ICON
Michael Schenker
IN THE 1970S, MICHAEL SCHENKER EMERGED AHEAD OF EDDIE VAN HALEN AS A GAME-CHANGING GUITAR HERO WHOSE GENIUS WOULD INFLUENCE GENERATIONS. BUT AS HE REVEALS THE SECRETS OF HIS UNIQUE STYLE AND CREATIVE APPROACH, HIS MESSAGE IS SIMPLE: “BE YOURSELF. DON’T TRY TO BE ANYBODY ELSE”
Interview Amit Sharma
Photo: Will Ireland
Just as Eddie Van Halen was the American pioneer of shred guitar in the late 70s, so Michael Schenker was his counterpart in Europe. The German guitarist started out early – he was just 16 when he played alongside his elder brother Rudolf on the Scorpions’ debut album Lonesome Crow, released in 1972, six years before the first Van Halen album. It was with British band UFO that Michael made his reputation as a guitar hero. But in his quest for what he calls “pure artistic expression”, he formed The Michael Schenker Group in the 80s, and has remained his own master ever since.
It was Schenker’s sense of timing, vibrato and feel that set him apart early on, and made him an inspiration for metal players such as Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, Judas Priest’s Richie Faulkner and Opeth’s Fredrik Åkesson. And now, at the age 66, Schenker’s chops are as finely tuned as ever, his new album, Immortal, full of hair-raising fretboard pyrotechnics.
“I’m an inventive person,” he tells TG as he explains how he found the right vocabulary for many a classic recording…
Develop all aspects of your technique, especially vibrato…
“On the album version of [UFO classic] Doctor Doctor, that was the sound of me developing. You can hear it in the vibrato, particularly. Back then, every day of my life felt like a tone quest! I started sounding more and more the way I wanted to in my head. The main thing about Doctor Doctor is that it started off as an instrumental. [UFO singer] Phil Mogg heard it and said, ‘Michael, this is great... Can you get rid of the instrumental part, leave me the rhythm chords and I can do something to it?’ So my instrumental would turn into a lead break or refreshment after each verse of chorus. I was always very fascinated by vibrato, so it’s something I naturally wanted to work on and improve. When we got to [1979 live album] Strangers In The Night and started touring, I was the only guitarist in the band so had to figure out how to play the harmony guitar part at the same time. I made it my mission to play both parts in one go... and I managed! Up to this day, that’s exactly how I play it.”