We talked about, How to Play, Loop, Traditional instrument, Creativity, Musical industry, AI, Marty's Band Tour etc.
To our surprise, Marty proved far more approachable than expected – his warmth instantly dissolved our initial nervous, made the interview smoother than we ever expect.
It's such a great honor to collaborate with the world class guitar hero Marty Friedman.
Thank you! Marty!
The Story Behind from perspective of Julia
I still remember, the shoot day like it was yesterday. We’d just arrived at the location, and before makeup, I couldn’t help but grab Marty’s hands and blurt out how grateful I was.
But he looked me straight in the eye and said, with utter sincerity: 'You should thank yourself.' 😭
Ten months. That’s how long it had been since we first emailed him. It felt like forever at the time, but now? It’s crazy how fast it all went.
When I looked back at our inbox today, I realized we’d sent hundred emails back and forth—tweaking details, confirming plans, refining ideas. And through all of it? Marty was the absolute best: patient, quick to reply, and always friendly (seriously, the man never missed a single detail).
He’s a perfectionist, a master of his craft, he held himself—and us—to the highest standards, yet was always generous with guidance and support.
And, you might never guess - throughout our Tokyo shoot, the city was drowning in monsoon rains and freak hailstorms...
Yet on the exact day of filming, sky miraculously cleared. Here's the kicker we discovered over post-wrap drinks: when we casually mentioned our daily prayers for sunshine to the filming team, they burst out laughing – 'We've been burning incense at the shrine every morning too!' and somehow, the weather gods answered!
There were moments I wondered, "Are we really gonna pull this off?" But we did—thanks to the amazing teams:
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SCM (the dream crew behind the camera)
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Katsuya Yamaguchi (the genius who handled the music)
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And of course, the unstoppable Enya squad.
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Massive thanks to Marty for riding this cosmic rollercoaster with us!
Looking back, so many things weren’t as daunting as they seemed, or maybe dedication will move mountains.
Onward we go—here’s to the next chapter!