When Marty Friedman first moved to Japan in 2004, it was with the main intention to work with some of his favorite Japanese recording artists. Little did he know that he would soon become just as famous in the Land of the Rising Sun as a TV personality as he is for his music and shred soloing. But through it all, the former Megadeth and Cacophony guitarist has continued to regularly work with others on music and issue his own solo albums — with his latest LP, Tokyo Jukebox 3, arriving in 2020.
The last track on Tokyo Jukebox 3 is the “Japan Heritage Official Theme Song,” a track Friedman wrote at the request of the Japanese government. He recently released a music video for the song that showcases cultural landmarks in Japan.
Due to the state of the world over the past couple years, Friedman was not able to properly tour outside of Japan … until now. Friedman and his band (comprised of guitarist Naoki Morioka, bassist Wakazaemon, and drummer Chargeeeeee) recently kicked off a run of US dates opening for metal veterans Queensrÿche. The tour began almost immediately after the guitarist’s onstage reunion with Megadeth at Tokyo’s Budokan Arena. He’s also playing a few headlining shows between the Queensrÿche dates.
Friedman was up for speaking to Heavy Consequence the day after the Budokan appearance with Megadeth, which he discussed in the first part of our interview. In this part of the conversation, he talks about Tokyo Jukebox 3, the current US tour, his popularity in Japan, and his ongoing friendship with his Cacophony bandmate Jason Becker (who has been battling ALS since 1990).
Read the conversation below, and pick up tickets to Friedman’s US dates with Queensrÿche and headlining shows here or here.
Is it exciting to be returning to the States to tour with Queensrÿche?
Marty Friedman: The focus of myself and my band at this time and putting that Megadeth/Budokan thing in the middle of it just kind of added to the excitement. So, I’m just very high off seeing the people’s faces at Budokan and the tears and screaming. Fans put a lot into a certain moment like that, and us and the band, we know that’s there, but we’re just trying to put on a good performance. But the fans have their own individual experiences that go with listening to Megadeth for so many years. So, they get that, and to watch that unfold, it really is a big adrenaline rush for me. Adding that to my solo tour that starts [March 3rd] in America, it’s just fantastic.
And my band, they’re all Megadeth fans, so they’re just totally pumped and we’re excited about that. We’re really excited about bringing what we’ve been doing in Japan to America for the first time since the pandemic. And this time, my band is all Japanese, and we’re doing a lot of the stuff we did on our Japanese tour. We just did the biggest tour that I’ve ever done in Japan – 17 shows, which is unheard of in Japan, really. And the band is just so on fire to play in America together. To get out of the country … I’ve toured three times in Japan since the pandemic started, and haven’t left the country since then. Nobody has really toured outside of Japan much. On one album doing three tours, that’s kind of stretching it.
So finally, we get to tour America for Tokyo Jukebox 3. People in America are finally going to hear those songs live — as well as a lot of my catalog stuff that I haven’t done. We’re just completely pumped. And Queensrÿche is a super band — I look forward to being on the same stage with them. Their music is so different from ours. Fans of our music and fans of their music are going to discover something new. It’s going to be a great time for all.