Marty Friedman Dreams in Japanese and Misses Junk Food

Back in 2023, I spoke with Marty Friedman for Metal Edge. He was touring the U.S. in support of Queensrÿche at the time and told me how it was all a part of his grand plan to reintroduce himself to the country, as he’d lived in Japan for over 20 years at that juncture. Now, nearly two years later, he’s back touring the States in a headlining capacity, with his Japanese band in tow and promoting his recent memoir, Dreaming Japanese.

The guitarist seemed a bit bedraggled when I sat down with him over Zoom for a Vanyaland 617 Q&A. He was pressed for time, and just seemed a bit off. Still, he was a fantastic interviewee, and living such an interesting life, I could’ve talked to him for hours, picking his brain even more about his life in Japan. We chatted a bit about that, and I once again hit him up about the things he misses most about living in the United States.

We also discussed the “feud” between his former outfit, Megadeth, and Metallica. Of course, that’s a topic which has been beaten into the ground over the years, but I was curious about a passage in his book where he claimed the discord between the two metal titans was manufactured by the press. Expectedly, it was also what grabbed all the headlines from our chat.

Check out the interview, and below is a song he did with J-pop star Nanase Aikawa which I’ve been loving lately.