Nouvelle interview

Widely recognised for his virtuoso guitar skills, Swedish-born guitar legend Yngwie Malmsteen achieved widespread acclaim and iconic status due to his unrivaled technical proficiency and his pioneering of the neo-classical metal genre.

Coming to prominence in the early ’80s with bands such as Steeler and Alcatrazz, in the world of guitar Malmsteen has done it all; releasing over 20 studio albums, both solo and with his Rising Force band, has recorded with orchestras, released instructional books and DVDs, received numerous accolades and a multitude of endorsements, including the first ever Fender Stratocaster signature model.
A superstar in Japan and South America, where he is one of the biggest selling artists of all time, Malmsteen has dominated the world of rock guitar for over two decades.

On tour in support of his latest Rising Force album – Unleash The Fury Malmsteen is heading to WA for the first time to do an in-store appearance, officially opening Kosmic’s new Cannington music store on Saturday, November 18, as well as a live show at Metro City on Sunday, November 19.

By DAVE HARRISON

This is your first time to Western Australia. Can you remember the last time you were here and your impressions of the country?
The problem is I’ve never had enough time to spend there, you know? Every time I’ve been to Australia I’ve been like ‘fly in, do Melbourne, Sydney, and out of there’, so unfortunately I haven’t really experienced as much as I would like to, but what I’ve seen I’ve really liked. Beautiful country, really nice people, great crowds, I’ve always enjoyed it very much.

Where did the idea to combine classical music and rock guitar come from?
I was the youngest member of my family, I have an older brother and sister and my mother, my father, my uncles, my aunts… everybody is a musician. My grandfather was a drummer… it’s like music, music, music everywhere… and art, a lot of art and music.

I had a very artistic kind of upbringing. As a little kid I wasn’t really into being a musician. My mother gave me a guitar on my fifth birthday, and a trumpet on my sixth birthday, and so on, but when I was seven I saw a TV news special about Jimi Hendrix. It showed him burning his guitar and you didn’t even hear the music, just saw him burning a guitar, and I thought that was so cool. I already had a guitar, so I started playing that same day – September 18, 1970 - I was only a little kid.

One year later my older sister Lulu gave me Deep Purple’s Fireball, which is a really hard rock album, and I went out and bought In Rock the next day. I was listening to songs like Fireball, Flight Of The Rat - just so heavy - so I learned how to play all these solos and stuff and, contrary to most people’s opinion or theory, is that Deep Purple, along with all other rock ‘n’ roll bands were all blues based. Pentatonic scales and my classical influence did not come from them. A lot of people seem to think so, but no no no no.

I love these guys… my favourite band ever. My classical music didn’t come from there, but my love for hard rock was definitely from ’Purple. What I wanted to do was try and take this whole thing with the double bass drums and the Marshalls all the way up and all that shit, and play with counterpoints and pedal notes, inverted chords, Phrygian modes, inverted scales, diminished scales… all that shit.

Then I saw a TV program: it was a guy playing violin. They said it was music from Niccolo Paganini. When I heard that I said ‘fuck, that’s what I want to go for on the guitar’. So my guitar playing is 99.9 per cent influenced by classical violin… mainly Paganini, Vivaldi, and Tchaikovsky… and my songwriting is very Bach in the structuring, because I’ve always loved the counterpoint and the harmonic minor kind of things… but I love the sound of the metal ensemble. That’s how it all started.

That’s a long fucking time ago man. Is it the barocque era of classical music you are most fond of?
Yeah for sure, but the virtuoso violin stuff was really later on, the more romantic era… late 18th century / early19th century. That when Franz List, Chopin… the virtuoso era was in the early 1800s. Paganini was unsurpassed in every way. Before that Vivaldi was considered a very virtuoso violinist, which he was as well. The Arpeggios linear scales and everything - I pretty much got that from Paganini.

How do you think that lends itself to rock music that originally comes from the blues, especially the early metal stuff like Zeppelin, Sabbath, Purple?
Yeah for sure man. Nothing wrong with that, I love the blues. I felt, being such a fanatical little kid, I felt like I had mastered all the whole box shapes. I really felt frustrated with that. That’s why I really branched out when I got into the violin.

