MEGADETH KNOWS ABOUT GROWING. AND ADVENTURES.

Marty Friedman

“For me, arriving in a country for the first time is especially exciting. In the US, and even in Europe or Japan, we have played several times in the same cities. It's different when people see you for the first time. Many are afraid of us until they realize that we are normal people, that we can talk to them and that we are not rock stars.”

Marty Friedman

“I always wanted to join a band. It was great. It's hard to find such a great band. When the opportunity arose, I knew it was perfect. A band is about chemistry, about combination. Many groups had great musicians but they don't have chemistry. It's not something you can work on or practice, it just happens. That was one of the things that happened when I joined the group.”

Marty Friedman

“No, not at all. I lived in a very bad neighborhood in Hollywood and the pressure was being able to pay the rent. At that time I would have joined any band, but it worked out perfectly.”

Dave Ellefson

“We composed those songs in four or five days. In the middle of the tour. 'Youthanasia' is an entire album. Conceived song by song. It is a global project. Eight or nine months of work. It is a completely different mental state. The songs on the album flowed one after the other. In fact, we wrote and recorded several more songs that are not on the album. We are always evolving, growing, we do not constantly repeat ourselves.”

Dave Ellefson

“I would say that... it's not that we want to be traditional heavy metal. Rather, as we advance, our roots, the hard rock and heavy metal of the seventies, become more evident in the music we make.”

Marty Friedman

“The thing is to play what you want to play. I didn't start playing when I was a teenager thinking about what kind of music would be made in the '90s. I want to play hard, aggressive music. It took us a long time to get to this point. But now I have the luxury of playing exactly what I want to play. Many people compromise their music to be successful, trying to jump on one trend or another, doing what is popular. I am fortunate to be able to make the type of music I started playing an instrument for. I think the fans like to see us doing that, playing what we feel and not just any crap to jump on the fashion bandwagon.”

Dave Ellefson

“Basically it is what it is. We can sit down and talk about what we think about it, but our music will speak for itself. Each album sounds different from the last one. We don't sit down and diagram a plan on a board to establish what we will do. We just write songs. And at the end of so many months writing, 'Youthanasia' is what we have. People will like it or not. We don't sit down to think about how to be different.”

Dave Ellefson

“No. Not at all. We do what we do. Marty said that our influences were imprinted on us years ago, when we were kids trying to learn to play. Over time you listen to other things, but it is the influences of the beginning that mark you. Along the way you gather other things. Other influences. Other cultures, but the real basis of who you are is established in your first two years as a musician. Everything that comes after is basically trial and error, you throw darts to see what happens.”

Dave Ellefson

“I think it changes. For me there is always a rebellious part, it just changes. When you are young you rebel against your teachers. Then you rebel against... the police. You start getting into trouble. And then against politicians and those things. 'Youthanasia' expresses our discontent as citizens, many things that happen in America, The Land of the Free, supposedly THE place to live. Before playing the other night, we were talking about how you make the effort to try to talk to us in English because we speak English. In America no one is going to bother to speak to you in Spanish to help you. They will tell you 'Shit, you're in America, speak English.' That is the mentality. That is what 'Youthanasia' is about. About those kinds of lazy people that America has. The young generations are receiving that type of attitude that corrupts them.”

Dave Ellefson

“That's how rebellion changes. For people our age, walking around complaining, shouting and rambling would be silly. We are no longer teenagers.”

Dave Ellefson

“As you walk, you accept things because that's how they are. But accepting them doesn't mean you tolerate them. You are never going to be one hundred percent satisfied with everything. As you grow, life changes. We have never been ashamed of that. Many heavy metal bands go through mid-life crises, trying to act like teenagers at forty. It's ridiculous. I think we have earned great respect from our fans for being who we are.”

Dave Ellefson

“We wanted to make the presentation as normal as possible. Instead of putting one from here, one from there. We just tried to put babies. Neither white, nor black, nor Asian. Just babies. We didn't want to divert attention anywhere. The general idea definitely has nothing to do with racism, it has to do with generations. With youth inheriting the problems of our elders.”

Marty Friedman

“If we had put a black baby on the cover, the black community would already be screaming and saying it was a black thing. That's the mentality in the US. That's why the idea is babies. Youth. We cannot guess what people are going to say. If we had put a black baby, some black journalist would ask us 'how the hell is there a black baby there?'...”

Dave Ellefson

“As for the good things, doing five shows in Buenos Aires. For me, gaining the respect of our followers is impressive. They expect something from us and we give it to them. We are all happy. The bad side was having changed so many members. I don't regret the changes, but the problem was wasting so much time looking for replacements. Preventing us from making more music. I'm happy with this lineup. I wish I had had it from day one, it would have been easier. But I don't regret anything, because everything happens for a reason and every change we made led us to this lineup, being as good as it is. We have learned from everything we have done. We are not perfect, who is? So we do what we do and let others be the critics.”

Marty Friedman

“It's easy to be honest, but if you ask someone about their new album when they are promoting it, they will tell you it's the best thing they've ever done. We make sure that everything that comes out with the Megadeth name printed on it is truly impressive and that we are proud of it. I can't see this band saying something is great without really feeling it. We do everything necessary so that each member of the group is excited and doesn't regret anything before we start talking about what we've done. Many things happen behind closed doors before reaching the point where they are presented publicly. We don't promote anything until everything is finished and we are happy with the result. If it wasn't completely satisfactory, I would still be in the studio working.”

Dave Ellefson

“I have the rest of my life to make solo albums. Right now I want to be with Megadeth. If you invest energy in several projects you end up neglecting everything. So I prefer to focus my effort on Megadeth. I think everyone in the band feels the same; if we have something good, why mess it up...”

Marty Friedman

“I include myself. No, I want people to think I have a solo career because that's not the case. The solo albums I make are contracts I have to fulfill. As he just said, we have the rest of our lives to make solo albums. If I did a solo work correctly, I would tour, make videos, promote it.”

Dave Ellefson

“Something I always hated are farewell tours. Because after that a reunion tour is going to come. It's like it never ends. I think it's obvious that if we get burned out we are going to stop doing this. We are not going to go around begging for pity. Right now we are more involved than ever. We are fresh, we haven't played for a year and after being in the studio almost all of '94 we are ready to go on stage. So as long as we can keep doing what we do, we will be around.”

Dave Ellefson

“No, not at all. I wouldn't want to be nineteen again. I was there, it was enough. I believe life goes on.”

Dave Ellefson

“If you see poor old people, you can realize it and save some money now that you are young and not end up like that. Keep your eyes open and learn as you grow. Growing is an adventure, you shouldn't be afraid of it. You are going to age unless you die young, so walking around being afraid of aging... what a horrible way to live!”

Marty Friedman

“In the US, the older you are, the more respect you get. And it makes sense, because you become wiser, you know more about the world and life. Young people should turn to the elderly for advice. I try to live that way.”