DOUBLE INTERVIEW: Ellefson and DeGrasso (QA/Madhouse Magazine Text)

Dave Ellefson

“Well, now that Nick Menza is no longer in the band we will probably re-record all the songs with Jimmy De Grasso. We have to start all over again. That's why we postponed the live album plans. In January we will go in to record a new studio album.”

Dave Ellefson

“Uh it's difficult to say. We don't even have songs! (Laughs). We have a lot of plans and ideas, but not complete tracks. After Argentina, we are going to the US, Japan and Korea. We come back to the US and only then, at that moment, will we put all those ideas together. We will record at the studio in Nashville, Tennesee.”

Dave Ellefson

“For me, live albums in the 70s were fantastic; from then on it was all crap (Laughs). In the '70s recording a live album was the pinnacle for a band: after a live album many bands changed their direction. That's why with Megadeth we have to be careful about people thinking "this is the last album" it's over...”

Dave Ellefson

“In the case of Megadeth and the live album, we chose Argentina to record it because the audience participation allows us to recreate our songs. In today's unplugged, in "Symphony Of Destruction", we extend the part of (sings): "Megadeth, Megadeth..." in concerts most people sing all the songs, so for me that is the valuable thing about a live album... it's special. It's not like a studio album. We can play the same songs with live arrangements and that makes it a special album.”

Dave Ellefson

“Not that I know of. The idea for the unplugged came up in Japan last year when they invited us to do an acoustic set at the Hard Rock Cafe. That's where it all started.”

Dave Ellefson

“We did that today: we recorded the bootleg part two! (General laughter)... No, we actually listened to it and liked it a lot, I don't know... We are honored that the fans like the acoustic set so much that they would make an album. It sounds good, it has nice photos... (Laughs). If MTV invited us to do a live show and record an album, I guess we would say yes. I think the reason they made that album here is that they had never heard Megadeth do an unplugged, so they got hooked, even though it sounded like shit (Laughs). I heard a bootleg of Monsters Of Rock, where Megadeth, Queensryche, and Whitesnake were playing and it sounded great too...”

Dave Ellefson

“I don't care, I consider Megadeth to be a very musical band and we don't get carried away by those prejudices. There is an old saying that if you write a song and you can play it on an acoustic guitar, sing it and it sounds good, it's a good song.”

Dave Ellefson

“Exactly. We feel that if we can play an acoustic set without amplifying the instruments, without the lights and all that and it sounds good. It is because we must have good songs. Unfortunately, not all heavy metal bands compose the kind of songs that can dispense with distortion and the electric guitar... Sometimes some of our songs have a certain pop vibe and the heavy metal fans kind of laugh...”

Dave Ellefson

“Nick (Menza) was a very good drummer and a good member of Megadeth, but there came a time when it was no longer a group. When Jimmy arrived, we felt like we were a group again and he charged us with energy. He was very happy and Dave, Marty, and I were too. Now that Jimmy has been in the band for four months, I don't even remember that he's the "new guy". The only one who doesn't forget is Marty, because since Jimmy joined, he is no longer the "new guy" in Megadeth. So Marty is super happy.. (Laughs).”

Dave Ellefson

“Nick was very much an animal, very aggressive, very much about going all the way. Dave, Marty, and I were always very animalistic and not just playing... (Laughs); Jimmy is a bit more controlled, he has great tempo, which makes Dave, Marty, and I have to control ourselves. I think it makes the band sound very heavy and tight. Jimmy is very musical, he played in a lot of different bands and he is more open, more intuitive, and more resolute in a lot of situations. So it's great.”

Dave Ellefson

“I don't know. This summer we played at the Ozzfest in the US and there was Ozzy who was like the grandfather and Megadeth was the father and the children were new bands like Coal Chamber. Soulfly and Tool. Young, new groups... So I prefer to define ourselves in those terms: grandfathers, fathers and children. There comes a time when you have to step aside a bit and let the new ones take over the scene. In the same way that we were the new blood compared to Iron Maiden and so many other bands.”

Dave Ellefson

“Maybe, I would say that Korn is developing their style in the same way that Megadeth and Metallica developed theirs. There are a lot of bands that sound like them. Korn and maybe a couple of other bands are the only ones that are really creating their own thing. But you have to take into account that to remain successful for many years, it's not just about the music. You have to harden up, you can't drink too much, you can't do too many drugs... So there are a lot of things that newer bands need to learn, which is what we had to learn too.”

