KNAC.com's Charlie Steffens recently spoke with guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen. The following is an excerpt from the interview:

KNAC.com: You’ve had a couple of adjustments in your lifestyle over the last few years. Are you still abstaining from booze and smoke?

Malmsteen: "Oh, clean as a whistle, man. In four years I’ve not touched anything--no, four and a half, almost. Trust me, man, I don’t wanna sound like I’m preaching or nothing, but man, oh man, it’s like, 'Take the veil off my eyes, brotha!' I can’t even tell ya. It’s like I breathe and love and live. It’s just no comparison. It’s just really, really a great thing and you know, everybody’s got to do what they got to do. When I stopped smoking I promised myself I wouldn’t start bitching to people who smoke cigarettes. So I don’t. I don’t smoke, and if you smoke I don’t care. I don’t drink, but if you drink that’s fine with me, too. But I don’t. And I feel so much better for it."

KNAC.com: Yeah, you never want to get up on some tower and talk down to somebody or preach.

Malmsteen: "No! The funny thing is—I gotta tell ya—I never had so much fun and so much enjoyment out of everything I do as I do now. I’m having the best time of my life, so for whatever it’s worth—let me tell you--it was a good move for me (laughs)."

KNAC.com: Were the first couple of days, weeks, months a hard adjustment?

Malmsteen: "Of course! I’m thinking the first year, even. But once you’re over that, man, then it’s all beautiful. I mean really. I’m not just saying that. Just the whole thing of getting up in the morning—I love the sunshine, I love the palm trees. I’m that kind of guy. I like to drive around with the top down and just enjoy life. I never did that before, so it’s a beautiful thing. You get so focused on everything you do, as far as the recording and the writing and all that shit. It’s like totally razor, pinpoint, very, very organized and on, you know? To me that’s extreme enjoyment, really, to be really together, instead of being confused and wondering what the hell’s going on (laughs)."

Go to this location for the complete interview.