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FORMER MEGADETH GUITARIST MARTY FRIEDMAN SAYS “I’D RATHER CHEW GLASS THAN LISTEN TO [JIMI] HENDRIX OR BOB DYLAN”

Steven Rosen of Ultimateguitar.com interviewed former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman, who had some interesting comments about legendary guitar player, Jimi Hendrix. Read Friedman’s thoughts on Hendrix, and other topics, below.

UG: In the last 10 years since you previously played in the US, the metal scene has definitely changed. Are you aware of any of those changes?

MF: Everything I’ve become aware of has been kind of force fed through Prosthetic Records. Not through their artists but through the people at the record company there and only for practical reasons. For example, choosing opening bands [Exmortus] and people that I should know and people I should hear. Some things I found on my own.

UG: What did you find?

MF: This band called Deafheaven. I totally recommend them. It’s fresh and it’s mindblowing. I love these guys. And of course I’m good friends with Sky Harbor and I’m a big fan of theirs. Just the sheer amount of guitar music that has come out in the last couple of years is very encouraging. I have to be thankful that a lot of these people are so kind to cite me as an influence.

UG: It seems like everywhere you turn, there’s some new guitarist playing incredibly well.

MF: It’s not enough. You have to do something that makes people happy and that takes a lot more time than just developing abilities on the instrument. For all the guitar players and guys like Jeff Loomis and all these guys who are really, really good, they’ve been for around for a while and it’s taken a while to get their stuff to the people. I applaud all these guys who have taken their abilities and shaped them in such a way that many more people can enjoy them rather than just beginning guitar players.

UG: What are your feelings now looking back on Megadeth?

MF: I wouldn’t have wanted to bypass any of the Megadeth stuff. It was wonderful. The music was important but it was also much more important to be able to, like they say in kindergarten, play well with others. A lot of people qualities: a lot of learning about how to deal with people; deal with situations; deal with people from different cultures; and every possible situation completely unrelated to music happened in Megadeth. So it was such a great life rewarding experience that it can only help to grow as a musician from that. I strongly believe that people who practice their instrument a lot and study music may become good at it but they’ll have a narrow palette of phrases and things to emote to other people. They’ll be able to play a symphony or whatever but when it comes to taking music from their soul and bringing it from themselves to people listening, it really is quite narrow.

UG: Dave Mustaine is a very talented guitar player but he’s probably not the easiest person to play alongside.

MF: Yeah, well, you know, in some ways, I’m the same way when it comes to my music. That’s what I kind of liked about him; there was no bs when it comes to making music; there was no compromises and I’m the same way. So we got along just great. As far as music is concerned, nobody is more of a perfectionist than I am so I like being around people like that.

UG: When you talk about the actual theater element of a live show, nobody did that better than KISS. You’ve been a huge KISS fan forever, right?

MF: There are so many guitar players that started from KISS. The great thing about music is everybody has the right to their own opinion and that’s what makes it interesting. I used to play with Jason Becker and he was the biggest Bob Dylan fan in the world. And to me, I’d rather chew glass than listen to Bob Dylan. But that was fine. You’ve got to have those differences in opinions. There are certainly no good and no bad in music. It’s all what it means to you. It has nothing to do with tonality or pitch or talent or tone or any of those things. It everything to do with the experiences in your life around this music.

UG: What kind of music don’t you like?

MF: I’m not a huge fan of hardcore rap and stuff, but then at the same time, you have to respect any artist or anybody who can make hundreds and thousands and millions of people happy with what they do. Here’s one that will get ya. There are so many guitar players that started from Hendrix? I’d rather chew glass than listen to Hendrix.

UG: That is so weird to hear you say that. I don’t know if I’ve ever talked to a guitarist who didn’t love Jimi.

MF: I never got Hendrix. When I think of Hendrix, an image comes in my mind about a lot of hippies rolling around in mud tripping on acid and it just doesn’t turn me on at all. And all that noise and feedback and I’m like, “Play in tune.” I’m a big tuning guy and that’s probably why I don’t like Dylan because things go out of tune and it kills me. But then again, all of my favorite guitarists hail Hendrix. I’m a big Uli Jon Roth fan and he’s the most beautiful guitarist. He probably loves Hendrix as much as Hendrix’s own mother does. All the guys I respect love Hendrix so I know there’s something there. It’s just that I never got it because it never fit into my experiences.

Read more at Ultimateguitar.com.

source: ultimate-guitar.com

HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES, FEATURING ALICE COOPER, JOE PERRY, JOHNNY DEPP, DUFF MCKAGAN AND MATT SORUM, ANNOUNCE TWO SHOWS IN CALIFORNIA

Kory Grow of Rolling Stone reports:

Hollywood Vampires, the supergroup featuring Johnny Depp, Alice Cooper and Joe Perry, have announced their first live dates, set for next month. Rounding out the lineup will be former Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum, both of whom also play in the supergroup Velvet Revolver.

