I remember the first time I felt The Rising Force. The air was crisp and frigid that night in Chicago 1986. Though our faces were numb from the cold, the fury was screaming and heaven was falling. I felt it coming on strong. The Aragon Ball Room on Lawrence Avenue was packed with guitar disciples charged with eager anticipation and sweaty palms. Lucifer’s guitar player was in the neighborhood. Yngwie J. Malmsteen’s Marching Out tour was underway. Billy Sheehan’s band Talas was the opening act and little did we know that when we left, we would have an inferiority complex that would last a lifetime.
I first heard about The Viking in guitar magazines. In 1982, Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records heard a demo sent to him from Sweden by an ambitious 19-year-old guitar player. Varney must have liked it a whole lot because he flew him to the U.S. to record him. He joined the band Steeler to overdub guitar parts and later joined Alcatrazz. The album No Parole From Rock N’ Roll and the live recording Live Sentence, is a must own for anyone considering themselves Malmsteen freaks. If you’re a true disciple, you own the DVD of Alcatrazz Live in Japan and watch it while wearing your “Yngwie Who?” t-shirt. There is no disputing that this DVD has some of the greatest guitar playing in the history of mankind.
Malmsteen’s "Bach N’ Roll" compositional style, which had already been conceived as a 16-year-old, was the central focus of Alcatrazz. His approach was a fusion of heavy rock and baroque melodies extrapolated from J.S. Bach and Nicolo Paganini. Although Malmsteen is considered the father of neo-classical metal, one cannot dispute that he wouldn’t have arrived there without the influence of Ritchie Blackmore, Uli Jon Roth and Jimi Hendrix. Malmsteen played violinistic Bach melodies with the effortless speed of Paganini written for a Marshall and Stratocaster. It’s what it is! Love it or hate it, it’s what he does and he does it better than anybody else. Needless to say, Malmsteen puts on one hell of a show—he still uses smoke machines on stage.
By 1984 Malmsteen had moved on and released his first solo album, the mostly instrumental Rising Force. It was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental and went to #60 on the Billboard album charts. Yngwie Malmsteen continued to record and released Marching Out, Trilogy, Odyssey and Trial By Fire: Live in Lenningrad. This live record was the biggest concert ever attended by a western artist in the Soviet Union at that time.
With his changing band line up, Malmsteen continued to record numerous albums throughout the 1990s and into the turn of the century. Aside from his Concerto Suite For Electric Guitar and Orchestra recorded with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in Prague, Malmsteen has continued to crank out the double bass kicking Bach N’ Roll fury he is famous for. While his critics are quick to joke about his fluctuating body weight and lack of musical evolution, genre consistent artist B.B. King has yet to be criticized for not producing a bluegrass opus or not joining the cast of The Biggest Loser.
In 1988, Malmsteen along with Eric Clapton were the first artists to be honored by Fender Musical Instruments with a signature Stratocaster. Fender’s current tribute to Malmsteen is a freakishly identical copy of his road beaten ’71 Fender Strat with all the dings and gashes. It’s called the Fender Yngwie Malmsteen “Play Loud” Custom Shop Stratocaster and it’s the coolest looking Strat I’ve seen in a long time.
I was lucky enough to catch Mr. Fury on the road touring behind his current release titled Perpetual Flame. Contrary to popular belief he is a nice guy. His live show with the addition of singer Tim “Ripper” Owens was energetically amazing and technically perfect. The show took me back to that chilly night in Chicago over twenty years ago when I experienced the Rising Force for the first time. It blew my mind. When I got outside the theater, he threw a sweaty towel outside of the third-story window of the theater and hit me in the face. I still have that sweaty towel and somehow I always knew we were destined to meet again.
How’s the tour going?
It’s very exciting for me to be here in the states because that’s where I always wanted to be. The scene has been changing so much lately. Ten years ago it was a totally different scene. Now the younger generation is getting into the guitar thing again. It’s fantastic and I’m really digging it.
Your LA show had a lot of kids. You have a whole new generation of fans.
Isn’t that great!
Yeah. I first saw you in 1986 and there were kids at your latest show who weren’t even born then. They know the words to all your songs.
