Marty Friedman's Story Failed In Ozzy Osbourne's Guitarist

Marty Fiedman (Instagram @martyfriedman)

JAKARTA - Marty Friedman recalled the moment when he auditioned for the guitarist position in the band Ozzy Osbourne in the late 1980s.

"I totally failed." I thought it might be because of my performance," in a question and answer session "Metalmania III" Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp last month in Los Angeles.

"I actually got a call from Sharon Osbourne a long time ago, and I live in San Francisco, and they said, 'We wanted to fly you to Ozzy's audition,'" he continued.

"And I was like, 'Oh my God. This is so cool.' I was practically homeless at the time, living with my girlfriend and taking care of rent and so on, like California rock musicians did."

"And I was very happy to get that call. So I learned music, went to LA they flew me to LA to play with the band. And in my opinion, I played everything well, and I think it sounds good."

Marty said, everyone is quite friendly. But the image of the people in the band is very different. Even though they were just auditioning, they really dressed up like the 1980s Sunset Strip rockstar, from skull shirts, handcuffs to long necklaces. Meanwhile Marty, only wore jeans and t-shirts.

"I think... the atmosphere is just different. Unlike the three friends in the band who are going to hang out and have fun, even though it sounds good, I think. I mean, I think I played everything right."

"Being in a band is more than just playing. And, in fact, playing is something that is not on the list. If you have the same vibe as people, you can kiss it: 'This is the man I want to take for a walk.' And it's different at that level... It smells like LA and I smell like San Francisco, which smells different. None of us smells good. But it smells cool. Everyone plays everything great. They audit thousands of men. So I don't understand," Marty added.

"A band is just... more like people's personalities. Because there are so many great players who can play in every show, you know what I mean? It's really about who you want to hang out with? I'd love to get a show, but they might just get ready to go back to drinking, and I'm not a heavy butcher, so I won't be able to thicken well. But at that time I was, like, 'Oh, I played it perfectly. Why don't they call me back?' But I understand [now]. "