MARTY FRIEDMAN Talks About Living In Japan, MEGADETH's 'Rust In Peace' 20th Anniversary

Peter Hodgson of the I Heart Guitar blog recently conducted an interview with former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

I Heart Guitar: [Living in Japan] is there anything about Western culture that you miss? Or do you get enough of it on tour?

Friedman: I miss stuff like crazy, sweet, multi-colored cereal and pop tarts, that's about it. I hope I can get a hold of it in Australia…

I Heart Guitar: What was it like for you moving to Japan? I hear you went there without a guitar which I imagine was a little bit stressful.

Friedman: I can be without a guitar for a long period of time with no problem, but those long periods don't come around so much as I'm always doing music in some form or another. Moving to Japan was tough at first because all of my friends were in the international side of the Japanese music business, but I wanted to get into the domestic music business, which is a completely different and much bigger world. It wasn't long until I invaded that world though, and I was really glad that I was able to do so.

I Heart Guitar: What about this new FANTA band? Was that just a very awesome ad campaign or are you guys going to record something?

Friedman: That is the mystery. It is a brilliant campaign that will go on strong for the rest of this year, who knows if we will ever write a song… That's what is cool about it, no one can imagine the sound.

I Heart Guitar: One thing I've always loved about your playing is your clean tone, especially on "Scenes". What inspires your clean tone?

Friedman: Thank you so much! If I play a melody with clean sound, I want it to have the same authority as with a dirty sound. It is a matter of interpreting a melody with that in mind, even be it subliminally. It's hard to put into words, but it's more about focusing on listening to what you are playing rather than the actual playing itself, which is what most people focus on, I believe.

I Heart Guitar: You left some huge shoes to fill when you left MEGADETH. Have you ever had a 2 a.m. phone call from Chris Broderick or Glen Drover saying, "How the hell did you do that lick?"

Friedman: Haha!! Not yet. I'm sure they will have no problem.

I Heart Guitar: What are your thoughts on MEGADETH's 20th anniversary of "Rust In Peace"?

Friedman: Bravo!

Read the entire interview from the I Heart Guitar blog.