I’m loving it. I’ve been doing this a long time and that’s why I call the new record Perpetual Flame. It just keeps on going. I’ve been doing this since the seventies. I remember seeing it come back and forth as well back then. I wasn’t at the same level, but I’ve been at it for a long time. I remember different trends coming back and forth. I just keep on going. I know what I’m here to do and I just do that. I know that if I stay with it, it’s always worthwhile. When you start changing around, then that’s the wrong thing to do because it’s not real. Even if you think it’s smart it’s not a good thing to do, so I don’t do that. I’m happy.
I respect you for sticking to your guns and not leaping around to please the market.
The main reason for that is because I’m very serious about what I do. I’m basically being honest. I don’t try to put something on that can be appealing at the time. I really mean it. This is my way of expressing myself and leaving something behind. It’s the real deal whether you like it or not. It’s what I do.
Do you ever think about dabbling in other kinds of music?
No, not at all. I’ve always been the kind of person where I put myself in the position where I was in charge of the music and the direction. I’ve been doing what I was meant to do. When I was in Steeler I did what I was told and that was it. I was professional in that particular situation but now I call the shots. What you see is what you get. What you hear is what I want to do. I don’t want to do anything else. If I wanted to, I would do it. The only thing that I’ve done that’s different from rock & roll is the symphonic stuff, which I really love to do. Right now I just want to rock.
On the Genesis CD it amazed me that even as a young teenager you had a distinctive vision for your music and style of guitar playing. Most artists evolve to discover their niche, but you knew early on what you wanted to create.
That’s cool that you heard that! I was sixteen or seventeen when I recorded that. For some reason that’s where I wanted to go. A lot of people look at the carrot at the end of the stick. “If I do this I’ll be the same as…,” whatever. When I came to the states everybody was saying, “You started playing to get laid, right?” I always thought that was a weird thing. I always said, “No, that’s not the reason I started playing!” (Laughing)
I thought about this a lot because I’m doing a lot of interviews and writing a book. I have no idea what made me do what I did. There was no end of the rainbow and there was no one telling me what kinds of songs to do. Basically everybody told me I wasn’t going to get anywhere playing like that.
Perpetual Flame is awesome. How did you get together with vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens?
The record was a long process. I started writing songs for it more than a year ago. When I thought I had a lot of good stuff, I took a drummer into a studio where we recorded live drums. As the songs became what they were, I had to go on the road. So I went away and came back and the songs sounded a little different to me. Then I started adding guitar, bass and lyrics. More and more as the songs took shape, I realized the singer I had at the time couldn’t cut it. I write all the music, melodies and the lyrics. The songs were finished but I didn’t have someone to sing it. Tim has always been a great singer and I knew how great he was. I don’t know how it happened but he came down to Miami, sang a couple of songs and it was a no brainer.
Perpetual Flame has an old school Malmsteen feel. Was that on purpose?
It wasn’t intentional. The way I write, I just pick up the guitar, bass, keyboards, drums or whatever instrument I’m on. “You Don’t Remember, I’ll Never Forget,” I wrote on keyboards. I wrote “Black Star” on the drums. It doesn’t matter. I play an instrument, something happens and I become inspired. The thing takes shape and all of a sudden there’s a piece of music there. It takes on it’s own life and I follow it. I don’t decide if I’m going to go in this direction or that direction. In the past I’ve tried to do that and I found it wasn’t a very good thing to do. I just let it flow.
When you’re writing do you hear a riff first, or are you thinking about lyrics?
It’s never the same. For the song “Death Dealer” I had lyrics waiting around for that and I was just waiting for the song to fit. Most of the time there’s a melody or riff that starts the whole procedure. It becomes the inspiration to carry on with it. It doesn’t always happen the same way.
Tell me about your new Fender Yngwie Malmsteen “Play Loud” Custom Shop Stratocaster.
It’s crazy. When I first came to the states I took an extra pair of pants, a toothbrush and one guitar. I just went! That guitar is the guitar you can see on the cover of Rising Force (’71 Fender Stratocaster). It has a lot of miles on it. Fender told me they wanted to do a tribute. It’s an incredible honor. The way they made it is absolutely frightening! It’s mind bending how they could make a guitar that looks and feels exactly like a guitar that’s over thirty years old. It’s just amazing.
Is your original “Play Loud” guitar retired?
