Performed a fiery music video scene for one of his renowned tracks, Yngwie Malmsteen experienced a dragon spewing actual flames at him during the shoot on the Conan The Barbarian set. The heat was palpable.
In a recent interview with our website, guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen revealed some fascinating behind-the-scenes stories from the recording of his immortal album, "Marching Out." Particularly, he discussed one of the most unusual music video experiences he had while shooting the video for "I'll See The Light Tonight."
Known for his affinity for Stratocasters and notorious for his claim that Eddie Van Halen was threatened by him, Malmsteen penned "I'll See The Light Tonight" in a humble abode in California. Widely recognized as one of his most iconic tracks, it showcased Malmsteen's deft hand in crafting delectable Ab minor riffs effortlessly in the stillness of the night.
Recollecting the events, Malmsteen explained, "My Marshall stacks and a reel-to-reel were set up in the living room.I remember getting my drummer to have a jam at 3am. How long is that song? Around three minutes? Well, that's how long it took to write. I just started riffing that Ab power chord against the open string and put it all together. I knew it was good straight away."
Driven by the MTV generation's influence, Malmsteen aimed to make the music video for "I'll See The Light Tonight" as metal as it gets. For this purpose, he chose the perfect set which was the Conan The Barbarian set at Universal Studios. Filming took place during the studio's closing hours, and Malmsteen and his team rented the entire location complete with dragons and actors.
The shoot continued until 5 am, and the dragon that was part of the set responded aggressively to Malmsteen during filming. "The dragon that came up was spitting real fucking fire at me while I was doing the solo. I could feel the heat," Malmsteen shared. Injuries occurred during the shoot, as the dragon that was meant to be on display for the general public the following morning was accidentally broken by Malmsteen during one of the scenes.
Not only did the dragon succumb to Malmsteen's offensive guitar skills, but the human guitarist himself also ended up in unexpected danger. Malmsteen "was also on fire at one point," he casually mentioned, as pyrotechnics were used to make the scenes more realistic. "They put this stuff on my guitar and on my arm to help it burn, like they do in the movies, so my arm was actually on fire. I just went along with it," the Swedish speed demon added nonchalantly.
Malmsteen made headlines last year when he auctioned off his fourth Stratocaster along with a free Ferrari, and Joe Satriani recently discussed the unique challenges of having the Swede on the G3 tour.
Malmsteen's entire interview with our website is set to be published online in the coming weeks.
During the music video shoot for "I'll See The Light Tonight," Malmsteen's guitar performances were so intense that the dragon prop on set reacted with real fire. Amidst the pyrotechnics, Malmsteen even found himself briefly on fire while performing. eager to create a metal-infused video, Malmsteen filmed at the Conan The Barbarian set at Universal Studios, renting the entire location, complete with dragons and actors, well past the studio's closing hours.
