A 1983 interview for Guitar Player featuring Angus Young was recently released by Jas Obrecht. In the chat, Young couldn’t help but gush over Malcolm Young as he discussed feeling dependent on his brother when it came to guitars.
The discussion started early into the chat when the interviewer asked Angus what differentiated his and Malcolm’s rhythm styles. The young [pun intended] guitarist then started off right away by praising his brother and undermining his own contribution to AC/DC’s sound, saying:
“I’m just like a color over the top [on AC/DC’s sound]. He’s the solids and he pumps it along. His right hand is always gone. I think he’s probably in that field [where] I don’t think anyone could do what he does. He’s very clean, it’s [his riffs are] very hard; it’s an attack. Anyone that sees him [playing] just goes ‘What?’ Or anyone who knows about guitars.”
The rocker also mentioned how he believed Malcolm was the superior Young when it came to guitar skills and then carried on by discussing depending on his brother’s ‘more experienced’ sound:
“Malcolm [is] more experienced than me. He knows what he’s doing with it [the guitar]. He’s got his own style. I can copy it [but] I don’t think I could feel it, not like he does. I could copy it.”
Then, when the interviewer asked whether Malcolm could easily copy his style, Angus answered:
“Yeah, [he can copy it], he’s so awesome. I do the longest way, that’s the easiest part with the solos. There’s no great singing, being sort of… I think the hardest thing is to play together with a lot of people. I mean when four guys hit one note at once, very few people could do it right.”
Angus also hadn’t been the one to talk about his brother’s passing publicly often, for understandable reasons, though there was one time he revealed a gut-wrenching confession about Malcolm’s untimely departure, marking a rare moment where the rocker openly discussed his feelings.
