Jeff Scott Soto recently shared insights about his early career experiences and the valuable lessons he learned while working with guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen. He spoke in an interview with Radio Kiss FM Official.
The veteran vocalist reflected on how his time with Malmsteen shaped his approach to the music business and his own career decisions.
“Well, one of the biggest lessons I learned when I was with Yngwie is how to do things and how not to do things,” Soto said. “And what I saw, not necessarily Yngwie, but the management, just the way things were run, I saw that’s not the way I wanna do things with my own career, with my own future.”
He explained how these observations influenced his subsequent career path.
“So I learned a lot from there that I took into my own world and into the next steps of my career, and that’s why I’m still doing this, I guess,” he continued.
Soto also shared advice he regularly gives to aspiring musicians. He emphasized both persistence and business awareness.
“That’s one [piece of] advice I always give to young musicians when they say, ‘What advice do you have for new musicians?’ I said, besides the fact that you have to stay with it — if you really want it, you have to stay with it because when you get ‘no, no, no, no, no, no,’ one day you’re gonna get one ‘yes,’ and that means you’re meant to be there,” he said. “That’s my first advice.”
He stressed the importance of understanding the business side of music.
“But the second advice, and it’s the most important advice — learn the business,” Soto added. “There’s so many ways you can get screwed. There’s so many ways people can put the hat over your face, and you have no idea. You can sell one million albums and you’re still driving an old beat-up car.”
Soto’s reflections on his time with Malmsteen provide valuable context for understanding both his career trajectory and the broader dynamics of the music industry during the 1980s neoclassical metal boom.
Jeff Scott Soto’s official biography revealed that his professional music career began at age 18 when he joined Yngwie Malmsteen’s band Rising Force in 1984. This launched him into the rock and metal spotlight and established the foundation for his decades-long career. This early break came at a crucial time in the development of neoclassical metal. It positioned Soto as one of the genre’s pioneering vocalists.
The working relationship between Soto and Malmsteen was characterized by a clear hierarchy that would later influence Soto’s approach to his own projects. Blabbermouth reported that Soto has stated that working with Malmsteen taught him a critical distinction about the band’s dynamic structure and creative control.
“You don’t really work with Yngwie; you work for Yngwie,” Soto explained in previous interviews. This highlighted the autocratic nature of the collaboration that reinforced his desire for greater creative control in his future endeavors.
MetalTalk documented that Soto’s business acumen and resilience have been reflected in his remarkable longevity in the music industry. He has contributed to nearly 90 albums as a lead vocalist while remaining active across multiple genres including metal, hard rock, and progressive rock. This extensive discography demonstrates how the lessons learned during his formative years with Malmsteen translated into sustained professional success and artistic diversity throughout his career.
