Interview with D. Mustaine and D. Ellefson: Blessed be the fortune!!!
Interview where Dave Mustaine and David Ellefson discuss the band's stability, the evolution in songwriting for 'Countdown to Extinction' (the new album), the controversy surrounding their mascot Vic Rattlehead, comparisons to Metallica, and Mustaine's stance on hypocrisy regarding environmental issues.
Date
June 1, 1992
Media
Rock Power (ES)
Interviewer
Mark Day
Interviewees
Megadeth - the world's least environmental pressure group - return fiery with a new album and a stable lineup. Mark Day receives an early report from the front line.
'Rust in Peace' foreshadowed redemption for Megadeth. 'Countdown to Extinction' could well be the title of Megadeth's 'next' album, but it would easily describe the chaos, confusion, and bitter disappointments that preceded 'Rust'. Having split from Metallica because, according to Lars Ulrich's revelations, 'when James, Cliff and I get drunk we're just stupid jerks, but Mustaine gets angry and gets aggressive... it wasn't worth it,' Dave Mustaine set out to produce revenge: the highest success. A speed metal band with a fusion of jazz musicians in insane time changes and incredible warped tangents—combined with a jazzy flavor in the deadly pleasures of heroin—Megadeth almost broke up. Mustaine burned out like a kite during periods of inspired madness and creative drought, behaving like a brat instead of befitting a true erratic genius. Following a second dip in fanbase after the consequences of the uneven 'So Far, So Good... So What?', Mustaine cleaned up his act and regrouped Megadeth to pull the band out of the internal pattern they had fallen into. Against strong odds, it worked. Mustaine traded his narcotic habits for the thrills of martial arts, becoming a high diver, while Megadeth found their teeth again with a biting heavy rock album. They toured large arenas, successes growing, and the sword of Damocles that once hung over the band has finally disappeared. A huge feat for these men, of course. But... what do they plan to do now to keep moving forward?
Mark Day
It is suggested that, having left behind the emotional baggage of war, perhaps you have softened up a bit. Is that true?
Dave Mustaine
“Have I softened? Have I softened? Well, I haven't given up the fight yet, you know, I'm still a high diver, do you get that? People say I'm a softie because I'm quiet, but I'm also intense. I still live in a small house, and the damn kids in my neighborhood still ride their bikes over my lawn. I don't feel so 'comfortable,' I still take out my own trash and I still clean my motorcycle.”
Mark Day
In that case, is the rumor about booby-trapping the lawn for the neighborhood kids true?
Dave Mustaine
“In Vietnam they had these pointed bamboo canes that you bury in the lawn. Well, if they keep going across my lawn I'm going to put some down.”
Mark Day
If 'Rust in Peace' was important, what is the main difference with the previous recording process for 'Countdown...?'
David Ellefson
“On the last album, even during recording, we were super lost regarding our future, whether we could do 'something' again. In the past there was so much schism. Now, the more modern thing is total communication with the whole band, and we focus entirely on what we need to do.”
Mark Day
How would you describe the sound of this new album compared to the last one?
David Ellefson/Dave Mustaine
“'Countdown...' will be one of the first albums where, when we play it for ordinary people, I don't have to argue for it to cover up things that shouldn't be included or sour notes. [...] I actually sing on this record. I sing - I'm done screaming, can you believe it? it was 'really' hard.”
Mark Day
The band has been very stable, making two consecutive albums with the same lineup. What has changed?
David Ellefson
“We've only had one serious fight. It's a miracle - it used to be a daily event 'oh, screw that jerk!'. I think a band's followers relate to having a stable lineup. The new album was produced better because we're truly an active band, instead of two of us being 'the band' and the other two 'the new guys'. Marty will always be 'the new guy!' Dave gives him a lot of grief, but Marty is so accommodating that things run their own course. He doesn't suffer over women, the guy just likes to play guitar.”
Mark Day
'Countdown to Extinction' deals with sport hunting, what is your take on environmental issues and the human race?
