Yoshiki: "I grew up with classical music before I started rocking!"

Yoshiki Classical is the brand new album from X Japan drummer and all-round legend of Japanese rock Yoshiki. We caught up with the man himself to see how he's settling into the classical music world.

His legend status in Japan has come from years of rock and metal albums with X Japan, but drummer/pianist/songwriter (and now classical composer) Yoshiki has taken a totally different direction on his new album, Yoshiki Classical.

As Classic FM's Sam Pittis found out over a crackly phone line to his office in LA, Yoshiki has always had fondness for the classical world. In fact, turning some of his existing X Japan songs into rhapsodic classical pieces was surprisingly hassle-free for him:

"Translating from rock to classical music is just like changing the background from drums to some kind of strings... It's pretty easy!"

Yoshiki also sheds light on what was like to have a tour of Hans Zimmer's studio, and gives a little hint of what his next project is - his own brand of headphones.

Listen to the interview here.

Follow Yoshiki on Twitter here.