{"id":27058,"date":"2015-06-02T07:00:50","date_gmt":"2015-06-01T21:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=27058"},"modified":"2015-06-02T22:03:46","modified_gmt":"2015-06-02T12:03:46","slug":"yngwie-malmsteen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2015\/06\/yngwie-malmsteen\/","title":{"rendered":"Yngwie Malmsteen"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n<\/a>\u201cThere\u2019s a saying, there\u2019s only two man-made objects that can be seen from outer space, The Great Wall of China and the Malmsteen Marshall stacks *laughs*.\u201d<\/p>\n

From release: Yngwie J. Malmsteen has been blowing minds across the globe with his incredible guitar skills and showmanship for over 35 years and in June 2015,\u00a0Yngwie\u00a0and his band will be returning to Australia and New Zealand for the first time in a decade to strike awe into the legions of guitar fans. The Swedish born, but now US based, guitar legend is venerated as one of the founders of the art of guitar shredding. His neo-classical style and the sheer speed of his playing made him the most notable musician in the genre, and he has influenced a new era of music and guitarists alike.<\/p>\n

Yngwie gave us a call from his studio to discuss his upcoming Australian tour, new music, old music and much more\u2026<\/p>\n

It’s been just under ten years since you’ve been to Australia for a tour but have been back since with a masterclass, what are some of your best memories of your times here?<\/strong>
\nI have nothing but fond memories, every time I\u2019ve been there the people have been super nice, the food is great, the weather is great, everything is great and I always have the best time *laughs*, so I\u2019m looking forward to coming back.<\/p>\n

After so long between tours, with numerous albums out in that time, do you have an idea of how you’ll put together the set lists for these Australian shows?<\/strong>
\nNo *laughs* the way I do things is that if I go on tour, we do thirty dates or whatever, I never do the same set list, ever, and right before we go on stage I call the guys into my room and say \u2018here\u2019s the set list\u2019 and I go on stage and I play something else, so even when I have a set list I don\u2019t follow it, you know what I mean? A perfect example is the two live pieces I just put out from Orlando and Tampa because it was recorded one day apart or whatever, and were different shows, that\u2019s just the way I like to do things.<\/p>\n

Well one of your biggest here and my personal favourite of yours is \u2018Heaven Tonight\u2019 you still give that one a run, yeah?<\/strong>
\nSometimes\u2026<\/p>\n

Sometimes?! Any chance you can play it in Sydney for us please?<\/strong>
\nYep\u2026 *laughs*<\/p>\n

So, with the ‘Live in Tampa’ album out now, this was your first live release since 2002, why was now the right time to record and release this?<\/strong>
\nI didn\u2019t have a specific reason, I just felt like doing it, you know?<\/p>\n

Looking at some live videos, your stage set up is amazing, it looked like about 35 Marshall cabinets and about 18 heads, what do you travel with in terms of your show for a tour like Australia?<\/strong>
\nI have Marshall who provides me Marshall\u2019s in Australia, but when I tour America I bring my own stuff and I use 43 heads and 26 cabinets. There\u2019s a saying, there\u2019s only two man-made objects that can be seen from outer space, The Great Wall of China and the Malmsteen Marshall stacks *laughs*.<\/p>\n

So what do you bring with you, when you have to bring the expensive guitars, how do you keep them roadworthy, what do you do when you have to bring them down?<\/strong>
\nI just bring my Malmsteen models and they just go under the plane like baggage. They\u2019re fine.<\/p>\n

It’s been just over a couple of years since ‘Spellbound’ are you currently working on anything new for a studio album?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m in the studio as we speak, I\u2019m actually calling from the studio. I\u2019m really far into it, in the past you\u2019d do an album then go on a big tour and then go back and do an album, nowadays I tour and record, I tour, I record, I tour, I record and it\u2019s not like a cycle like it used to be. In fact, before I come to see you guys I\u2019m going to do some South American dates and some European dates, so I\u2019m in the recording studio, then I go to do some gigs, then I go back to the recording studio in a way it\u2019s actually better because it keeps us really on top instead of like the past where you spend six months in the studio and then on the road for a year and so forth. So I like it this way, but I\u2019ve been on and off recording for a few months and I\u2019m really happy with it, it\u2019s hard to describe it, it\u2019s very Malmsteen-esque, it\u2019s Malmsteen for sure.<\/p>\n

