Malcom Young
- Producer
The beginning of 2003 was a potent time to talk to AC/DC -- and Malcolm Young in particular. The group was being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the time, and as part of a new deal with Sony, it was rolling out a full series remastered albums. It was also in an odd legal situation between labels that led to an eight-year gap between its Stiff Upper Lip album in 2000 and its chart-topping Black Ice in 2008.
We caught the late Malcolm Young in a loquacious mood back then, feeling somewhat nostalgic and sentimental -- but not about to let AC/DC rest on its laurels, either. In honor of the guitarist in the wake of his passing over the weekend, Billboard revisits the 14-year-old interview with the rock group to share some of Young's best tidbits.
Yeah, there was a vision -- that was basically that we didn't have to have day jobs and could get out and play guitar for a living, something you loved doing. It was great if you could give up your day job and spend more time on the guitar. That was our ambition and our vision, and it just got bigger and bigger as the band evolved. But there was no grand sort of plan, not like they have these days. We were just working class people, and we were just glad you could enjoy yourself making money, even if it was 50 bucks a week. And it's still like that. It's not changed.
We caught the late Malcolm Young in a loquacious mood back then, feeling somewhat nostalgic and sentimental -- but not about to let AC/DC rest on its laurels, either. In honor of the guitarist in the wake of his passing over the weekend, Billboard revisits the 14-year-old interview with the rock group to share some of Young's best tidbits.
Yeah, there was a vision -- that was basically that we didn't have to have day jobs and could get out and play guitar for a living, something you loved doing. It was great if you could give up your day job and spend more time on the guitar. That was our ambition and our vision, and it just got bigger and bigger as the band evolved. But there was no grand sort of plan, not like they have these days. We were just working class people, and we were just glad you could enjoy yourself making money, even if it was 50 bucks a week. And it's still like that. It's not changed.