Dave Mustaine
“The human race are pigs. We are the only animals that walk vertically and possess the talent to think and decide for ourselves, yet we go through our existence killing, eating, and destroying everything around us. Ozzy once commented: we kill each other to live and I think we'll pay for it in the end. Ted Nugent is cool because he eats what he kills, but in Texas they take these animals in cages and release them in the middle of fields - we're talking about damn Texas, not Africa - they open the cages and shoot them. They cut off their head and stuff it on a plaque and claim to have killed it while hunting. Sure, from at least a kilometer away, cowards!”
Mark Day
Ellefson explains that pseudo-safari hunters hunt rare animals. Is 'man hunting' the next step?
David Ellefson
“It's the most logical thing, damn it. If they keep hunting these rare animals they'll soon run out, and the highest trophy they don't yet possess is man. Then it will be the hunting of man.”
Mark Day
There's a lot of hypocrisy in the 'save the Earth' movement. How do you relate to these issues?
David Ellefson/Dave Mustaine
“What bothers me is that they organize 'Earth Day' once a year and all these jerks who sit on their asses all year and pump smog into the air get to be holier than you one day a year. Enough with the hypocrisy! It's not that I want to become a Californian asshole with a lawyer brain who sleeps on paper so as not to exploit cotton. I do what I can, but conveniently. I think the people who lean towards that kind of crap, people like Sting, the first time they miss a show and don't appear at a benefit concert, people will say: 'hey, piece of shit, where are you?'. It's not about what you do in the world to change our environmental conservation, it's what you do in your own 'mind' to solve it. You can't tell other people to change until you do it yourself.”
Mark Day
Is it true that you collaborated more on the songwriting for this album?
David Ellefson
“Dave has never been so open with people in the past when it comes to writing music. It's a hurdle I've overcome, I've contributed to some of Dave's songs, but in a very limited way. I don't think in the past the other guitarist and bassist wrote music. Now everyone creates the same kind of music, Dave has come down from the realms a little bit and I feel we've made the best record. It was a case of doing the right thing at the right time. With Dave, it's impossible to burst in and say: 'I want to put this on the record.' You have to catch him in a good mood and spaced out a bit for him to listen. It's a new attitude for Megadeth.”
Mark Day
An example of collaboration is 'Foreclosure of a Dream,' what is it about?
David Ellefson
“It's a title Dave and I had thought of since 'Peace Sells...'. I ended up writing the lyrics for the music Dave composed. It's a situation that happened to my family - my father was a farmer in the Midwest. During the Reagan presidency, a lot of money was loaned to farmers and they were encouraged to expand, and then they were foreclosed on with a mortgage. The song is about the issue. The music is mostly acoustic guitar.”
Mark Day
Why doesn't Vic Rattlehead, the mascot, appear on the cover?
David Ellefson
“In a band meeting one day everyone was saying, 'Vic will do this and that...' and I responded: 'man, I don't think we should include Vic on the cover of this album.' Silence. I saw Dave raise his eyebrow as if to say, 'what the hell!', but now it turns out we won't include the guy on the cover! Although we haven't completely finished with Vic, the guy will stay with us because he's not doing very well. He doesn't appear on the sleeve... we want to move in other directions and we don't always need the heavy metal imagery on all our records.”
Mark Day
It is rumored that there are similarities with Metallica's 'Black Album,' such as the case of 'Go to Hell' and 'Enter Sandman.'
David Ellefson
“If they are similar, the case of 'Go to Hell' (which features the same kid praying at night as Metallica in 'Enter Sandman'), they are completely unintentional. We wrote almost all the material on the road, long before the Metallica album was released. Our general attitude was simply to slow down the tempos a bit because we included some really heavy riffs and playing them fast sounded cool, but for us they didn't have the intensity and power of playing them slower. Playing the song in the *thrash metal* style would sound super ridiculous.”
Mark Day
What are your aspirations for 'Countdown to Extinction'?
Dave Mustaine
“You know what? I'm not sure how to answer that question. We seek fun, but we also need to pay bills. I have another son now, and I would be lying if I said I didn't worry about taking good care of him. I don't worry as much as other bands about going platinum. We let platinum look for us, and we've almost achieved it. In fact, 'Peace Sells...' has almost reached platinum, and it only took us seven years! It will happen, if this record sells as much as 'Rust in Peace' we'll be happy. I think it will be a little better, but I don't want to jinx it - just like the studio where we're recording right now might be burning and our album has turned to ashes!”