By: Robert Cavuoto
This spring, metal heads will get the opportunity to enjoy an evening of amazing guitar playing, when Ethan Brosh and Yngwie Malmsteen hit the road together.
If it’s six-string pyrotechnics that you crave, then you simply have to attend one of the upcoming shows that will feature one of metal’s most talented up-and-coming guitarists, Ethan Brosh, and one of the genre’s most renowned and respected figures, Yngwie Malmsteen.
The tour will take in 25 cities in the U.S. and Canada, and is sure to introduce Brosh to a whole new legion of fans.
Ethan also has an all-new album coming out later this year, Live the Dream.
It’s his second all-instrumental album and features the talents of world class bassist Dave Ellefson and an album cover painting by Joe Petagno [Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd].
I caught up with Ethan prior to the New York show to talk about his new CD and asked him for an update on how the tour with Yngwie is going.
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Robert Cavuoto: Tell me a little bit about your influences and how you came to be one of the fastest shredders?
Ethan Brosh: As far as influences go, it all starts with Iron Maiden. That’s the band that really made me want to be a musician and made me want to pick up the guitar.
They are still my favorite band, and I’d love to open for them one day. I was either 10 or 11-years-old when I discovered Maiden. Later, I discovered all the other players like Yngwie Malmsteen, George Lynch, Greg Howe, Jake E. Lee, Jason Becker, and Nuno Bettencourt.
In pop music from the ‘80s, you had this big production and choruses that are so nice and catchy with all those vocals. I love that and when I write instrumental music, I try to approach it in a similar way, very catchy, that have a song form and makes sense. I don’t write my instrumentals based on “Oh, I know these licks, and I can play those fast notes.”
I never approach music that way.
Robert: What was the first Maiden song you learned to play?
Ethan Brosh: That’s a tough one. I would say probably “Afraid to Shoot Strangers.” I remember Fear of the Dark had just come out and my first guitar teacher showed me how to play that song. It was slower and more like a ballad. I was able to play it from the beginning.
Robert: I think mine was “Smoke on the Water.” [Laughing]
Ethan Brosh: I think that’s everyone’s [Laughter]. It absolutely amazes me how “Smoke on the Water” is the all-time biggest riff. It’s amazing, because sometimes when I teach young kids on their first lesson they would show me the riff from “Smoke on the Water” in some version on one string. How do you even know that at seven-years-old? How do you know ‘Smoke on the Water’?” Incredible what that riff has done to pop music.
Robert: Tell me what your fans can expect from your soon to be released CD, Live the Dream.
Ethan Brosh: My new CD is a project that I’ve been working on for two years, and I just recently finished it. There’s no release date yet, but there are some pre-release copies that are available on the Malmsteen Tour that I’m on right now. People who come to the show can pick it up. It’s my second instrumental album, and I put a lot of attention into the production of this record.
I had Max Norman mix the record, and for those who don’t know who he is, he was a big-time producer that did Ozzy Osbourne’s first three records. He did all the classic Megadeth records. He’s been retired for about 20 years and I managed to talk him into coming out of retirement and mix this record. He took it very seriously, and I think we got something really nice at the end.
After that we went to Bob Ludwig, who is the greatest mastering engineer of all time, and he mastered the record. Just being there at Gateway Mastering in Portland, Maine, is such a great experience.
I’ve never listened to music on a better system. The whole room is designed for the perfect listening experience. It’s a one-of-a-kind place, and you don’t see that every day.
That was a great experience, and these two guys made the production on this record really huge and really nice and clear. And then I had Dave Ellefson from Megadeth who played on a couple of tracks. It was a great honor to have Dave Ellefson play on it.
Robert: Are you big on improvisation when it comes to recording your CD?
Ethan Brosh: I definitely go in with a song formula. The song is written 100%. Solos are sometimes improvised. I don’t really pay too much attention to the solos at first.
I try to write the tune. When I get to actually record them, I might have a solo written and I might not. I might just start playing over the changes and improvise to fill up the holes. That’s usually the way I approach it. I put more of the attention on the actual tunes, the melodies and the chords. The songs are actually, in my opinion, the easiest part.
