YNGWIE MALMSTEEN Denies Being Egocentric: ‘It’s an Artistic Thing’

Yngwie Malmsteen

In a recent interview with Wendy Rhodes, guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen has “denied being egocentric,” saying that his approach to making music is often “misunderstood.”

The guitarist said:

“I compose the guitar parts, obviously, but also the bass, drums, keyboards, vocals, melody, and lyrics.

“Sometimes people misunderstand my M.O. like I’m being egotistical, but it’s not that.

“It’s an artistic thing. Like a painter doesn’t let someone paint the background and he does the foreground. The painter paints the whole picture. And that’s how I work.”

This isn’t the first time Yngwie insisted he’s in full control of his creative work. While explaining how he started to sing in his solo band because he got tired of his singers’ “bulls**t,” the guitarist said earlier this month:

“I always thought that singers have the Elvis Presley syndrome – they think they’re Elvis Presley. They’re not Elvis Presley.

“Because I write the music, I write the lyrics, I write the vocal melody lines – I write everything. Just because I let somebody sing something doesn’t mean they’re more important than the bass player or the keyboard player or the drummer.

“Because I write all the parts – I write the drum parts, the bass parts, the keyboard parts, the guitar parts, and the vocal parts – like a classical composer. And I really kind of got tired of dealing with their bulls**t, really. So I decided to sing myself.”