When you think about it violin is tuned in fifths. Listen to, for instance, 16th, 24th and the 5th caprice from Nicolo Paganini… some of the stretched are ridiculous, so when you try to get that sound on guitar, it’s really fucking demanding. No one had really done that. I heard it in my heard. That’s why I always really love the Stratocaster too, because it had a much more bell-like sound than, say, a Les Paul or a guitar with those type of pickups.

You got the idea for a scalloped fretboard?
I got that from seeing an old 17th century lute. The really ironic part is that when I was a little kid and Ritchie Blackmore was my god, I didn’t know that he had scalloped necks. Back then there was no internet, there was no source for information, your saw pictures on the records and that’s it. I discovered it all on my own.

Speaking of your guitars I believe you were the first person ever to have his own signature model Fender Stratocaster?
Yes, and then Clapton and Beck. I was the first one and I’m so honoured. I still have a very close relationship with Fender, and work with them. They just redid my model… they’re just amazing.

So you’re very much a purist with your equipment… Fender and your choice of Marshall amps… are you like that with other things?
Yeah… Ferrari or nothing! I’m also a big fan of Rolex watches. I collect them.
That’s a good term for it, I am a bit of a purist.

You have around 20 studio albums, many best-of compilations, and numerous live albums, not to mention many special guest credits with other artists. How do you keep from burning out and stay enthusiastic after all these years?
It’s funny, because every time I pick up a guitar - whether I’m sitting on the couch, or if I’m at soundcheck, or in the studio or whatever – it’s always exciting. Especially if you’ve been away for a little bit and you turn on the big fucking Marshalls… yeah it’s very exciting. It never really gets old for me.

I think I know why… because I never play the same thing. I always improvise. My shows are never the same, and the guys in my band they can attest to this: we make a set list and even though we make the set list I will just throw in another song without telling them… whatever happens.

So it’s the live environment where it all comes alive for you then?
Obviously it’s most exciting when you actually have the instant gratification of playing in front of people and they give you love back… that surpasses words, really. It’s an amazing feeling.

What is the key to musical longevity to you? You’ve been around a long time and you’re still going strong… I gather you’re not into chasing the latest trends or fads in music?
I really never really did that. There was a short period in the ’80s,where there was a very formulated thing on the radio, and I kind of did that for a little bit: I had a couple of songs that I deliberately did that with, and that was okay I guess for the time, but in all honesty, I always wondered about that too.

When I dictate this book I’m writing (to this lady I’m doing it with) I often think about what the fuck it was that drove me on, because it wasn’t fame. The style I was going for wasn’t going to be instant fame or anything like that… it was something that was undone, basically.

A lot of people, as I was starting in Sweden, would say ‘fuck this guy is never going to get anywhere’. I heard that more often than not. It would have been a lot easier to go ahead and play a little bit more like ‘this’ or like ‘that’.

These days Sweden has lots and lots of metal bands who seem to be doing very well.
It seems quite the opposite now. In the late ’70s, when I grew up in Sweden, there was a couple of other bands around - like the band that became Europe, who I grew up with - but mostly it was fucking dead. There wasn’t a market for it really. I always dreamed of going to England or something like that, and then one day I got a call to come to the States, and there we are.

Are there any current artists or musicians that you think are great at the moment?
I’m convinced there are a bunch of great bands. I heard a couple of bands that sounded really good… I like the Evanesence thing, I like Avenged Sevenfold… some of those. I have to say I don’t really pay attention too much. I have other pastimes - like I’m a complete tennis freak; I play tennis every day.

So you’re living a healthy lifestyle these days. You’re not smoking and drinking anymore?
I’m completely the opposite to how I used to be. I’m really, really, taking care of myself and I’m really clean… I don’t do anything.

Was it difficult for you to give up those vices?
Little-by-little. I was a heavy cigarette smoker for a while. I quit everything and I’ve been off drinking for about two years. Nowadays I truly enjoy it. I live in a very nice tropical area, so you really enjoy the day and sun and everything, I’m feeling really tip top. I feel like it reflects in my music and everything, so it’s all good.

Who’s in your touring band at the moment?
I have the same band that I’ve had since the longest time: it’s Doogie White on vocals, Patrik Johansson on drums, Derik Sherinian on keyboards, and Mick Cervino on bass.

