YNGWIE MALMSTEEN Doesn't Rule Out ALCATRAZZ Reunion

Blasting-Zone.com recently conducted an in-depth interview with legendary guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen. Several excerpts follow:

Blasting-Zone.com: What type of set list have you been using? Have you been focusing on a specific era of your career?

Yngwie: "We write a set list, but we never stick to it. I confuse people onstage constantly. I start playing a song and they just follow. It's a risky thing, but it's good, ya know? We do a combination of the real well known stuff and the new stuff. It's a good mix."

Blasting-Zone.com: Have you been playing anything from ALCATRAZZ?

Yngwie: "Sometimes we do 'Hiroshima Mon Amour'."

Blasting-Zone.com: You mean you haven't been playing "Island In The Sun" or "Jet To Jet" (laughs)?

Yngwie: "No, we haven't been doing that (laughs)."

Blasting-Zone.com: Any truth to the rumors that you'll be taking part in an ALCATRAZZ reunion?

Yngwie: "About a year ago… maybe a little more or maybe a little less… they called me. I'm still very good friends with all the guys. I'm not saying no. I'm just extremely busy all the time. For me to take time out, it has to be the right moment. I'm not saying no, because I like them, they're good guys and I think we'd have a lot of fun. I think a lot of the fans would like it if ALCATRAZZ could put something together. It's not impossible at all, ya know? It's just that right now, my plate is so full that as much as I'd like to do it, right now there wouldn't be time. I'm not saying that it's not going to happen."

Blasting-Zone.com: Speaking of the past, to me, you always seemed a little out of place in STEELER…

Yngwie: "Thank you (laughs). Not saying anything bad about those guys, but it was like putting the engine from a Ferrari into a little toy racer. When I came to the States, I would take any chance that I would get. I think it was the right thing to do because it was a very bustling scene at the time. I was only in the band for like three weeks, something very short like that. I did the record and like ten or fifteen gigs and that was it (laughs)."

Blasting-Zone.com: In hindsight, having endured as many lineup changes as you have, would you say there has been a common underlying factor behind them?

Yngwie: "It's hard to describe. This is not really a band. I create all the music. If someone is not available or something doesn't work out, I have to bring someone else in. It's not something that I do by choice necessarily. Circumstances will play into that, but it's almost like a self-maintaining thing, ya know? I started a band called RISING FORCE in 1978. That was a three-piece that had two hundred different drummers and two hundred different bass players along with lead singers and lead guitar players. When I came to the United States, I joined two bands, STEELER and ALCATRAZZ, and then went on to a solo career. It's not that I'm trying to sound arrogant…that's just the way it worked out. If someone doesn't cut the mustard or maybe they don't like what they're doing… There are all sorts of different type of things. It's not something that's done on purpose. It's the same thing with bands like JETHRO TULL or RAINBOW where there's a main guy and other people go around. I'd like to keep the same guys around. (Former RAINBOW vocalist) Doogie (White) and (drummer) Patrick (Johansson) have been with me for a long time now and they're really good."

Blasting-Zone.com: At this point in your career, are you still hoping to achieve a certain level of chart success within the United States?

Yngwie: "Why not? Back in the early and mid-'80's, there was a way to do that. There was a formula. If you wrote a song like 'Heaven Tonight' or 'You Don't Remember, I'll Never Forget', that was what they would put on the radio. Nowadays, there is no such thing. There is no sound anymore. After the grunge thing died out, nothing took over, for better or for worse. There were other reasons, too. On my latest album, I just said 'If it's good, it's good'. It doesn't matter if it's six minutes long or four minutes long. If it's good, it's good. It seems to work. People really seem to pick up on that. 'Locked and Loaded'… that's not a song that I wrote to be anything, but it became that way. 'Cherokee Warrior', one of the songs from my new album, that's the same thing there. Nowadays, if you do what feels right and it sounds good, maybe people will dig it, ya know? It's not formulated like it used to be. Yeah, I've written a few songs like that (laughs). That gets boring, though. You have to draw the line where you start boring yourself."

Read the entire interview at Blasting-Zone.com.