing what’s coming out.

Q: Are you gentlemen looking forward to going out into the world next year and into 2013 with potentially new music and a brand new tour with the four of you together. You’ve been touring without each other for a while, but now back together, what do you think about that? Excitement?

Bill Ward: Something I look forward to. We all play together. It’s like a lot of magical things, nobody plays like this band. When we do our individual stuff…

Q: There’s one thing about Black Sabbath which should not be understated, if Black Sabbath is missing any one of the members, it’s no longer Black Sabbath and it’s one of those wonderful bands where it really is a combination of the parts, and it’s not the Ozzy Osbourne Show, it’s not just some big riff, it really is four component parts. Tony, what are your hopes for this reunion?

Tony Iommi: It’s just great to be back together and be able to play, and write some great music, I’ve been with the guys that I’ve known all my life, it’s a real special thing, we’ve known each other so long and it’s very friendly and now we are actually working together and being in a room, it’s great fun and we are really enjoying it.

Q: If you think back, and you remember what it was like to play here at the Whiskey all those years ago when you were opening for Alice Cooper. Any specific memories from that night?

Tony Iommi: Yeah, we didn’t open for Alice Cooper. (laughs)

Bill Ward: Yeah, we don’t remember Alice Cooper. It was a great time we played till four and about 48 hours before that and so for us it was just like the continuation of the party. So we showed up in top hat and tails and we are all extremely silly. But we rocked the place and it was great and it felt nice because we played a lot of small theatres and small clubs, obviously during second apprenticeship or first apprenticeship or whatever you want to call it, but coming back into a club, especially after doing the Forum and some of the other gigs we played in Europe, it was a nice touch. It was really good and everything was just good to go.

Tony Iommi: And we rented these white suits, these top hats and tails and when we went to take them back, they wouldn’t accept them.

Geezer Butler: No, they wouldn’t. It was actually filthy, (laughter) actually I sweated, it was so hot in the place and I play pretty hard, so I was sweating profusely, so I was down to my underpants…

Tony Iommi: Which is not a nice sight… (Laughs)

Geezer Butler: Ask him. He’ll tell you…. so they wouldn’t take my suit back, as a matter of fact, I’ve got it now, and I’m thinking about giving it to the Hall of something. (laughs)

Tony Iommi: Hall of excrement.

Q: How long have you four guys known each other?

Ozzy Osbourne: for 50 years.

Q: So what year would that be?

Tony Iommi: A long time ago. (laughs)

Bill Ward: I mean Tony and I played in a band, we were sixteen I guess…

Tony Iommi: Seventeen.

Bill Ward: That’s when we started playing together and we met Terry and Oz.

Q: It’s a pretty unique relationship the four of you have had over so many decades. What’s it like when you are in the same room and you see these faces that you’ve seen maybe almost as long as you’ve seen the faces of your parents.

Geezer Butler: It’s a real special thing. We have a good laugh and a good time and we are all relaxed with each other. We’ve known each other that long and it’s like putting on an old glove.

Q: Regarding the set list for the tour, outside of new material for the new album, what can we expect this time around? Any chance of any deeper cuts?

Tony Iommi: We haven’t actually got that far yet but I’m sure we’ll be playing new stuff and different stuff if that’s the answer to that. If you are expecting us to play the same set as last time, it won’t be.

Q: For the tour, do you think you’ll be playing more outdoor amphitheatres or do you prefer more indoor kind of arena rock? Any preference for the facilities you are going to play?

Geezer Butler: There’s not really any difference once you go stage, apart from when you are outdoor or indoor….

Bill Ward: I think if the band showing up and the audience is there, I don’t know if it makes that much difference. For me, from a very personal point of view, sometimes if we are outdoors and it’s a windy night the sound actually shifts across the stage, so that can be a little bit worrisome sometimes. Other than that, we just show up and we play.

Q: Any chance you are going to get to screw the lawyers and have one of your brothers guest appear and also, are you going to sing on the new album?

Bill Ward: I wouldn’t think so…

Q: Come on man.

Bill Ward: I appreciate what you are saying, but I want to focus with my drums and that’s my number one priority, and it’s always a learning process where I feel like we are in, and I’m certainly in as a drummer. So I just want to focus on being the best drummer I can be right now. But I appreciate the salutations. (laughs)

Q: It’s been said that anger and gloom can inspire the best rock and roll. Do you think that’s true and do you think that the current state of world affairs might inspire what you are doing now to the best degree in a long, long time?

Geezer Butler: It’s bound to have some kind of influence on what we write about as we always have done. We’ve always written lyrics about what goes on in the world and in our personal lives, so it’s bound to come out somewhere.

Q: Have you guys started to think about what kind of bands you guys would like to support you guys on tour?

Geezer Butler: No, not here, not yet

Q: When can we expect you guys Down Under?

Bill Ward: It would be nice to put that on the schedule, it’s been a long time since the original band was in Australia, and so I think it’s a must on a personal level.

Q: And what’s your favorite thing to do while you are in Australia?

Bill Ward: One of our favorite things to drive cars into the Ocean on Bondi Beach. I don’t think we are going to be doing that, and Ozzy and I always used to have a good fight in the water fountain at King’s Cross. So I don’t know. We had a strawberry fight and that killed it, so we’ll probably have a good time and we’ll want to rock and roll, so play some good stuff, some strong music for the Australian fans down there. We’ll be kind to them as well.