Read Time 2 Minutes
Live (at one point) with Yngwie Malmsteen
After reading Scott’s article on the Yngwie Malmsteen biography Relentless: A Memoir I found myself in quite the mood for more Malmsteen. It didn’t take me long to come across the older interview Oscar Jordan had conducted with him.
Normally I’d go into a bit of a biography myself in this introductory section of the article, but Yngwie Malmsteen is so far removed from a name that needs an introduction. There isn’t anything I can say that hasn’t been said before, and better. So instead I’ll keep it simple, tip my hat to a great pioneer of the guitar, and get on to the interview.
The Interview
Oscar kicked off the interview by bringing up Yngwie’s big immigration from the quaint and humble Sweden lifestyle to the hyperactive American world. When mentioning that he had initially traveled over seas with no more than a guitar and a toothbrush Malmsteen responded with:
“It’s still to this day, it isn’t a day go by without me saying God bless America, because I think a lot of people might lose sight of the fact that this really is the greatest country in the world, you know. And if you have a vision and you work hard, man, there’s nothing stopping you. And I hope it stays that way. There’s a lot of forces at work right now trying to make this into a socialist place, and we don’t want that. We want a place where someone can go and make their dream a reality, and I’m actually living proof of this.”
Beyond that the two go back and forth on a number of topics that include tales from his aforementioned book, his new album Spellbound, his signature Seymour Duncan pickups, and more. It’s a damn good interview and listening to it literally has the power to make the world a better place.
Oscar’s Guitar Shop
The Guitar-Muse contributing writer Oscar Jordan is the host of the LA Talk Radio show Oscar’s Guitar Shop. You can either catch the video on Friday at 2:00 PM PST. For the convenience of those unable to catch the show during its normal air time Oscar’s Guitar Shop is also available for free on iTunes. Subscribing to Oscar’s Guitar Shop on iTunes opens up all current and archived episodes for download as well.
In addition the show is available for download on Stitcher.com for Apple products, Android, and Kindle devices. More information on Oscar’s Guitar Shop including info on other guests can be found on Oscar’s Facebook page.
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