I noticed you had bass legend Rudy Sarzo (Quit Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Dio) was in your line up a little while back.
Oh man what a sweetheart, he’s a real good friend of mine.

He has just put out a book that I believe Sharon Osbourne tried to suppress. Did that inspire you in any way?
He was actually writing that as we were touring. I told him I wanted to write a book myself and I just couldn’t get off my arse to do it, and he was like ‘no you got to do it, you’ve got to do it, it’s very good for you and people will really connect and appreciate it’.
I’m taking my time with it. I’m more or less dictating it, because it’s my words and my life. It’s going to be an eye-opener… some people are going to go ‘wow’. It’s very intimate as well, with a few of the chapters. I haven’t read Rudy’s book, but I could just call him up and he’ll send it to me.

Late drum legend Cozy Powell (Rainbow, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath) played on your Facing The Animal album… what was it like working with him?
The first show I saw in my whole life, my first concert ever when I was 12 years old, was Richie Blackmore’s Rainbow on the Rising tour: Dio, Blackmore, Powell - man I was fucking speechless for a month. I was only a little kid. His double bass drumming on the Rising album is just so there. Then I have him in my studio recording… amazing! Let’s put it this way: Ian Paice is a monster technically, but Cozy had this thing… he was like a fucking freight train, man. God bless him.

Do you have any pre performance rituals and having such a large back catalogue of albums are there any song staples in your set.
I try to focus as much as I can, but there’s usually so much crazy shit going on. I mean, it’s not a set thing. I take my time at sound-check… I take long sound-checks as I want to be familiar with the venue.
Far Beyond The Sun probably is always going to be there, because I enjoy it, if I don’t enjoy it wouldn’t play.

Have you any advice or wisdom you would like to give any aspiring or upcoming musicians who may be reading this?
Keep on doing it. I don’t know how to explain it really. My book will be a lot more in-depth, but the passion and the sacrifice that you have to have - you are going to be laughed at a lot of times and people are going to say you can’t do it - that’s when you don’t quit and become a bus driver or something. Not that there is anything wrong with bus drivers, but there are great bus drivers and there are great musicians and you know what… we have to choose one.
At the end of the day you don’t live other people’s lives; you live your fucking life and what you’ve got to do, you’ve got to do. Sacrifice, ridicule… whatever you fucking have to take, do it anyway… it always works.

Je met en ligne une interview très intéressante d'Anne Petty où Yngwie parle de sa vie, de ses projets de DVD live, de sa relation avec l'alcool et comment cela a nuit à ses performances scèniques etc.... Ca date de fin 2006, des dragons archives, à la fin de la tournée Unleash the fury!

