interviews:Yngwie Malmsteen: Perpetual Flame Album 'Was Made In A Different Way'

Yngwie Malmsteen: Perpetual Flame Album 'Was Made In A Different Way'

Yngwie Malmsteen: Perpetual Flame Album 'Was Made In A Different Way'

Yngwie Malmsteen is one of rock's most respected and admired virtuoso guitarists. His jaw-dropping technique of lightning fast harmonic minor scalar riffing and soloing first came to attention of the music world at large when Malmsteen was just 21 years of age. Via his 1984 debut Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force, a neo-classical melodic workout in itself, he ushered in the golden age of shredding. Malmsteen soon became the new king of neo-classical hard rock a crown that was previously worn by Ritchie Blackmore, who himself had been an influence on Malmsteen’s guitar playing.

Malmsteen’s style and technique went on to become a hugely influential force upon countless guitarists that soon followed in his wake. So it is with much anticipation that the rock guitar community will undoubtedly be looking forward to October when Yngwie Malmsteen issues his latest studio opus, Perpetual Flame. The album will also mark the debut on an Yngwie album by ex-Judas Priest and Iced Earth frontman, Tim "Ripper" Owens. Joe Matera recently sat down with Yngwie Malmsteen to discuss the new album, recording and his much documented reputation for being a difficult artist.

UG: You’ve mentioned previously that you had written some 29 songs and had those readied before recording began for Perpetual Flame?

Yngwie Malmsteen: Yeah usually I have a lot of songs written. But for this one, it was extremely a lot because what I do is, I get a lot of songs done and then I narrow them down as I go along. One of the reasons why this new record in particularly had a lot more songs written, was the fact that this record was made in a different way than any of my other albums. Traditionally, the way it would go would be that I start writing the songs then demo them and show them to the band. Then we’ll record them, mix the album then begin rehearsing and go do a world tour. Then when we get back, I’ll start writing songs again. And the cycle would continue. This time though, I started writing songs but without any sort of time frame or pressure. I’ll just write songs and eventually I had all these songs. So I went to my drummer Patrick [Johansson] and asked him to come into a big sound stage room in one of my two studios to put down the drums live. And he and I recorded something like 34 songs. But then after that was done, we went out on tour again. And again after we got back, I went back into the studio and recorded some more songs and put down some bass and some guitars and then went out on tour again. I came back again and I put down some keyboards. As the songs progressed, it became more and more evident of what they were going to be. I write the lyrics, the music, produce and arrange everything. And because I’m very particular about that, I realized the singer I had [Dougie White] wasn’t going to be able to carry what I was hearing in my head.

"I just always play and from that I can come up with a great melody or something."
Having a new singer - Ripper Owens - onboard now did you have to change your style or songwriting to adapt?

No, I wrote all the songs before he came in. As I was writing the songs I realized, like I just mentioned, that Dougie wasn’t going to cut it. And as I never decide on the direction anything goes, when Ripper came in, I just showed him the songs and they seemed to just come out very easily with him. As far styles go, I think we’re perfect for each other. The chemistry also turned out to be really good.

You’re big on improvising so in the song writing process, do many of the songs come from your improvisations?

Well what comes first is the musical content but I don’t have any system at all. It is really bizarre as I always have a Marshall and some guitars near me even if I’m watching television or whatever. So to answer your question, I just always play and from that I can come up with a great melody or something and if it clicks, I go with the ride. And from there it will take me further. And once I have that riff, or chorus or melody line, I’ll put it together and will then think about it very carefully as what the song should be about. And the lyrics, I put in a lot of work on them. They’re probably what I put the most time and effort into. If you listen to the lyrics, you’ll notice that they’re always very, very deep and very symbolic. They’re not obnoxious lyrics that say, ‘come baby, let’s fuck tonight’. I don’t get into those sorts of lyrics. To me, all those lyrics are really meaningless. I get a lot of my inspiration from books and stuff like that.

Do you utilize a lot of digital technology when it comes to the recording process?

