Guitar legend Michael Schenker recently sat down with Louder Sound and discussed his career, guitars, music and personal philosphies. Following is an excerpt from the interview.

The lead guitar is pure

Schenker: "I fell in love with heavy metal when I heard Led Zeppelin and and Black Sabbath, and I use that as a screen. Of course, I'm not playing what they did. I put my own screen together. It's not jazz, and it's not pop. It's metal. I use that screen to put my lead guitar on. Each note has to have a meaning. If you have three notes, what's going to be the fourth? The one that gives you goose pimples? That's what I do when I wrote things like the intro to 'Holiday'. Or 'Try Me'. Or 'Doctor Doctor'. My fascination is with the single string, and what you can do with it. There are endless combinations: Hit a string twice. Hit a string three times. Hit it twice. Leave a gap. Hit it again. Make vibrato. Don't make vibrato. Let it sustain. It goes on and on and on!

I still have a way of putting meaning behind notes, even if I play fast. Playing fast is usually very technical: there's no vibrato, no emotions. But if you consciously put those fast notes together, you can ensure that each note – if you play them in slow motion – comes from a really good place. And then, when you play them fast, it will still be effective." 

Don't regret anything

Schenker: "I'm sitting here today, and I'm quite happy. You can't regret anything, because every choice and every move brings you to the next destination. If we make too many wrong choices we can end up towards the dark, and everything gets darker and darker. If we makes the right choices we end up towards the light. In other words, you feel happier and more unhappy, based on the choices you make. If you take shortcuts, it will backfire later, and bring you trauma or unhappiness. But if you're true to yourself, the feedback is great. I'm happy."

Read the complete interview here

Michael Schenker Fest's new album, Revelation, is available as CD digipak, 2LP (different colours) as well as a limited boxset incl. CD digipak, 2LP (red+black splatter), puzzle, poster 60x30, photo cards. Get your version here.

Revelation tracklisting:

"Rock Steady"
"Under A Blood Red Sky"
"Silent Again"
"Sleeping With The Light On"
"The Beast In The Shadows"
"Behind The Smile"
"Crazy Daze"
"Lead You Astray"
"We Are The Voice"
"Headed For The Sun"
"Old Man"
"Still In The Fight"
"Ascension"

Bonus:
"Armed And Ready" (live)
"Bad Boys" (live)
"Rock Bottom" (live)

"Behind The Smile" lyric video:

"Sleeping With The Lights On" video:

"Rock Steady" video: