Marty Friedman Wants You to Stop Calling Him an “Ex-Megadeth Guitarist”: “That was 25 years ago. »

Marty Friedman said the “ex-Megadeth guitarist” label often attached to his name “really, really bothers me.”

The 61-year-old, who played with Dave Mustaine’s thrash metal band from 1989 to 2000, revealed his grievances with the label in a new interview with It’s awesome !.

“Of course, once I left Megadeth, the tag ‘ex-Megadeth’ was stuck to my name, and I understood that for about a year or two,” the guitarist said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).

“And then I really, really wanted to stop that because I wasn’t in Megadeth anymore and I was doing my own thing, doing other things that weren’t Megadeth related at all.”

Friedman later added that part of the reason he dislikes the term is the difference between his post-Megadeth solo music and the material of his former bandmates.

“Of course, sometimes they still do it now, and it really, really bothers me, because it doesn’t do Megadeth any favors either,” he explained.

“That’s not doing me any favors. It was 25 years ago. They have their own band, and I’m the biggest fan of their band, and my stuff is completely different from theirs.

Friedman left Megadeth amicably due to creative differences and later moved from America to Japan, although he joined Mustaine et al on stage at the legendary Budokan venue in Japan last year.

The guitarist recently discussed the one-night reunion in an interview with The Guardian.

“The only unfinished business (Mustaine and I) had was the Budokan,” he said.

“It was just as important to both of us because we are both rock fans at heart – having grown up with Cheap Trick at the Budokan, and all of our heroes who played there, we both wanted play it together.”

Friedman continued, “Dave contacted me and said, ‘Dude, have you ever played Budokan?’ I said yes, and he said, “Do you want to play it again?” It was the sweetest exchange.

Of the night itself, Friedman reflected: “People were crying and screaming and smiling from ear to ear. It was just a different kind of night!

“The show couldn’t have been better, and to be quite honest, the band sounded better than when I was there.”

Friedman released his new solo album, Dramathis month and is currently working on a memoir, Dreaming Japanese.