Swedish guitar hero Yngwie Malmsteen first entered the
public eye via the 'Spotlight' column for new talent in the February
'83 issue of 'Guitar Player' magazine. After a move from his native
Stockholm, Yngwie (pronounced 'Ing-vay') relocated in LA and
following a brief spell with Steeler he formed Alcatrazz with singer
Graham Bonnet. In June '84 Yngwie left Alcatrazz to pursue a solo
carear fronting his band 'Rising Force'.
Yngwie is one of the few rock guitarists who can be said to have
founded a new genre. Unfortunately, 'neo-Classical Metal'
all-too-often sounds like an epileptic Paganini cranked through a
Marshall stack - blindingly fast harmonic minor scales, rippling
arpeggios and dramatic gestures but played with a cavalier disregard
for dynamics, form and melody. Along with Paganini (epileptic or
otherwise), Yngwie has frequently cited his other main influences as
being JS Bach and Jimi Hendrix.
UV: Do you remember the first time you heard Hendrix?
YM: Yeah - it was the day he died. That was the day I started
playing. I had been given a guitar for my fifth birthday and when I
was seven years old they showed him on Swedish TV. I started playing
straight that day.
UV: Seven years old is a pretty young age to be impressed by Jimi
Hendrix...
YM: I don't think so. Why?
UV: I would have thought that a seven year old wouldn't quite
appreciate the sensual and psychedelic aspects of his music. But then
again, maybe a seven year old can respond to the music without any
preconceptions or prejudices.
YM: Yeah, sure. He was my hero - he made me think it was cool to play
the guitar.
UV: Do you still feel there's a Hendrix influence in your style?
YM: Not so much now. Everything I play comes from within - I strongly
believe I'm not influenced by anyone right now. But his attitude
towards everything he did is still there - the way he dressed and
everything.
UV: Just trying to be true to himself?
YM: Yeah, basically. You know, I call my cat 'Fuzzy' but his full
name is 'Fuzz Face Cry Baby', named after Jimi's pedals!
UV: Moving on, do you remember when you started tuning a half-step
lower?
YM: I've always done that - I didn't do it on the Steeler or the
Alcatrazz albums because they didn't do it. But apart from that I've
always, always done it.
UV: Was it influenced by Hendrix?
YM: Oh no, I've just always done it. Did he do that? I didn't
know!
UV: You mixed your latest album in Electric Lady Studios ['Fire and
Ice' - a deliberate Spinal Tap reference, we hope - DJN]. Did you
chose it because of the Hendrix connection?
YM: That's right. Wouldn't you?
UV: Yeah, I'm sure I would! On your live album 'Trial by Fire/Live in
Leningrad' [which shows Yngwie burning his guitar and I think we know
where he got that from - DJN] you cover 'Spanish Castle Magic'. Is
that one of your favourite Hendrix songs?
YM: Yeah, I love that song. That was totally spontaneous, you know,
it was the first and the only time I've played it in concert. It was
completely unrehearsed and the band didn't know I was going to do it!
I didn't know I was going to do! [Phew - these crazy, spontaneous
rock 'n' rollers - DJN]
UV: Which other Hendrix songs have you played live?
YM: I've done 'Red House' [debatable - DJN], 'Purple Haze', 'Manic
Depression', 'Little Miss Lover' and 'Hey Joe'. You know, I can go
into any song onstage sometimes and the band just has to follow
me.
UV: You don't rehearse these songs with the band?
YM: No! I know most of his stuff and the guys in the band have all
heard the songs. To do what he did on the guitar is not as difficult
as it was then because guitarists learn so much quicker now - you can
get books of his music and so on...
This interview was previously published in UniVibes issue 7, August
1992.
UniVibes 1992 reprinted by permission of UniVibes, International Jimi
Hendrix Magazine, Coppeen, Enniskeane, County Cork, Republic Of
Ireland