Alex Skolnick recently discussed the advice he received from Joe Satriani during their guitar lessons together in a new interview on Listen Notes’ ‘Axe Lords’ podcast.
Recalling how Satriani discouraged him from copying Yngwie Malmsteen, Skolnick explained, “Part of the reason Joe’s advice was so good is Yngwie plays the way he does because of who he is as a person, and he’s way over the top. Yeah, there’s many stories. I don’t have that many stories personally. When I met him, he’s been nice, but it’s just been like quick encounters. But there’s no shortage of Yngwie stories.”
“My favorite quote of Yngwie is he talks about some of the first recordings he did and being told by the producer, ‘Maybe, you should play less notes. Less is more.’ And he said, ‘Less can’t be more. How can less be more?’”
When the host mentioned feeling intimidated about starting Malmsteen’s guitar lesson videos, since he couldn’t play the same way, Skolnick agreed, “Nobody can play just like him. I mean, really, nobody can play just like anybody. But it’s really useful to look at how some of the licks are constructed.”
Skolnick recalled being influenced by Yngwie Malmsteen when he got quite popular in the ’80s rock scene during an interview with Guitar Player last year.
Satriani warned him against following Malmsteen too closely at the time, saying, “‘That’s fine, but don’t get too into him. Don’t try to sound like him because, in a few years, there will be somebody else who’s the hot guy.’ Which is funny because a few years later, Joe was the guy everybody was talking about.”
The Testament guitarist continued, “People were learning everything on ‘Surfing With The Alien,’ but I tried to keep my distance because I remembered what Joe had told me. It was kind of funny, really. Joe was a great teacher and a huge influence on me, but I knew I shouldn’t try to sound like him. He was doing his thing, but it wasn’t supposed to be my thing.”
Skolnick debuted with Testament the same year on ‘The Legacy,’ which received generally good reviews from critics. Remastered versions of the album and its follow-up, ‘The New Order,’ came out in July 2024.
The band set on the Klash of the Titans tour with Kreator to support the releases. The trek’s European leg began in November and runs until December 15.
