MARTY FRIEDMAN Hates Being Called A 'Shredder'

In a brand new interview with Guitar World, former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman was asked if he minds being thought of as a shredder. He responded: “I’m not a shredder. That is a lame-ass term and I fucking hate ever being called it, at any tier. A shredder, at least to me, is a guy who plays fast meaningless shit all the time. Shredders are the guys in your friend’s basement who play insanely fast, and it just looks so mind-blowing and amazingly cool with their fingers flying all around the neck, but if you close your eyes and actually listen, what you hear is a pile of shit. You all know what I’m talking about.”

He continued: “I beg you all not to be impressed with fingerwork, and be impressed by how the music you are hearing makes you feel.

“Listen, slang terminology has different meanings for different people and I certainly don’t have the right to tell you that the term ‘shredder’ is good or bad. If you like ‘shredding’ and you think I’m a ‘great shredder.’ then I love ya! We are buds! Apparently since I have been out of the U.S., that term has taken on a new life and I’m not really sure what it means anymore. I just know that the term and the sound that it conjures up in my mind makes me want to dry heave.”

Friedman was also asked at which point as a guitarist he started to feel that he had his own sound, or at least a tone similar to what he is known for. He said: “I’m not sure what I’m known for, but even as a teen, I knew that for better or worse I was gonna always sound like myself. Even while I am constantly evolving, somehow it still sounds like me. I am thankful for that. That said, I don’t agree with a lot of my previous work. Some of it is really good, but as my playing evolves, I find that I am getting closer and closer to my potential, and on some of my older stuff, I think I was doing many things that I would not do now. I put a lot more care into everything, as you can definitely hear on ‘Inferno’ and ‘Wall Of Sound’. It still sounds like the same guy as I was before, but a much, much deeper and richer version. Notice I didn’t say ‘better’ — that is for you to decide. If you lost your virginity to one of my songs, there is nothing I could play now that is gonna top that for you.”

Friedman‘s new album, “Wall Of Sound”, will be released on August 4 via Prosthetic Records. The disc was produced by Friedman, engineered by Paul Fig (GHOST, RUSH, ALICE IN CHAINS) and mixed by Jens Bogren (KREATOR, OPETH, SEPULTURA). Legendary QUEEN producer Mack came on board to handle the mixing on two tracks, “Streetlight” and “For A Friend”.

Marty‘s new CD was recorded in part at Dave Grohl‘s Studio 606 in California with engineer Paul Fig (ALICE IN CHAINS, RUSH, DEFTONES) and was previously described by Friedman as “a way more intense version” of its predecessor: “deeper, sadder, happier and more aggressive.”

Like “Inferno”, Friedman‘s new album features several guests, including prog-thrashers MUTOID MAN, Jørgen Munkeby of the Norwegian avant-garde jazz-metal outfit SHINING and Jinxx of Los Angeles theatrical rockers BLACK VEIL BRIDES.