Dave Ellefson

“I would hate to be a "new band" now. Twenty years ago you couldn't say "fuck", you couldn't appear naked. So little by little it became less risky. There are a lot of urban groups of kids who don't respect family, society, politics, education. Everything goes, nothing is shocking. People now go out with tattoos, rings in their faces, it's to attract attention. I, as a musician, think that if you make good music, that will surpass any shocking image parameter. For those who read this article, know that what is needed are good songs; good songs last even longer than your band. Good songs are played on the radio for years.”

Dave Ellefson

“Megadeth received a lot of criticism from fans for playing more melodic songs. Some were very angry with us. They thought we were lying to them to be more mainstream, but we are capable of writing slow and melodic songs that can be played on the radio, as well as fast and heavy songs, we like both. Writing melodic songs was a challenge for us. Writing heavy songs is easy, we did it for years. The challenge is writing a song like "Almost Honest", "Use The Man" or "Trust". Doing it in a pleasant way so that people like it.”

Dave Ellefson

“In the beginning it was Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Exodus, Venom. Now, Metallica and Megadeth, only them and us did something different. The rest follow the same path: some split up or lost popularity. Megadeth and Metallica, on the other hand, always moved forward. I don't know about Metallica, but we wanted to challenge ourselves. Before there was constant comparison between Metallica and Megadeth, now we are doing our own thing and we no longer worry about how the others sound. We received criticism from some fans and we had to determine that fans cannot dictate what we do all the time. We have to be ourselves, it's about our band. Making music for people does not mean being controlled by people. So we evolved and Megadeth is our band.”

Dave Ellefson

“I understand it because I was a fan. As a fan I regretted that Peter Criss left Kiss and as a fan I can understand that they feel bad because Nick Menza left and Jimmy joined. I understand that. I also understand that we had very thrashy albums and suddenly now we are changing. But at the same time, no longer being a fan of a band but a member of one, I also understand the artistic needs to do other things, not what you did before. We adore our audience and we want to give them what they ask for; when we go to different countries like Argentina, we think about what songs they would like to hear, but at the same time we play songs that we also like, from albums we released and that we particularly like. We do not forget that we are the creators of those songs and it is our decision what to release and what to record. Not just thinking "what will people want to hear". If you do that, you lose all your identity.”

Dave Ellefson

“I never remember (Laughs)... The other day here on MuchMusic: two hundred people screaming... "Muy loco" (n: in Spanish). It was the same once in Athens: we were signing autographs in a record store and Marty, Nick and I almost died among the people, we couldn't move or breathe! There was once a band that played support for us, I don't even remember what they were called, in the dressing rooms after the show they started fighting (Laughs). And there I was, very drunk in the middle of a fight, throwing punches and not even knowing why!.”

Dave Ellefson

“I love Marilyn Manson. He is great. Megadeth is the classic band in t-shirt and jeans, that's why it's great to see an extravagant and crazy group like Marilyn Manson. It's very different from what we do, it reminds me of what Alice Cooper meant to me when I was a kid. Kids today must see Marilyn Manson the same way I saw Kiss when I was little. At Ozzfest I loved Tool. Live they are very, very good, a very dark and very heavy thing. They impressed me a lot, I really liked them.”

Jimmy DeGrasso

“Yes. noticeable, because... I remember the last time I played with Alice Cooper, Megadeth came out before and the response they had was... huge, people were crazy, afterwards, when we played, it was... normal. But don't get me wrong: Alice Cooper is great, but Megadeth fans are very, very passionate, it's a band that is very difficult to surpass. That's why it's good to be on that side now, for a change.”

Jimmy DeGrasso

“With the drums? God, it must have been when I was three years old... My old man is a drummer, you know; I was playing on pots and pans and stuff all over the house, and he said "let's buy him a drum set, let's see what he does". And that's how I started playing, following records by Elvis, the Beatles and stuff. I realized over time that I could play, and today I make a living as a musician.”

Jimmy DeGrasso

“Look, since I turned 19 I've played in so many rock bands, doing covers of Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, those things... My first job for a big band was recording with Ozzy in '85 or '86, I don't remember exactly. (...) I was in Suicidal Tendencies, I was a session musician for a lot of people, I toured with Lita Ford's band, some dates with Alice In Chains in Australia when their drummer got sick, I did that MD.45 thing with Dave...”

Jimmy DeGrasso

“I don't think so, coincidentally the other day we were talking to Dave about it. Why make another MD.45 album: things with Megadeth are going very well, so...”

