YNGWIE MALMSTEEN: 'The More Stable My Life Is, The More Aggressive The Music Is'

Jeff Kerby of KNAC.COM recently conducted an interview with legendary Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen. Several excerpts from the chat follow:

KNAC.COM: If you had to break down how much of your guitar acumen is based on natural ability versus how much is attributable to hard work, what would you place the percentages at?

Yngwie: "That's an interesting question. I've been playing guitar for a long, long time — about thirty years or more, but I've also spent a lot of time on songwriting and things like that. Obviously some of it is some sort of gift, but I think that in the end it is mostly work. I've never thought about it in those terms before though. I think I've been doing this for so long that I have kind of forgotten what parts came natural and all."

KNAC.COM: I have heard different reports that at various times you were playing from between eight to ten hours a day. Is that an exaggeration?

Yngwie: "That is true. There was a time in my life where I was completely obsessed with it. I guess it did pay off in one way or another, but I did sacrifice a lot of other things. While all of my friends were out partying and all that, I had no part in that. I was just completely dedicated to the instrument.

KNAC.COM: Were you a happy person at that time?

Yngwie: "I don't know. (laughs) I was probably miserable. I can't remember…that was so long ago. It was rewarding at the same time too though when you would realize that you had gotten better and better and better. And all of the work you did just made you improve. Even before I came to the States, I would record myself all the time. Then, I would analyze the recordings. If there is one good tip I can give to anybody out there, it is that recording yourself can really make you buckle down and be more critical. When I would listen to something that I thought might not have been so good, I would then work on that. It did pay off at times, but it was frustrating too. I don't know."

KNAC.COM: What do you think was the reason you were able to get happy and motivated and in the proper creative headspace to produce a record like "Unleash the Fury"?

Yngwie: "I found out that when I have a very stable base, I can concentrate on the music and the songs a little better. I'm married now and have a seven-year-old son. As a result of that, I have been able to focus more on the music, and it has made it even a bit more aggressive, actually. It seems like for me the more stable my life is, the more aggressive and energetic the music is. That is exactly the opposite from what most people would expect. It is just a case of where I can be more focused and not just out running around wondering what the next day was going to be like. Most of the…I don't want to say 'wimpy' — but some of the lighter stuff that I have done in my life has been created when my life was a complete mess. I'm talking about 'Heaven Tonight'. During that time, I didn't even have a place to live, so there you go."

KNAC.COM: What did you think when that tape of you getting upset on the plane started making the rounds on the Internet? Was that a positive part of your mystique in your view? (laughs)

Yngwie: "The real story behind that incident is that it actually occurred in 1988 on an airplane to Japan. It didn't happen in 2002 or whenever that got released. What happened was that when our group was going to Japan, we were making a lot of noise and getting really out of hand. It wasn't just me — it was all of us, and the keyboard player was the worst actually. I won't even say what he was doing. Anyway, it was a long flight, and we had all kind of fallen asleep when someone dropped a pitcher of water on me. I started freaking out, and somebody recorded that. Well, instead of going 'f-you,' which I probably did too, I said, 'You have unleashed the fury!' Which I thought was kind of cool. It was a good choice of words, so I used that as a little joke for the title of this one. It is kind of a reference to that, but the album does actually unleash the fury, and the song has nothing to do with that at all. It is a multi-faceted type of thing. I like stuff like that."

Read the entire interview at www.knac.com.