After playing for so long with no signs of slowing down, how do you keep things fresh and interesting in terms of creating music?<\/strong>
\nWell\u2026 this is the same reason I don\u2019t do the set list the same, because if I would just do written stuff, everything I do is improvised, everything\u2026 solos, intros, whatever, and when I write it\u2019s the same thing, the stuff comes out like that. That\u2019s how it becomes never old, because even when you have pieces of music that you recorded years ago, when you go on stage you don\u2019t play it the same way, I mean I don\u2019t play it the same. So that to me is what makes it fresh, because if it wasn\u2019t, it\u2019s much more challenging, it\u2019s a bigger challenge for me and that\u2019s what keeps me going, because if it was just pre-figured out there wouldn\u2019t be a challenge.<\/p>\n

This may sound like a silly question, but do you still have to practise or is it all natural for you now?
\nI don\u2019t think I ever practice perse, I just pick up the guitar and play a lot, and I still play quite a lot.<\/p>\n

I have to say that I always found your guitars harder to play with the scalloped frets, I just couldn\u2019t get it right\u2026<\/strong>
\nWell it\u2019s something once you get used to it there\u2019s no going back, my son in seventeen now and he\u2019s been playing guitar for three years, he can and I can play a neck that\u2019s not scalloped but once you get to the scalloped frets, it is great especially for bending and stuff like that.<\/p>\n

When you look back to Rising Force, an album now over thirty years old, what do you remember about making that debut solo album?<\/strong>
\nI was a band called Alcatrazz and I was offered a deal to go solo and we started and toured and were in japan and in America were out with Ted Nugent and everybody, and we had a couple of days off and I fly in do a couple of solos and I tried to put that record away while I was still with them. Then everything came to a head and we had a big fight and I left and finished it, and it was done more like the way I make records now, on and off, not just in one shot and it was quite casual because it was like I\u2019m just going to throw something together. No one excluding me expected it to become what it is now, sort of like a blueprint almost, no one, I just jammed and did it, I\u2019m careless, it was very casual.<\/p>\n

Do you have a message for up and coming guitarists?<\/strong>
\nGuitarists and other musicians, it doesn\u2019t matter what you play, one thing to say is there\u2019s no short cut, so only blood, sweat and tears, man. Especially nowadays they\u2019re so used to this computer stuff, you push a button and there\u2019s what you want. This is a piece of wood with steel strings on it and it doesn\u2019t give you anything, it\u2019s all you, and you have to work real hard to get something out of it and once you get into it and learn how to express yourself with it there\u2019s nothing like it, so it\u2019s well worth the effort. I want you to go out and buy my book \u2018Relentless\u2019 because it\u2019s about how against all odds you can actually make it. I wrote a book called \u2018Relentless\u2019.<\/p>\n

Lastly let’s predict the future, so finish this sentence for me, by the end of 2015, Yngwie Malmsteen will…<\/strong>
\nBe playing the guitar, driving Ferrari’s and having a good time\u2026<\/p>\n

And just being awesome by the sounds of it\u2026<\/strong>
\n*laughs* Yeah, and that *laughs*<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yngwie J. Malmsteen Australia & New Zealand Tour Dates:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thursday June 4th<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Powerstation, Auckland NZ<\/p>\n

Saturday June 6th<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The Astor, Perth<\/p>\n

Wednesday June 10th<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 170 Russell, Melbourne<\/p>\n

Thursday June 11th<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The Tivoli, Brisbane<\/p>\n

Friday June 12th<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 HQ, Adelaide<\/p>\n

Saturday June 13th<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The Factory, Sydney<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Essential Information<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> Sweden \/ USA<\/p>\n

Band members: <\/strong>Yngwie Malmsteen<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> www.yngwiemalmsteen.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Latest release:<\/strong> Live in Tampa<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n

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