YNGWIE MALMSTEEN On Possible ALCATRAZZ Reunion: 'I Will Never Say Never'

Hard Rock Hideout recently conducted an interview with legendary Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Hard Rock Hideout: If you could give advice to any young guitar players out there, what would you tell them?

Yngwie Malmsteen: It all depends on what they want to achieve. If they want to achieve greatness and be like something that is out of the ordinary, it is a lot of hard work. There are no shortcuts to that. Obviously, if they wanted to learn how to play, they can learn bits and things and carry on. It all depends on what they want to do. If they want to be serious, there is a lot of hard work involved.

Hard Rock Hideout: There have been a lot of classic hard rock and metal acts reunite over the last few years. Ron Keel has recently announced the reunion of KEEL for several live shows next year. Can you see yourself doing a STEELER or ALCATRAZZ reunion in the near future?

Yngwie Malmsteen: I have been contacted a lot about that. I don't know. I will never say never.

Hard Rock Hideout: What is your opinion on the current guitarists of today?

Yngwie Malmsteen: I haven't really kept track of them. I am so extremely busy with what I am doing myself. When I am not playing music I am usually doing other things. Playing around with my Ferraris and playing tennis and things like that. What I understand there is a new group of kids that are very serious about playing which is great, I think that is a good thing.

Hard Rock Hideout: Why do you think hard rock/metal was able to maintain its popularity in Europe and Asia but not here in the states?

Yngwie Malmsteen: I am not even sure about that. What I do know is rock and roll and metal never goes away ever. It took the backseat in America in the '90s. In Japan and South America it was still really big. I never followed trends so I don't know the exact function of them. I think there must be somebody in league to changing things. When the glam metal thing of the late '80s became too glammy, then instead of having two bottles of hairspray in your hair, it became better not to wash your hair at all. To me it's all trend stuff. I don't follow that stuff. I just do what I feel is the right thing. I don't know what the reason is for that. It's not fashion.

Hard Rock Hideout: Did your involvement in the G3 tour with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai help get your music back out there in the U.S.?

Yngwie Malmsteen: It had some impact, sure, yeah. I think that it helped all three of us, but I think the most important thing now, that you can see nowadays are kids are being introduced to this music through video games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero. This seems to be a big influence on kids. It's a new thing to them.

Hard Rock Hideout: What do you think about the new generation of music fans being introduced to hard rock and metal through games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band?

Yngwie Malmsteen: When we were younger, it was radio and MTV. It is just a different way of getting it. If they have a game that has rock and roll in it, that is going to introduce the kids to the music. That is good. It is cool.

Hard Rock Hideout: Your son Antonio is 10 now right? Has he taken on your passion for music yet?

Yngwie Malmsteen: Yeah. Not in the same way that I did. When I grew up, there was no TV, nothing. The guitar could be my whole life. The kids today have Internet and TV and games and all that stuff. When he does pick up the guitar, he is a natural, for sure. For sure he is going to play. I was so extreme, I was playing 24/7 all my life. That was bizarre anyway, kind of like a (laughs) a circus freak, you know.

Read the entire interview from Hard Rock Hideout.

Fan-filmed video footage of Yngwie Malmsteen's October 26, 2008 concert at the Blender Theater in New York City can be viewed below (clip uploaded by "chefwacks09").