I’m extremely old school. I still have two inch tape recorders and things like that. I record to digital hard disk recorders like Alesis and stuff like that. I do have Pro Tools, Sonar, Cubase, Logic… I have everything but I never seem to get into them. What’s most important to me is using real live Marshall stacks, big, loud and lots of them. They’re very loud stacks that I mike up. I also use tube compressors and tube EQ so that the signal is very organic. The live drums are recorded in an extremely large sound stage with real live microphones and there are no triggers and no quantizing, no nothing. If I put down a song with Patrick and later decide that I need 16 bars somewhere, then I’ll put that into Pro Tools and will make the 16 bars that way from say eight bars rather than record it all over again. So in that sense Pro Tools is very handy. And as far as any sort of computerized mending goes, I don’t do that at all. It is all real.

Let’s switch to talking about guitars, what did you use for this new album?

I used a ’71 Fender Strat, a ’68 Strat, a ‘51 P-Bass, an Ovation acoustic guitar, a 12-string and even a fretless bass for a couple things. The Strats are all over the place and I can’t remember exactly all of the ones I used. And of course, there is the Malmsteen signature model guitar too on there, which is a really good guitar.

A new Fender-Yngwie Malmsteen custom shop guitar is going to unveiled come November?

Yeah and it is a great honor. I was in the custom shop a few weeks ago and they already had 60 of the 100 they’re producing, already made. And John Cruz is the master builder, the guy hand making these guitars. It is absolutely mind bending. This is my guitar man and it is unbelievable how they’re doing it. It’s going to cost a pretty penny but they’re making a really fantastic guitar.

"I’m like Pablo Picasso or Leonardo Di Vinci and people like that."
And what about when it came to amps what did you prefer to use?

I used old Marshall Plexis, 100 watts and Marshall Mark IIs, 50 watts. They’re really old Marshalls that don’t have a master volume on them. They have just the four inputs and you have to turn them all the way up. And in the studio I have something like 18 amp heads but I will pick one that is really amazing to use. I have the 100 watts for the harder stuff while the 50 watts I use for the softer things as it’s smoother and warmer. Marshalls are great and there is nothing like them.

How many guitars do you take out on the road with you?

It depends on what country I’m going to. If I am going to Australia, I will take four Strats and one acoustic with me. But if I’m going on the road in America, I will take 20 guitars. I take so many due to the fact I’m always traveling, like I’m either on the bus or flying.

Do you do any writing while on the road?

Every night is different and I play solos differently but I always have a little Pro Tools setup on my Laptop so if I happen to have an idea I will put it down for sure. And I try and keep a constant flow of it.

Over the years you’ve earned quite a reputation for being very difficult to work with?

Since I write everything and I pay the salary, somebody is benefiting a lot from being with me. But I’m no bad guy. We do have a lot of fun. It’s not like some boot camp or something. I came to the conclusion many years ago, even before I came to America that I can’t really work in a band situation. I’m like Pablo Picasso or Leonardo Di Vinci and people like that where I’m a creator and so don’t feel satisfied if I don’t create it and have total control over it. I suppose that attitude is very unusual in rock and roll where it traditionally is one big party. When I joined Steeler, I did what I was told. I was a hired guy for Ron Keel and if he asked me to do a solo, I would go, ‘great, I’ll take a solo’. I didn’t ever say ‘I want to do a solo now!’ It was his band. So that is something that people must understand when it comes to my particular position. I am the person in control. And because of that, it also leaves me with a lot more work and a lot more responsibility and a lot more to do. But that is what I choose to do and what I find more rewarding.

Finally do you listen to any current music that is out there?

Sorry I don’t listen to any other music really. I’m more of a movie fan. I love movies but unfortunately I haven’t seen a good one in quite a long time. The best performance I’ve seen most recently was Heath Ledger’s in Batman. The movie itself didn’t hold up but he was fantastic in it. I prefer older movies, things like Hellraiser. But if I have a CD in the car it’s usually something like Queen or Bach…

Interview by Joe Matera