In the best way possible, Marty Friedman is an anomaly within the musical world. He started off in the 1980s as a guitar-centric recording artist for Shrapnel Records, which had also signed his metal band Cacophony. The start of the 1990s brought him into the Megadeth fold, in which Friedman would go on to sell millions of albums. But the success he experienced before leaving Megadeth in 2000 would only be a fraction of what was to come for Friedman.
Marty Friedman moved to Japan in 2003 and quickly found work as a sideman for several Japanese prominent recording artists. Nowadays, he is not only a prominent solo artist and session player, but also an in-demand host and actor with 700+ television appearances to his credit. Friedman has written an autobiography and is the focus of a forthcoming documentary. Friedman is also an Ambassador of Japan Heritage by the Japanese Government. However, the guitar hero chooses not to rest of the laurels of his stardom in Asia, instead – pre-COVID-19 — opting to tour the U.S. regularly in recent years.
The latest solo album from Marty Friedman is “Tokyo Jukebox 3,” as due out via the Mascot Label Group on April 16, 2021. “Tokyo Jukebox 3” is the third in a series that began with 2009’s “Tokyo Jukebox” and continued with “Tokyo Jukebox 2.” The album’s recording process started in January 2020 and was due to end in March 2020 with a release in May 2020. Then the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and everything was pushed back. Alongside bassist Kiyoshi and drummer Anup Sastry, “Tokyo Jukebox 3” features Friedman’s interpretations of favorites by LiSA, Official Hige Dandism, Da Pump, Zard, Everything Little Things and Sekai No Owari.
On March 15, 2021, I had the pleasure of speaking with Marty Friedman via Zoom, as embedded below. Beyond “Tokyo Jukebox 3,” we talked about long-term career goals, life during COVID-19, musical influences and plenty more.
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