In a recent interview with “The Jasta Show”, the podcast hosted by HATEBREED frontman Jamey Jasta, legendary German guitarist Michael Schenker was asked if has a venue that he loves to play that he is always happy when he shows up to. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I have no idea. I play so many funny places, from 12 people up to 80,000 people. It makes no difference. Yeah, of course, it’s great to play in front of 500,000 people or 100,000 people, but I also enjoy playing in front of 20 people or 30 people. I have always done that. I never got disturbed by that. I wondered sometimes why only 30 people, but I did a lot of touring without management and without anybody looking after me. And so I just focused on the music and I was just happy.”He continued: “I never got paid until ’91. That is a long, long time after UFO and MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP. So I never missed it, because I’m happy with necessity. I can be. And so I don’t really look at money, if I spend too much or too little, but I make sure that I don’t have to borrow. I just kind of make it comfortable.”Michael went on to say that the size of the venue that he plays is “not my focus.” He explained: “I mean, the Budokan [in Tokyo, Japan] was an important. It never was my focus either. I never knew about the Budokan, but I played there, and it became a very famous venue for me. I have a very amazing memory of what happened, arriving at the at the show. It was like being in THE BEATLES. It was amazing.”What I am doing is I want freedom,” he continued. “I want peace. And I don’t wanna be interrupted by stuff that makes no sense. And so pure self-expression, that’s where my rewards come, that’s where I’m happy. And not being trapped by a tricky manager. And so I was very, very careful. I mean, I am very careful in the past 20, 25 years. I wasn’t before, because I didn’t know anything, but I got trapped badly and I was basically tricked into borrowing some more money for the [third MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP album] ‘Assault Attack’ by a manager who tricked me into this. I got cross collateralized between UFO debts and Michael Schenker debts. And he disappeared with the money and I never saw him again. That was in 1980. So he probably built himself a house somewhere in the Philippines and never showed his face again because I never saw him again. It was disturbing, but I snapped out of it pretty quickly because I always said to myself… Well, of course, I got more and more careful, but not careful enough, maybe, because… Well, it’s a Catch 22 in a way, but I was able to stay away from big management who wanted to sign me. And last moment I went, ‘No, no, no. I can’t do this. I can’t do this.’ And that was a blessing, because that gave me the freedom. I was never forced to do anything. Everything I do is pure joy because I love to do and pick the notes that I wanna pick, not a note that the manager wants to pick. So I put my notes together the way I like it because I’m an artist.”Michael Schenker first appeared on SCORPIONS’ 1972 album “Lonesome Crow”, earned acclaim in the 1970s on classic UFO albums such as “Phenomenon” and “Lights Out” before rejoining SCORPIONS for 1979’s “Lovedrive”. He departed soon thereafter to launch MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP. And while his sometimes-erratic behavior have derailed parts of his career, Schenker remains one of hard rock and metal’s most influential axemen.Schenker recently announced a spring 2025 European tour in support of his “My Years With UFO” album celebrating the 50th anniversary of Michael’s years with UFO. Joining him on the trek will be former SKID ROW frontman Erik Grönwall, who is the featured singer on the “Mother Mary” song on “My Years With UFO”, which also includes a guest appearance by GUNS N’ ROSES’ Slash on guitar.[embedded content]