The name “Hollywood vampires” references a loose collective of rockers, including Cooper, John Lennon, Harry Nilsson and Keith Moon, who got together in the early Seventies and drink on the Sunset Strip at the Rainbow. Cooper’s crew – which is issuing its debut album, Hollywood Vampires, on September 11th – plans on keeping true to its moniker’s origins.

The first Hollywood Vampires concerts will take place at the fabled Sunset Strip outpost the Roxy on September 16th and 17th. It will be the group’s only U.S. show.

As for the band’s music, they play a mix of cover songs by members of the original Hollywood vampires, including the Who’s My Generation, the Doors’ Five to One and Break on Through, Nilsson’s Jump Into the Fire, Lennon’s Cold Turkey and Jimi Hendrix’s Manic Depression, among others, along with some original tunes. Their debut album will feature a number of notable special guests, including Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Slash, Joe Walsh and AC/DC’s Brian Johnson

Read more at Rolling Stone.

source: rollingstone.com

DRUMMER PHIL RUDD SAYS “ME AND EVERYONE ELSE SAYS THAT [I AM STILL A MEMBER OF AC/DC], BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT ANGUS [YOUNG] SAYS”

Jason Newman of Rolling Stone reports:

For embattled former AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd, this was not how 2015 was supposed to go. In an alternate universe, the 61-year-old musician would have already traipsed through Europe with his band on their Rock or Bust tour, delivering a career-spanning set that may be short on surprises, but long on grand spectacle and bombastic rock tradition. He would have currently been rehearsing and preparing for the group’s upcoming North American leg, performing classic rock chestnuts alongside the band’s latest album, to which he contributed in 2014.

Instead, he is speaking to Rolling Stone from his Tauranga, New Zealand, home, where he will be confined for the next eight months as part of his sentencing on threatening-to-kill and drug-possession charges. Friends, family and other well-wishers are allowed to visit, but he’s legally mandated to not leave his house; it’s a prohibition that has, according to Rudd, allowed him to “get really organized” while working with court-appointed psychiatrist Rupert Bird, a specialist in methamphetamine psychosis “who’s helping me through my imbalances and personal issues.”

…Rudd is defiant when asked why he thinks the case has received worldwide attention, even more than AC/DC founding member Malcolm Young’s tragic dementia diagnosis and subsequent departure from the band. “The local paper had their heads up their asses and I don’t know why,” Rudd says. “They seem to really want to find something bad about me and blow it up to sell papers. They look at me as the ‘bad boy drummer.’ They just really don’t like me. Everyone seems to f–kin’ hate me, but everyone really loves me.”

The thornier matter is Rudd’s place in AC/DC, a band he joined in 1975, left in 1983 reportedly due to conflicts with Malcolm Young and drug and alcohol problems, and re-joined in 1994. Rudd hasn’t spoken to any members of the band since his arrest last year — “Which is a little weird,” he says — with the group issuing the terse statement at the time of Rudd’s arrest, “We’ve only become aware of Phil’s arrest as the news was breaking. We have no further comment. Phil’s absence will not affect the release of our new album Rock or Bust and upcoming tour.”

While [guitarist-founding member] Angus Young told Rolling Stone that Rudd’s arrest had been a “big blow to us,” the band has scrubbed Rudd’s name and likeness from the “Band” section of its website, replacing him with current drummer Chris Slade. That hasn’t, however, diminished Rudd’s optimism to re-join the group and record more music with them.

“All I’m looking for is an opportunity to step back up,” Rudd says. “Once I get back my freedom to travel, I’ll hopefully be heading straight back to whatever they’re doing. I feel great. Better than I’ve ever felt before. I’m very keen to get back in the saddle.”

Asked point-blank if he’s still a member of the group, Rudd remains resolute: “Me and everyone else says that, But that’s not what Angus says,” Rudd says. “I don’t want to upset Angus by saying the wrong thing. Me and Angus kicked serious ass and he knows if I was there, it would be better. I know he knows that, because I’ve proven it before. Just give me five minutes in a room with him and I’ll get my job back. I promise ya. I was doing hard personally and did some things I probably shouldn’t have done. We’ve all got our cross to bear.”

While there’s no indication that Rudd will play with the band when the Rock or Bust tour hits Australia and New Zealand starting in November, he remains hopeful for some sort of reunion, even if it’s temporary.

“I’m ready to go,” he says. “Never been fitter. Never been more passionate. I’m more dangerous than I’ve ever been. They should get me back there, even if it’s just for a weekend to have some jam in some fuckin’ small room somewhere in a basement.”

Read more at Rolling Stone.

source: rollingstone.com

LYNCH MOB RELEASE A VIDEO FOR THE SONG “TESTIFY” OFF THEIR NEW ALBUM, “REBEL,” OUT AUGUST 21ST

As previously reported, Lynch Mob will be releasing their eighth studio album, Rebel, on August 21st through Frontiers Music SRL.

The band is currently streaming the official video for the song, Testify. Watch it below.

To listen to other songs streaming from Rebel, please click on the highlighted song titles:

Jelly Roll
War
Automatic Fix