In a new interview with La Hora Del Vértigo By Stairway To Rock, legendary Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen once again explained why he chooses not to partner with other musicians, preferring instead to handle most of the lead vocals and production duties on his albums himself. He said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “First of all, I like to make something very clear to people like you — no offense — you writers. Some of you people have misunderstood what I am, what I’m doing, what I’m all about.
“When I grew up in Sweden — I’m not gonna get into it, really, but it was a very unhospitable environment for aspiring musicians, so to speak,” the 61-year-old musician explained. “It wasn’t considered to have a real job if you were a musician, composer or whatever. So, I felt not at home there. In any event, at a very early age, I started playing music. I grew up in a classically trained family, and I was surrounded by classical music and jazz and everything like this, and I wanted to play rock and roll. I got my first guitar when I was five years old, and I started playing when I was seven, and from the point I was seven years old, I never stopped. So I started bands when I was like eight, nine, ten years old. But they weren’t really bands. I’ll give you a good example. I was in third grade. I said to a kid in class, ‘Hey, on Friday, we have a gig.’ ‘Oh yeah? What do you mean?’ ‘You’ve gotta play drums.’ ‘I don’t play drums.’ ‘I’m gonna teach you how to play drums.’ ‘I don’t have any drums.’ ‘It’s okay. I’ve got drums.’ That Friday we played a gig. I was eight years old. I was playing with an amp and feedback and shit, and this guy was just holding down the beat. From that day on forward, I’ve been the writer, the lead guitar player, the lead singer — everything. I had 10 million different bass players and drummers. This is in Sweden. I can’t get anywhere in Sweden. I get offered to come to America. I joined a ‘band’ called STEELER. Then I formed a ‘band’ called ALCATRAZZ. Then in January 1984 — I like to point this out; in January 1984 — I signed a solo artist deal [as] Yngwie J Malmsteen. That’s it. Now, all of these people that have been in and out of my projects seem to think they have something to do with it. They don’t. They don’t. It doesn’t matter who’s singing my songs. It doesn’t matter who’s playing the bass or the keyboard or the drums. It doesn’t matter. It’s like saying that the third violinist in the Czech Philharmonic [orchestra] is important for Vivaldi‘s violin concertos. So I’d like to point out, from day one I was a solo artist. I joined a ‘band’ for two weeks in 1983. I formed a band for about a year, and then I was solo artist again, like this. Pit stop.”
Elaborating on why he finds it so difficult to collaborate with other people on his solo albums and live performances, Malmsteen said: “If you want to, you [can] call me a control freak. Go ahead. Call me that all day long. Guilty as charged. I decide when the smoke machine goes off. I decide what light colors are gonna be in the front truss of the lighting. I decide exactly what’s gonna be the intro, what’s gonna not be the intro. I construct the whole show, the whole thing, every night.”
He added: “Music is an art form. So is painting. So is writing books. Now, the way Leonardo da Vinci and people like that, the way they approached their art, it’s more akin to what I do. I don’t paint half the painting and I call someone, ‘Hey, can you come and help me paint the rest of the painting?’ That’s just the way as an artist I am, I’m thinking closer to a classical composer or a painter. And it’s nothing to do with that I don’t like other people or that I don’t want to be with other people. It’s just that I have such a perfect idea.
“Guys, remember this: I’ve been doing this for almost 50 years,” Yngwie added. “A long time. And I’m still doing it. And I’m not stopping now. And the reason for this is I had a vision that goes like this [places his hands close to each other]. And everybody was saying, ‘Do this, do that, do this. You should do this. This is the most thing in.’
“When I grew up in Sweden, all I heard from people was, ‘Oh, you’re never gonna make it. You’re gonna be shit. Oh, what do you think you’re gonna do with that?’ I was playing neoclassical rock then. 1978, I can show you a tape [from then] when I [was] playing neoclassical stuff — really hard metal stuff. But in Sweden, they were laughing at me.
“The thing is that that’s the way I am. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with what other people do. I’m just saying that for me, I have such a clear vision of what I wanna have in my head already…
“Listen, everybody has to find their own way. Like [John] Lennon and [Paul] McCartney. Come on. You know what I mean? This is beautiful, when people do this. That’s just not my way. I’m not saying it’s bad or good. It’s just people are different and that’s how I work.”
As previously reported, Yngwie will release a new live album, “Tokyo Live”, on April 25 via Music Theories Recordings. The concert was recorded at the Zepp DiverCity, Tokyo on May 11, 2024 as part of Yngwie‘s 40th-anniversary world tour.
Malmsteen‘s breathtaking technique takes center stage of the 100-minute concert while being cocooned by exquisite musicianship throughout. The setlist tracks Malmsteen‘s illustrious career, from “Hiroshima Mon Amour” and “Evil Eye” and through his remarkable solo career with “Rising Force”, “Far Beyond The Sun”, “Arpeggios From Hell” and “Seventh Sign” all the way up to his most recent material taken from 2021’s “Parabellum”, with “Wolves At The Door”, “Relentless Fury”, “(Si Vis Pacem) Parabellum”, not to mention rousing renditions of “Paganini’s 4th” and “Smoke On The Water”.
Only four of the songs on “Parabellum” featured vocals. The album title is Latin, translating as “Prepare For War”.
After working with some of the top hard singers of the past four decades, Yngwie now handles much of the lead vocals himself in his own band, backed by a lineup that includes keyboardist Nick Marino, bassist Emilio Martinez and drummer Kevin Klingenschmid.
The name of Yngwie Malmsteen has always stood for uncompromising excellence. In a career that now spans more than 40 years he has proven himself to be a unique artist. You can try to categorize him in any way you wish. But the manner in which this supreme Swedish craftsman has continually developed his music makes Malmsteen sublimely transcend any definition you attempt to impose.
He now has a catalogue of 22 solo studio albums, each of which has much to commend. Malmsteen‘s artistry has always clearly incorporated a healthy virtuosity, but his talent goes well beyond a comprehensive control of the guitar. The man is a fine composer and, on recent releases, has also showcased a strong vocal presence and now, with only this fifth live release, it captures four decades of relentless fury and blissful artistry of one of the true greats.
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