Sound education
Guitarist Marty Friedman forged path to Japan with help from Oklahoma
Marty Friedman has Oklahoma to thank for his move to Japan.
Back in the early 1990s, the guitarist was busy touring the country with heavy metal mainstays Megadeth. Friedman had been speaking Japanese as a hobby but wanted to strengthen his foreign language skills on the go.
“I took a correspondence course from the University of Oklahoma,” Friedman told
The Oklahoman. “They were the only college in the United States that offered a correspondence course in Japanese . ... They’d send me stuff, I’d send it back and I’d go to other colleges around the country to take tests with a teacher watching me. I’d always report back to Norman, Oklahoma.” It really is a small world. Friedman, 54, made the jump to Japan in 2003 and splits his time between work on television (a lot of TV) and pursuing music at his own pace. His newest, mostly instrumental album “Wall of Sound” landed Aug. 4, and the rocker’s making an inaugural solo stop in Oklahoma, along with his Japanese band and possibly a documentary crew.
Here’s a few highlights from my phone interview with Friedman.
Q: Your new record shares a name with the popular description for Phil Spector’s recording method. I understand he made studio musicians wait hours before he’d hit record to make them tired, so they’d fall together easier. That way nobody stuck out. That’s not the case here. So, what’s it like being the driving force on your “Wall of Sound.”
Marty Friedman: I’m definitely the driving force behind it, but one thing I take pride in, that maybe sets me apart other instrumental music, is that I probably put more effort into what’s backing up my guitar playing than actually put on guitar playing itself. If you listen to the atmosphere that I’m playing over, the band and the music that I’m playing my melodies to, it’s really quite layered and in a very detailed fashion to absolutely maximize the impact of whatever melody I’m playing.
In a sense, that’s similar to Phil Spector.
What he did was created a great wall of sound so that when the singers are singing, it’s like they’re being supported by a huge, huge piece of music. The singers have this great springboard to emote over. I never really made the connection to me and Phil Spector.
Q: You spent 18 months tinkering with “Wall of Sound.” What did you spend that time on?
Friedman: Most of it was reviewing demos and trying songs in different keys, tempos and arrangements. I’d throw out something that I thought was cool at one time and stopped liking it after six months. Which is pretty much the key to making a great album, I’m finding. Usually when you write a song and you record it, love it and can’t wait to play it for everybody. That runs the risk of not being that great two to three months later. When you’re living with demos for six, eight or 12months, it gives you the time for the honeymoon period to wear off.
Q: Your wife, Hiyori Okuda, plays cello. Are you able to perform with her often?
Friedman: We almost never play together. Not for any particular reason. We played together the day before I came to America to do this tour. We did a special show in Japan. Obviously, she plays cello so it doesn’t really fit in my day-to-day band stuff. But we did a special concert where I played my more symphonic music, which would call for cello. That’s the first time we really played together. She does her own classical music, and I do my own thing. When we’re not playing, we’re definitely not playing.
Q: You’re not in the United States that often. Have you been able to visit with friends and family?
Friedman: Zero. There’s just so little time to do anything. If I get to see family and friends, then it’s usually when I carve out days off from the tour because tour days are either traveling, playing the show or interviews. We’re doing this really cool VIP thing this time where fans come, and they bring everything they want signed. We actually spend time talking and taking photos without rushing them through. In the past, often times it’s very much like an assembly line. I wouldn’t like that, and I don’t think fans like it either.
Q: What’s the goal of the documentary crew that’s shooting on this tour? Will you be filming here?
Friedman: I guess it’s odd that someone who’s known to be a rock guitarist all of a sudden leaves everything and goes to Japan . ... To me, it’s very normal, but the director of the doc is all hyped up about it. He’s filming this tour in New York and Baltimore. Possibly Texas and Oklahoma because it’s quite the opposite of Japan, and I think he’s shooting for the big contrast between the two countries. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Oklahoma show gets filmed in some way, and we chat with some Oklahoma fans.
Q: You’re credited with hundreds of television appearances in Japan. You’re used to being on a stage so was the transition smooth?
Friedman: It was sorta like pulling teeth at the beginning, and I didn’t want to do it. I just wanted to do music, and I offered to do a pilot. Next you know, the show’s a hit, and then I have a new manager and a contract for a season of a showthat runs six seasons. ...It’s not like playing an instrument where I can ad-lib my way through anything. It was quite challenging. But I liked the challenge, and obviously I got a little bit better at it. Even now, years later, it still doesn’t feel like my real gig. When I play on tour, it feels normal. Even still, the TV stuff feels like I’m stepping into somebody else’s body, but that’s the fun of it.