MARTY FRIEDMAN: 'I Have Been Writing New Music For The Next Album'

In a recent interview with U.K. radio veteran Paul Stephenson of VRP Rocks, former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman was asked if there are plans for him to release new music as a follow-up to his latest solo album, "Drama", which came out in May 2024 via Frontiers Music Srl. Friedman said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "'Drama' is by far the album that I feel the most personal connection to. Of course, I've said that on every single album that I've made since like around 2006. But, man, I kill myself on these albums, man. I really go all in, and every time I finish... I mean, listen to [2014's] 'Inferno'. When I finished that, I'm, like, 'How am I gonna possibly top this?' And I can't release another album until I do. Topping it doesn't mean sales or good songs or just... Topping it means something that I could possibly be more satisfied with, more pleased with, and I always kill myself on it. And 'Drama' is, man — it's really my favorite piece of work right now. And I toured a lot for 'Drama'. I'm still doing some more touring for 'Drama' right now. Soon I will be announcing more places that I'm touring for 'Drama'. But I have been writing new music for the next album, and it is sort of in that vein, as of now. I kind of have a plan of attack, which is more than I could say than six, eight months ago, and it's coming along really nice. So if you like 'Drama', I think you gotta help me feel like I can do better. I think I can, but it's gonna take some time."

Marty's presence in the world of music, the world of guitar and Japanese pop culture is mystifying, bizarre, and nothing short of inspiring. His first major impact in music was in the game-changing guitar duo CACOPHONY, which he founded with equally enigmatic and now-legendary guitarist Jason Becker. He then spent 10 years as lead guitarist in the genre-defining thrash metal act MEGADETH before moving to Tokyo due to his love for Japanese music, language, and culture.

Following his move, he landed a starring role for a new TV comedy "Hebimeta-san" ("Mr. Heavy Metal") and its spinoff, "Rock Fujiyama", which ran for six seasons and propelled him into the living rooms of Japan's mainstream. He has since appeared in over 800 TV shows, movies and commercials, including a two-year campaign with Coca-Cola for Fanta, authored two best-selling novels and was the first-ever foreigner to be appointed as an ambassador of Japan heritage and perform at the opening ceremony for the Tokyo Marathon.

At the same time, Marty has continued his career in music with several solo albums in addition to writing and performing with the top artists in Japanese music, racking up countless chart hits, including a No. 1 with SMAP, two No. 2 songs with MOMOIRO CLOVER, a No. 2 with SOUND HORIZON — just to name a few.

Friedman's autobiography, "Dreaming Japanese", arrived on December 3, 2024 via Permuted Press.

In an October 2023 interview with Chris Akin Presents, Marty was asked what challenges and motivates him to keep pushing forward with his music. He said at the time: "I'm not really so much into trying something that I haven't done for the sake of trying something I haven't done. I'm trying to impress me with something that I've never done before. It's not like I'm gonna suddenly wake up one day and say, 'Okay, I'm gonna be a rapper' or something. I do what I do and I have my musical vision and sound. I just try to do deeper things with it. I try to make more complex emotions, deeper emotions in the music, more interesting, melodic twists and turns, more adventurous things, things that I wasn't deep enough to do last year or two years ago, or five years ago, things that I couldn't hear back then, things that I can only hear because life has given me more experiences since then, and, of course, more musical experiences, and just to consciously be aware of stuff that I've already done and not repeat it. It's a natural challenge that I've been doing forever, and the hardest part is that blank sheet when I just start from zero. It's, like, 'How am I going to top that last thing that I just did? I worked my ass off. I'm completely done. I have nothing left. I've got zero.' And so that's the challenge."