Yngwie Talks About Touring, Traveling,
and Life in General

I spoke with Yngwie on Dec. 3 2006 about his recently completed tour of Asia and Australia. I asked if he was pleased with the shows and how this tour compared to the previous ones promoting Unleash the Fury.
Here’s what he has to say.
—Anne
YNGWIE:
The only complaint I have is with the travel itself. Flying from the U.S. to Thailand, and then to Singapore and Hong Kong, and then on to Australia, we were jetlagged a good part of the time. And Australia is so huge, that the only way to get anywhere is by plane – no tour bus. We spent a lot of time bleary-eyed in airports. The trip back to the U.S. was just insane! For some reason, the flights were booked in a pattern that zigzagged across the Australian continent, which made no sense and took about a day longer than it should have. I was completely done in by the time I got home. But the tour itself was hugely satisfying, and pretty wild, actually. We had two very different cultures back to back (Asia and Australia), so the contrast was significant. I have to say, the people in Thailand are so nice – so gentle and peace-loving. We were treated well most of the places we went, but Bangkok really stands out in my mind.
The shows in all the places went very well, I think. And some went so well, they rank right up there with the best I can remember ever doing. Playing the way I do now, totally straight and clear-headed, has been a gradual process for me. Before I changed my lifestyle and gave up alcohol, I realize now that I played a lot of shows in a kind of distracted blur, where my mind was skipping around, thinking about distracting things during the show. But these past few tours, and especially this one, I have been completely immersed in the performance itself. It’s hard to describe the difference, but to me it’s immense. In some of these past shows, I have been so totally in the moment that I feel like I’m part of the music itself, and I can hear exactly what’s going on, I’m completely aware, and it’s a huge difference. To quote Paganini, “One must feel strongly to make others feel strongly.” For example, I played things that I’ve played a billion times, like “Adagio,” which is my improvisations around Albinoni’s original piece, but this time, it was like an out of body experience and I was listening to it at the same time as performing it – all happening totally in the moment. The performance became a complete connection with my mind and body, and instrument and the sound coming out of it – it was all one. I’ve never felt this type of clear, pure connection with the music and the act of playing it before, ever.
When I came off the stage in Sydney, Australia, I was completely exhausted. In that show, I went full on, full bore, from the start to the end. When I got back to the dressing room, powering down and getting out of my sweaty clothes, my tour manager told me there were people who really wanted to meet me, but I had to say that as much as I appreciated them coming to see me, all I wanted to do was go crash. I was literally wrung out dry – there was nothing left of me! The energy on this whole tour was amazing across all the shows, but that show in Sydney was exceptional. There was something that just clicked. It all fell into place, and everyone knew it. In the past, in the few times when I happened to play clear-headed, I was so self-critical that I couldn’t stand it. I heard every little glitch and mistake, and thought to myself, this can’t be enjoyable for anybody, this is really not good. I’ve always been very self critical, almost to point where it’s perverted and obsessive. I know people in the past have thought it was a round-about way of fishing for compliments, but let me assure you, that never entered my head. If I felt a performance sucked, and someone tried to tell me otherwise, I’d just think, well, they must be deaf if they couldn’t tell that I sucked big-time.
So, that’s always been the case ever since I started playing music as an adolescent, really. I never was happy, ever, and thought everything I did was terrible and that I had to work harder and harder to get better. Once I got to America and had settled into the routine of the rock scene in L.A., I fell more and more under the influence of alcohol (I never had much interest in drugs… alcohol was my vice of choice), and the more I consumed before the show, the less I criticized my performance. I’d think, “Well, this ain’t too bad,” and I began to rationalize it in my mind that way. So, alcohol created a barrier between what I was really capable of and wanted to do, and what I settled for night after night. For example, when I was soloing onstage and not being satisfied with what I was hearing, it could become a downward spiral, where the situation would get worse and worse. I’d make a mistake or play something I thought was poor, and then in that alcoholic haze, I’d just think “Fuck it” and let it slide, and my state of mind would get worse and worse. It never did bring the whole fuckin’ ship down, but there were times when it was close to the edge. Now jump to the present, when I started touring completely sober and clear-headed. For the first couple of shows, I was shocked at the way it sounded to me – I was thinking, “What the hell is this? This whole show sounds like shit!” Nothing escaped my ears, and I was aware of the total vibe of the concert. It was unnerving, at first. I also started to play much more precisely, with a lot less “fooling around.” In the past, there might have been up to a minute between the songs, but now I only allowed a couple of seconds before launching into the next song. Doogie said to me that he used to have little speeches ready to fill in between songs, but now he couldn’t squeeze in a damn word. I would be just bang, bang, bang, like a fuckin’ Gatlin gun!
At the beginning of that first European tour after I quit drinking, I just wanted the whole tour to end. Not every night, mind you, but for a number of them, I just couldn’t stand the way everything sounded, because I could hear everything crystal clear, and there was no alcohol crutch to fall back on and say, “Eh, that’s good enough.” It really shook me, because I was thinking that suddenly the thing I loved most in the world – performing music – had potentially lost its joy for me. I went through some bad times thinking, “Okay, now what am I going to do, if I have to do something I don’t enjoy?” But day by day, gradually, it got better, and toward the end of the tour in Spain, especially in Barcelona and Madrid, some really good things began to happen. I began to approach the whole performance experience from a different plane, you could say. Then, when we came back to the States and the first American tour for Unleash the Fury kicked off, I felt I was starting to fire on all cylinders in a new way. But definitely, it was a slow process of finding myself and adjusting to this new awareness in a way that wasn’t so hypercritical but was still clear-headed and totally in control of the moment. Then we did Japan briefly, and I felt it went by really too fast which didn’t give me a good sense of my new attitude toward playing there. But after that, it has been like growing a pair of wings and soaring up into the sky. This tour I just finished was absolutely the best. There were nights where the whole experience was transcendent. Looking at my career in this context, I can see that those alcohol-fueled shows were like looking through a dirty window, and now things are painfully clear, like looking through a diamond or something. It’s not rose colored, at all, and sometimes it’s hard, but ultimately the payoff is better than anything I could have imagined. I mean, my god, I think back to some of the nights on this latest tour, it was just pure magic!
And the best part is, I know that it will only continue to go up from here.