Robert: What’s your practice regimen like and how has it changed over the years from when you first started out until now?
Ethan Brosh: I rarely ever play guitar anymore. [Laughter] I hope that it will change at some point, but I’m just worried about the music industry and worrying about my career.
Nowadays being a musician is not enough. You have to be a promoter, a recording engineer, and a producer. You gotta to do everything, and be good at everything. It really doesn’t leave you with a lot of time to play guitar. Nowadays, the only time I get to actually play or practice, is when I teach and when a student doesn’t show up I’ll be in the studio practicing.
Robert: How many hours a day did you play when you were younger?
Ethan Brosh: It’s hard to say. I was never the kind of person to sit down for eight hours and really put myself on schedule and work on some kind of a routine with a metronome.
I never really practiced. I just picked up the guitar whenever I felt like it. The only thing that I think was important was the fact that I picked up the guitar every day. And I would be very, very consistent at that for 20 years.
Some people might practice 10 hours a day and they do it for a while, and then they go to college or they have something else going on in their lives and they just kind of stop playing guitar altogether for a few months or years or whatever.
One thing that I did manage to do is to be fairly consistent, and just pick up the guitar every day and always be filled with music. Even if I didn’t practice the guitar, I’d always listened to music or learned music in some form or fashion.
Robert: You’re truly a gifted player with a God given talent. Are there any techniques that comes easy and others which take more work?
Ethan Brosh: Well, thank you. I did have to work very, very hard on a lot of things. I don’t really take things for granted.
There were things that I was a natural at, like finger picking. That always came very natural to me, but there were other things that were very difficult.
I could always detect what my weaknesses were, and whatever my weaknesses were at the time, I just spent all my time trying to fix them. I worked really hard at fixing it. I didn’t ignore it. It had to get better.
Robert: How did you get teamed up with Yngwie on this tour?
Ethan Brosh: That came through my manager. I have a really great manager who used to manage Manowar for about 20 years. He just called me up one day and he had the contract and somehow we managed to pull it all together.
Right after he called me, I had about two months to get ready for the tour, every second of the day I just worked out every single detail. At that time I didn’t have any time to play guitar. I was asking for help from everyone involved.
I’m like, “Guys, I need some help organizing everything, so I’ll have at least five minutes a day to practice before I go on tour opening for Yngwie Malmsteen.” [Laughter]
Robert: That’s got to be a little nerve wracking?
Ethan Brosh: It was. I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t know if I was going to be going onstage and have a bunch of guitar players looking at me with their arms crossed waiting for Yngwie to come on.
After the first night, I could tell, it’s going to be great by the crowd’s reaction. It was better than I could ever hope for. We’ve done 11 shows by now out of 25. Every single show has been just awesome. I’m very happy about that.
Robert: Yngwie is a guitar master, what have you learned from him while on tour?
Ethan Brosh: I’ve looked at Yngwie’s playing for many years. He’s always been one of my biggest influences. What I’m trying to pick up from Yngwie is something a little bit different than what most shredders are trying to pick up from him.
There are people who just take in his licks and practice them on the metronome. They’re trying to be fast and trying to rip him off in that way. What I really love about Yngwie is his sense of phrasing.
It really doesn’t fit when practicing licks using a metronome. His playing is all over the place; he’s very musical and he’s one of a kind. That’s something that I always look for when he’s onstage.
The other thing is I think he’s an incredible songwriter. He gets very little credit for that. People always talk about his guitar playing and how he plays fast and but that’s just a small part of it. If you listen to his records, almost every song is a hit song, very catchy.
I’m also trying to learn from Yngwie is that he’s always into the zone one hundred percent. It’s just like when he’s onstage; he’s always on one hundred percent! He doesn’t have off nights.
When he’s onstage, it’s like he’s the king, and he’s always perfect and on fire.
I’m wondering how he does that. I’m trying to work on that myself. Live playing is extremely important to me, and I’m constantly trying to get better and better.
Do you love the guitar and all things guitar related? 