Jimmy DeGrasso

“For a while I didn't even want to be in a band, this was after Suicidal Tendencies broke up. I had enough, I didn't want to be in a band, it takes up a lot of time...”

Jimmy DeGrasso

“It's pretty good!”

Jimmy DeGrasso

“Because of the sound, you say? Maybe, what I do remember about that place is that it had terrible changing rooms, with a terrible smell of piss... (Laughs) These are clean, so I like it better. (Laughs)”

Jimmy DeGrasso

“- Yes, about forming my own band... I think not...”

Jimmy DeGrasso

“God uncle. no... (Laughs). Actually, I was recording some things at home, with some friends, but I don't spend too much time at home lately. Anyway, after Suicidal broke up, I didn't want to go back to any band.”

Jimmy DeGrasso

“No. I would say no. It was quite good. But at the same time exhausting. Because we toured a lot...”

Jimmy DeGrasso

“Very demanding. Exactly. That's the appropriate expression. We spent eight or nine months on the road a year and after three years like that, I was shot. I think the others were too, at least Robert (Trujillo, bassist) was.”

Jimmy DeGrasso

“Sure. At home I have a punk band with some friends, old punk from the '70s... It keeps you fresh, it's cool to try other things. We do a little bit of everything, if you can play everything you grow as a musician. With that band we play for about a hundred people, I just made an album with Stef Burns, one of Alice Cooper's guitarists... Well, the most I do is rock, of course.”

Jimmy DeGrasso

“You know, it's a misunderstanding... it seems like it, but look, in Suicidal I was there for about three years and I didn't do anything else. When the band broke up, I wasn't going to stop playing. Alice Cooper immediately called me, he had found out about the breakup and asked me if I wanted to play with him. Sure, we are friends. Actually, I wanted to stop for a bit after Suicidal, I didn't want to work so much or go on tour for nine months, I was already fed up.”

Jimmy DeGrasso

“Megadeth is... very demanding too! (Laughs)”

Jimmy DeGrasso

“Yes, someone recently asked me how long I was going to stay... many years. I told him: I have nothing else to do (Laughs). Right now I'm very excited to play in this band, it feels very new and at the same time very comfortable, as if I had been here for years. Now there are some dates in Japan and Korea. In November we start writing new songs, in January we enter the studio, January 6th, to be exact, and we won't go on tour until June '99...”

Jimmy DeGrasso

“We are working with a big pot of ideas, we recorded many; basically. we take all the little pieces and start putting the songs together. It's like a big puzzle, we have all the pieces and we have to fit them correctly. There are already a couple of songs. We don't have a title for the album yet because we don't have the lyrics yet.”

Jimmy DeGrasso

“I'm not going to play with anyone else, rest assured; this is the only band you will see me in for the next few years. I want to thank all the fans, they are very receptive, they are a great encouragement and great support...”

Jimmy DeGrasso

“I would say Buddy Rich... It's difficult, there are so many, Buddy Rich was my first idol... Neil Peart in the second half of the '70s, Barrymore Barlow from Jethro Tull, John Bonham, Bun E. Carlos from Cheap Trick... Many.”

Dave Mustaine

“We have between fifteen and two hundred song parts that we can put together in a week. We spent almost two years working on the last album. When we left the studio last January there were a lot of parts left over. We are going to use some of those ideas for the new one and, of course, there are a lot of new ones. I know that in a week we could put all the songs together, but I wouldn't be happy. We have a lot of promising and interesting ideas. It will probably be the first time we are going to do an instrumental track and I am very happy about that.”

Dave Mustaine

“Not only did we not see each other outside the band, but he couldn't even play the songs well at the shows anymore. (N.: Mustaine started a long vocal instrumentation here that perfectly reproduced the beginning of "Trust". Everything was normal until the part where the whole band kicks in and Menza messes up the bass drum). We would look at each other and not know what to do! When we recorded "Paranoid". notice that something similar happened at the end, but we left it because it didn't seem funny. Although the fact that it was repeated so much put things in another context. That's why we are going to re-record the live album with Jimmy De Grasso. With Jimmy we only rehearse fifteen minutes before a show and that's it. I can't wait to record the next album because it's going to be a lot of fun.”

Dave Mustaine

“He was great at first. In the ten years he was with us he suffered many ups and downs, I think it could have been because of drugs, alcohol, maybe because of me. I hope it was me, and not drugs and alcohol. I love Nick a lot, I would prefer it to have been my fault because if that was the case he must be better now.”

Dave Mustaine

“Well, but he can't have me, because I'm not gay...”