Yeah. I don’t really take it out anymore. I have a few of the new ones on tour. I alternate them with the regular Fender Yngwie Malmsteen model guitars. Those are amazing guitars too. It’s ridiculous how good they play. I had a special one made in Ferrari red.
Have you bought any new gear lately?
No, I haven’t. I’m a purist. Once I find something I really love then I never change from it. Once I find it, that’s it. That goes for my guitar, amps, even down to watches and cars. I’m very particular about what I use. I view my instruments more like a violinist would appreciate a Stradivarius. He’s not going to go look for a different one. It has the sound and now the sound is there. All I have to do is be inventive and not push a button to get something else.
Yeah, but I saw you play a Flying V in Alcatrazz.
I have a lot of different guitars. I have Les Pauls, Flying Vs and all kinds of things. I like them. They’re really good but they’re not even in the same universe as far as the actual tool of what I use. It’s about getting my sound and having that feel.
Do you have a favorite Marshall head?
I have so many now. I have one I left at home that I used for the last few albums. It’s an old Marshall Plexi 50 watt. It’s got a really nice tone. I like the 50 and 100 watts and I also have a couple of 200 watt Majors as well. I use that on stage. It’s called a Marshall Major. It’s very rare. They only made them for a couple of years. It’s 200 watts! (Laughing) I love the way it looks. It looks the same as a regular Marshall head but it’s fatter. I use old stuff, vintage amps and cabs. I might have to replace some of that stuff because it’s really old. They’re all stock too, nothings changed.
What about effects? Do you still use your DOD signature overdrive?
They don’t make them anymore, but I’ve been using the original DOD 250 Overdrive since the seventies. It’s always been there. Boss made me a really good noise gate and a good chorus. I don’t use effects that much. I use a couple of delays to split the signal across the stage to get a fugue effect. I also have a super old echo unit that’s a piece of shit that I like to make noise with (Laughing).
How do you have your delays set up for solos?
It’s totally dry. No delay. It’s dry all the way through but I have a pre-set where I can split the signal in stereo. I think it’s eight milliseconds where I can play counter point with myself. That’s the only effect, but for solos it’s completely dry.
Tell me about your book.
I started it a couple of years ago and I took a break. It’s going to be out one of these days.
Is this a tell all book about you on the road and getting arrested?
It’s everything! From me growing up in Sweden, to all the bad things and all the good things. Things completely involved with the musical thing, but lots of personal things as well.
When you’re driving around in your Ferrari what music do you listen to?
Lately all the stuff I work on, but if I were to put something on it would be Vivaldi, Bach, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and stuff like that. Sometimes I turn on the radio and listen to classic rock.
One of my favorite records of yours is Inspiration. You covered a lot of great bands. Rush, Kansas, Rainbow, …even Holdsworth! (Laughing)
That was a fun record! I would like to do another one but my hands are full. I don’t have time to do anything. Even when I’m not on tour I wake up in the morning and I do interviews all day. Perpetual Flame is the top priority for everything right now.
When you have down time do you try not to play guitar to take a break?
No. I always have a little Marshall hooked up to a guitar. Even when I watch TV I play quite a lot. I do a lot of other things like play tennis, but the music is always there.
Does it ever feel like work?
It hardly ever feels like work. The work part is the traveling and all that, but the playing is not work.
Is there a side to your playing that people don’t know about? Do you sit and play Beatle love songs for example?
Sure, why not! I can do that! (Laughing) Most of time I just noodle around. I don’t play set things. I improvise. I just play whatever. That’s how things come out. Improvisation is the genesis of composition. You can’t compose if you don’t improvise. That’s how new tunes come out.
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It’s a tuning issue. I play the guitars really hard. Sometimes the high E will be a little low and move around. I don’t like that. The tailpiece or bridge can move and I’d rather just switch it.
Even your critics admit you have excellent pitch and vibrato. Where does that come from?
I’ve always been very particular about pitch and vibrato. It’s always been the back seat of people’s view of what I do. They always talk about the speed. Pitch and vibrato is really where it’s at for me. It just goes along with the whole plethora of expression. I always was very much into the classical violin sound. I always loved the dramatic sound of that. Pitch is just something that came naturally because I came from a musical family. We were very particular about that as I grew up. You couldn’t be singing out of tune or anything like that! (Laughing)