pour résumer en une phrase cette longue interview en anglais: Sans alcool la fête est plus folle lol

Ca me laisse perplexe ce qu'il raconte quand même, apparemment il trouve qu'il joue mieux depuis qu'il a arrêté de boire. Pourtant de ce que j'ai entendu récemment, notamment au Namm show, il était souvent à coté de la plaque.
Moralité: comme l'a dit justement Wismerill faudrait peut-être qu'il recommence à picoler...

Ce qui est marrant c'est qu'il essaie d'être auto-critique, qu'il sait quand c'est nul ce qu'il a fait. Il a du oublier ce qu'il fait depuis les années 2000 alors! Ou alors il déprime tout seul dans son coin face à la qualité de son travail sans que personne le sache lol

"In the past, in the few times when I happened to play clear-headed, I was so self-critical that I couldn’t stand it"
Tiens tiens, Monsieur serait-il alors en train de ravaler sa fierté maintenant?
Peut-être qu'il va reprendre de bons musiciens alors

ça va faire tout de même trois ans qu'il n'a pas sorti un disque... il s'est inscrit aux AA pour prendre autant de temps??

Une interview toute fraiche et sympatoche d'Yngwie "Mr j'assume" :

Yngwie Malmsteen: tennis fan
By Kat Dibbits

IT would be fair to say that Yngwie Malmsteen has a bit of a reputation.

According to most interviews with him, the guitarist regards his guest singers as slightly inferior, thinks all music created since 1983 is awful and has a habit of shouting when asked a question he doesn't like.

It's slightly disappointing then to find that in reality he is perfectly pleasant, with a charmingly sing-song Scandinavian accent and a philosophical attitude towards his position as the creator of neo-classical metal.
advertisementAnd he only swore once.
For the latest tour, which hits Manchester on Saturday, Yngwie has recruited former Judas Priest singer "Ripper" Owens. But he says he is not hogging the limelight from the vocalist.

"It's been the whole situation that I've created for myself," he says. "In that I am the songwriter and I produce the records, and once I go on the road I always bring the best guys that I can have.

"I let them have all the freedom they can have, all the attention they can get. On stage we do a lot of the songs that people know, there's a solo spot and I do some improvisations, it's not like a one-man show.

"It's just that when it comes to making the records I basically do all of it."

What about the accusation that he doesn't listen to any contemporary music?
"That's actually true, and that would actually include everything that's contemporary now and the last 25 years as well," he says.

"Basically what it comes down to is that when you're that involved with creating music it's not something that you do for recreation. I have other hobbies. You only have that many hours in the day and I have a family, I like to do lots of other things. I work on cars and I drive race cars and I play tennis and lots of other things.

"It's not like I'm saying there's nothing good out there, it's just that if you get so consumed with creating something and you write a song and you write the lyrics and you're producing and arranging and touring, I don't have any interest in it.

"Plus when I was very very very young, the style that I decided on was formed then and it crystalised then, and I have no intention to go anywhere else with it. I found my way, my vision, and that's where I'm going.

"I think one of the reasons I'm still doing what I'm doing is because that's what I do. I don't follow trends and I don't mind what other people do.

"Having said that, I'm not saying it in an arrogant way, I don't mean it that way at all. It's not because I'm on some sort of high horse thinking that everything else is not good. But when I don't work on music then other things take my time."

A new Malmsteen album is due out around September. He describes it as "in the same vein I guess, but much more, you know? Much more powerful and much more faster and much more heavier. It's pretty extreme, so I'm excited about it."

Yngwie Malmsteen plays the Academy 2, in Manchester, on Saturday.


1:26pm Thursday 10th July 2008

Un extrait d'une interview de Goran Edman qui parle de sa période Yngwie:

You also sung with Yngwie J Malmsteen, a wonderful guitarist possibly one of the most legendary people for changing personnel around. What happened with you and Yngwie after Fire & Ice?
It is the same old story. I did not receive any publishing money ore statements and became very suspicious about it. I consulted a layer in the Swedish Music association where I am a member, and he became very interested in the case. It took us 5 years before we received the money from Yngwie's private publishing company. There is justice after all.

