MARTY FRIEDMAN: 'I've Learned So Much From Classical Music'

In a new interview with Tobias Le Compte, a multi-instrumentalist and producer based in Brussels and Shanghai, former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman was asked if he is interested in classical music. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yes. All the time. And still now playing it and learning from it."

Asked what he thinks non-classical musicians could learn from classical music and vice versa, Marty said: "Well, you have to have some sort of interest in it or else there's no point in learning it. I'll never be a real classical musician, but I've learned so much from classical music and have played classical music, as a soloist, with many big orchestras, which is an honor and it takes so much work to do, but it's a whole different lifestyle to do it for real on the daily. For example, I'll do like a concert — maybe the most recent was I did a big [Antonín] Dvořák thing, and it was like 25 minutes of just playing without stopping. And that's very weird, and all the cues are different from a rock band, and it took a lot of practicing and rehearsing and learning in a different way. So I learned a ton from it, and I've done that several times. And it's always — you get nervous, because playing rock band I do since I was a baby. And I love doing it more than anything because it's such a thrill."

Friedman went on to say that classical musicians also can learn from performing with a rock musician like him. "Yeah. It's like another Japanese proverb — the grass is greener on the other side," he explained. "Those guys wanna rock out and shake their asses and bang their heads, and I wanna be in the big crescendos of classical music. So we both admire each other."

Friedman defined modern guitar playing with Jason Becker in CACOPHONY, was a key element in the wildly successful rise of thrash pioneers MEGADETH, and with his "Marty-esque" improvisations and exotic fusion of Eastern and Western music, has achieved global success with his 15 solo albums.

Friedman left MEGADETH in 2000 due to creative differences and pursued a solo career, having released his most recent album, "Drama", in 2024.

Friedman first visited Japan in the late 1980s with CACOPHONY, and came to Japan regularly with MEGADETH, all the while studying the Japanese language. After he quit the Dave Mustaine-fronted outfit, he moved to Tokyo.

Since also embracing Japanese music and eventually relocating to Japan, Friedman has cemented his image as a unique and unpredictable solo artist while further solidifying his celebrity rock star status. He has earned several top 10 spots on the Japanese charts and has performed in Japan's largest venues — from the Tokyo Dome to Budokan. He has also guested on over 700 television programs, acted in four motion pictures, and appeared in several commercials and TV ad campaigns. On November 4, 2016, the Japanese government named Friedman an "Ambassador Of Japanese Heritage."

Friedman's autobiography "Dreaming Japanese", was made available last December. Written with veteran music journalist Jon Wiederhorn ("Louder Than Hell", "Raising Hell"),"Dreaming Japanese" debuted at No. 1 on Amazon's Heavy Metal Books chart and has received praise from major outlets including Rolling Stone, Guitar World, Decibel and Publishers Marketplace. The autobiography shares Friedman's inspiring journey from landing a gig as the lead guitarist for legendary thrash metal outfit MEGADETH during their peak years to his emigration from the U.S. to Japan, where he became a prominent television figure and Japanese pop culture household name as well as being appointed an official "Ambassador Of Japan Heritage".