YNGWIE MALMSTEEN: 'When It Comes To Making The Records, I Basically Do All Of It'

July 10, 2008

Kat Dibbits of The Bolton News recently conducted an interview with legendary Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow.

On being the sole composer and the main focal point of his band's live shows:

"It's been the whole situation that I've created for myself. In that I am the songwriter and I produce the records, and once I go on the road I always bring the best guys that I can have. I let them have all the freedom they can have, all the attention they can get. On stage we do a lot of the songs that people know, there's a solo spot and I do some improvisations, it's not like a one-man show. It's just that when it comes to making the records, I basically do all of it."

On the accusation that he doesn't listen to any contemporary music:

"That's actually true, and that would actually include everything that's contemporary now and the last 25 years as well. Basically what it comes down to is that when you're that involved with creating music it's not something that you do for recreation. I have other hobbies. You only have that many hours in the day and I have a family, I like to do lots of other things. I work on cars and I drive race cars and I play tennis and lots of other things. It's not like I'm saying there's nothing good out there, it's just that if you get so consumed with creating something and you write a song and you write the lyrics and you're producing and arranging and touring, I don't have any interest in it. Plus when I was very very very young, the style that I decided on was formed then and it crystalised then, and I have no intention to go anywhere else with it. I found my way, my vision, and that's where I'm going. I think one of the reasons I'm still doing what I'm doing is because that's what I do. I don't follow trends and I don't mind what other people do. Having said that, I'm not saying it in an arrogant way, I don't mean it that way at all. It's not because I'm on some sort of high horse thinking that everything else is not good. But when I don't work on music then other things take my time."

On the new Malmsteen album, which is due out around September:

"[It is] in the same vein I guess, but much more, you know? Much more powerful and much more faster and much more heavier. It's pretty extreme, so I'm excited about it."

Yngwie Malmsteen live in Barcelona, Spain – July 5, 2008:

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