MARTY FRIEDMAN Is 'Absolutely Not' Interested In Taking Part In 'Rust' Anniversary Celebrations

DJ Marco Garavelli of Italian web radio Linearock.it recently conducted an interview with former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman. You can now watch the chat below.

When asked about whether he is planning to release a new solo album anytime soon, Friedman replied, "My next album is called 'Tokyo Jukebox 2'. In 2009 I released 'Tokyo Jukebox', which was a good success for me in Japan, and it came out worldwide. So the record company asked if I wanted to do a 'part 2' to it and I was very excited to do that because, actually, 'Tokyo Jukebox' is one my favorite albums that I've ever done, so when it came time to do a second album, it was a lot of fun choosing the songs and doing the arrangements and recording it and I'm very happy about it. It's almost finished; I recorded most of it before going on tour in Europe. Eleven songs are done now and there's one more song that I'm gonna finish in Japan after this clinic tour and then the record's gonna be done, so I'm very excited about it. [It's] definitely the deepest and most special album ever, because it's the most recent, and because it's got all of my experience put together and all of the depth of everything that I've learned over the most recent times and everything is in it, and I'm very happy with it so far. In September it comes out in Japan and I'm really trying to get it released in Europe around the same time, so maybe [it will come out in other territories] around the fall."

Regarding what it was like being in Japan where Friedman has lived since 2003 when the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck the country in early March, Marty said, "I was there when it happened. I was in the studio with my band in Tokyo, so the studio was going upside down and everything; it was crazy. It was very, very scary frightening. Even for the weeks afterwards it was frightening. Maybe one week after the earthquake happened, I flew to Los Angeles to take all of my guitars that were in L.A. maybe 20 guitars from my MEGADETH era and I auctioned them all for the earthquake victims. So I sold all of my guitars from the MEGADETH era, all my Jackson guitars, and they really sold for a lot of money, so I was very happy to donate all that money to the Japanese earthquake victims. I felt I had to do something because I was so scared and I didn't know what to do. The only thing I can do is try to help, and I'm not a doctor and I don't know anything about nuclear things or any kind of earthquake things or building or construction, or anything I don't know anything but I know that all I could was try to help, so by selling my guitars I did something and I feel better about it; it took a little bit of the fear away somehow."

On the topic of MEGADETH's "Rust In Peace" album and whether he wished in any way that he could have taken part in performing the entire LP live with the band to celebrate its recent 20th anniversary, Friedman said, "Absolutely not. The past is the past. I mean, it was a wonderful album and I'm sure [the current lineup of MEGADETH is] doing a great job playing it. So many fans wanna hear [those songs performed live], that's for sure every time I do a guitar clinic I'm signing that record like it's going out of style and they want me to play stuff from it. I'm so happy about the great impact that that record has and I'm sure [the current lineup of MEGADETH is] making a lot of fans happy doing it, so I support them 1000 percent. But it's not something that I'm really interested in re-doing right now."

Marty Friedman performing live on May 26, 2011 in Thessaloniki, Greece: