Fans in the U.S. are going to have the chance to see one of the most high-octane, musically dynamic, bombastic and virtuosic hard rock/metal performances in their lives when veteran guitarist/composer Marty Friedman brings his band to their shores for a furious run of shows that starts in California on Jan. 23 and the travels west to east, ending in Baltimore on February 24.
It is a show that is almost exclusively instrumental, but lacks none of the bombast, mellifluous melodies or showmanship of any metal act with vocalists. It is a tour de force of unbridled musical energy that has captivated audiences around the world – particularly in Japan, where Friedman, a native of Washington D.C., has made his home for a decade and a half.
Friedman has very high praise for the band that he is bringing with him on his tour, which is in support of his most recent album, One Bad M.F. Live!! (released last October). The ensemble features top female Japanese bassist Kiyoshi Manii, guitarist Jordan Ziff and the drummer ‘The Animal’ Chargeee.
“That’s the band that plays on the album and it’s the band that you’re going to see on this tour. They just outshine me every single night. People may come to see me play, but they’re going to walk away talking about the band. They’re just all superstars and rock gods and I just love to watch them take over the show,” he said.
“It takes a lot of responsibility off me as well, because they’re also super show people and just amazing players and you’re going to forget that what we’re doing is instrumental music. My band is really dynamite, they just blow me away. All of them do their own music aside from when they’re working with me. But when it comes time for me to tour, we are a family and we have been the same band for about five years now. And I have actually played with the drummer for about nine years. Everybody does other things because I don’t tour that much, maybe a couple of months out of the year.
“And for us all, it’s a performance – a real rock show. We’re not about doing a recital of the music, it’s all about the performance and live versions of the songs are going to be a little different – happy accidents are going to happen. It’s not a piano recital, as I said, it’s about four people going completely apeshit and entertaining the hell out of everybody. That’s what it’s all about.”
Throughout his career, even during his tenure with Megadeth (1990-2000) Friedman released solo, primarily instrumental albums, with One Bad M.F. Live!! Being his 15th since 1988. He also released two albums with Jason Becker in Cacophony, two with the group Tourniquet and two more with Enzo and the Glory Ensemble.
It was a tour of Japan with Cacophony that first twigged Friedman’s fascination with a nation that continues to be somewhat enigmatic even in the age of Google and other sources of instant information.
“We were basically an indie band in the U.S. and did indie-type shows. And then we came to Japan and we did the same type of shows, but they were run so efficiently and so professionally that it really left a big impression on me as to how the music scene works here. If you are an indie band in America, you’re pretty much treated like crap wherever you go. If you’re a big arena band, or playing stadiums, things are proper. But here in Japan, all levels are pretty much the same; it’s about getting the job done and getting it done in an efficient manner. I saw that happen the first time that I came here and was like, ‘wow, these guys really know how to do music and put on a show,’” he said from his home in Japan, days before embarking on his cross-Pacific journey to start his American tour on Jan. 23 in San Diego, California.
“I always just thought it was a cool place. I thought it was like another planet with so much mystery and so many things that I didn’t understand at the time. And there was beautiful architecture and unusual and delicious food and friendly people and polite people. From the first time I came here, I have kept being curious about learning more about it here. And every year I would come to Japan and learn more about it and enjoy it more and was becoming even more mystified and fascinated by it than I was before. I have been living here for 15 years now, and there are still so many things I don’t know, it’s just crazy.”
The unrelenting fascination with Japan’s people and culture, combined with the pragmatist’s view of the music industry led to Friedman’s permanent relocation to the Asian land. More recently, in 2012 he married top Japanese concert cellist Hiyori Okuda.
Since arriving, he has continued to not just immerse himself into the language, societal practices, cultural norms and the beautiful landscapes of Japan as a foreign observer, but he has become part of the culture, becoming a TV star through two programs (Mr. Heavy Metal and Rock Fujiyama) as well as appearing on many other shows as a guest, and becoming an in-demand collaborator as a songwriter and session musician/sideman for many other artists, across a wide spectrum of genres.
In 2017 he was named an Ambassador of Japan Heritage by the government through to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the first non-Japanese resident to be given such a distinction. He has also performed at the opening ceremony for the Tokyo Marathon the past two years – again the first foreigner to do so, and also collaborated this past year with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra on a government-sponsored Japan Heritage Theme Song.
“It was pretty much a musical decision to come to live here. If you’re a lifer, as I like to say, a music player or artist, or whatever, you follow the road that is in front of you that you feel you can do the most with your music. And I always thought the music climate and atmosphere and environment here in Japan was very much suited to my musical tastes. For example, the top 10 in Japan might have nine songs that I like and the top 10 in America might have one song that I like,” he said.
“So, as a fan and as a person who makes music I thought, without question, I could definitely reach more of my musical potential in Japan than outside of Japan. That was the decision, and it was kind of a blindly artistic decision at the time. I think part of it is because melodies are different here: melodies in Japanese music are a lot more to the forefront than in other countries. And they take a lot of time and energy and songwriting to build up melodies, and that’s the something I really appreciate and try to do with my own writing.”
While a superstar in Japan, Friedman has toured, and continues to tour around the globe. Although anyone with access to Google and YouTube can search out his music, in North America he is perhaps still best known for his tenure with Megadeth in the 1990s, but the audience for him as a solo artist is growing, which is why he doesn’t mind playing smaller venues, as he is on the upcoming U.S. tour.
“I do every possible kind of thing, from the tiniest venue to the Tokyo Dome. It really depends on what event I am doing, and it depends on what the project is. It really doesn’t matter if I am playing for 50 people, or 50,000 people or 500,000 from the playing side of it. Of course, I would rather pay for more people than less, let’s call a spade a spade, but in America I am still cultivating things as a solo artist and would rather play to a full house in a smaller, more intimate venue than a half-empty place that is bigger,” he said.
“And as for countries or cities, everywhere that I would want to go is a place where they would want to have me. I am not interested in trying to build an audience in any place that’s not interested in my music. So, I have pretty much gone everywhere where there is a promoter or an event organizer that has reached out to have me come and play. And if that’s outside Japan, that’s fine with me. I just love to play anywhere that will have me. It doesn’t matter where I am playing, I am in the same zone as a performer, doing the same performance. I just enjoy playing. It doesn’t matter.
“I just played in the Philippines with my band for the first time and it was just an absolute mob scene there, and I had no idea what to expect. It turned out really well, so you just never know where you’re going to do well. You have to engage when the promoters tell you and when they invite you to come.”
For more information on Friedman, his latest album, One Bad M.F. Live!! and the current cross-continent tour, visit www.martyfriedman.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUBOoi6–WU
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