In October of 2023, I interviewed Marty Friedman from his home in Tokyo – and not for the first time. It was a wide-ranging conversation typical of our exchanges, spanning his latest collaboration with jazz fusion outfit Fusion Syndicate to his eternal quest to take his playing in new directions – and of particular note, the state of the modern guitar solo.
The interview was featured in the March 2024 issue of Guitar World, and included a powerful declaration of intent from the former Megadeth guitarist when I posed the question, ‘Is there hope for guitar solos?’, to which he responded, “I hope the traditional guitar solo dies a slow and painful death.”