Not much chance of the two of you working together again in the future?
He called me about the Inspiration album and wanted me to sing a couple of tracks. After considerations I felt that I did not want to be a part of the Yngwie Malmsteen gallery so I turned the offer down.
I have nothing against Yngwie and I agree that he is an outstanding guitar player. I wish him all the best but I will never work for him again. I think Mark's voice is perfect for Yngwie's music. He is a natural born high range singer.

Was he the most 'challenging' artist you have ever collaborated with?!!
In a way. I mean he was a very established artist, with a bad reputation, touring the international arenas all over the world at the time. There where a lot of fans dedicated to his discography of various singers and to sing covers on Joe Lynn, Mark or Jeff was not that easy. A voice is such a personal and individual instrument.
When we did Heaven Tonight, Yngwie used a sample of the quires from the 'Odessy 'album and it always felt very strange with Joe Lynn Turners voice opening the song. After all it was a good experience and I had a lot of fun.

intéressant, mais on apprend rien, sauf pour la pochette de Trilogy! c'est tout de même s'il remixe certains albums, même si le seul qui le mérite est WTEAW, les autres ont un excellent son!

C'est vrai que l'histoire de la pochette est sympa... Mais moi, un truc qui m'intéresse c'est ça : “Caprici di Diablo,” is the hardest thing I’ve ever played in my life!
Ca me met l'eau à la bouche...

pour chaque album, il y a un truc très dur qu'il place. juste pour le défi. mais bon, comme tout est dur...

Nouvelle interview audio et une petite vidéo...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OaouDOOQME
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_8cNly0J4E&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQBsf4Mhvos&feature=related

(entre parenthèse, le jeu vidéo d'Aerosmith dont il est question, c'est celui-là?
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=M3eMZdIm6GI&feature=related )

Nouvelle interview du maestro. on apprend pas mal de choses sur la manière dont il a abordée ce nouvel opus, 1 an et demi de travail en tout!
http://www.classicrockrevisited.com/

Ca dit notamment ca, ce qui présage le meilleur...
"Now, in 2008, Yngwie is poised to release an album of heavy metal ferocity. Perpetual Flame will take the guitar, and the metal world, by storm as Malmsteen has dipped into the creative well and come up with the best stuff he has made since Rising Force."

faut voir! les journalistes qui l'apprécient diront que c'est son meilleur effort, que Tim apporte un plus, alors que les autres vont lui foutre une volée de bois vert dans la tronche. donc, mes oreilles seront mon meilleur conseiller.

+1 Walter

En effet, les journalistes ont la fâcheuse habitude de toujours en rajouter plusieurs couches.

c'est très subversif car si on aime, on est partie prenante. et quand on aime pas, on ne fait guère d'effort et on se base sur son goût... donc, l'avis d'un journaliste, c'est très relatif

Ce qui est très subversif aussi c'est d'être un éternel insatisfait. Ca fait plusieurs journalistes qui disent qu'ils ont trouvé ca très bons. Ce n'est plus anodin à ce niveau là. Donc ca peut donner une idée de la qualité de cet album, non? Je crois que c'est inutile d'être méfiant ou raleur juste pour le simple principe d'être méfiant ou raleur...
En même temps je sais bien que y'en aura toujours qui seront jamais contents quoique Malmsteen fasse.

ce n'est pas de la méfiace envers l'artiste mais envers les journaleux. puis mieux vaut être insatisfait permanent que de tout accepter sans rien dire, hein Tonton Mick ;-)

J'espère seulement que tu seras satisfait si l'album est bon parce que j'ai remarqué que tu as tendance (à tort) à être souvent insatisfait systématiquement dès qu'il s'agit de Malmsteen!
Les avis de ceux qui l'ont écoutés sont très positifs, c'est plutôt bon signe non?
Malmsteen +Owens+ production ambitieuse: les journaleux confirment ce qui transpire à travers cette collaboration détonnante et ce travail d'écriture d'1 an et demi.

CHacun se fera son avis quand l'album sera disponible dans les bacs ;-)