DAVE MUSTAINE On Internet Detractors: 'They Couldn't Go A Day Without Talking About Me'

Greg Giles of "Metal On KLQ" recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine. The entire chat is available for streaming in three parts below. A couple of excerpts follow.

On MEGADETH drummer Shawn Drover and Internet detractors:

Mustaine: "We've had some moments that have been really hard for him to watch because it's been painful for me because I know how much he cares about me. And it really breaks his heart watching people, like some of these web sites that their sole purpose is to attack me; that bothers him. But I told him... I said, 'Don't worry about it. I own those web sites. They [Internet detractors] couldn't go a day without talking about me, so it's fantastic. They can talk as bad as they want.' One day, the guys that are saying it are gonna realize that they missed out on seeing a legend, which is their loss. But, I mean, I like people who do their own thinking. And I think it's really cool the way we've been able to capture a whole new audience right now — especially with 'Endgame'; 'Endgame''s a really exciting record."

On why there have been so many lineup changes in MEGADETH over the years:

Mustaine: "It's just loss of vision, commonality. There's a common goal and a common thread and when we all start to go in different directions, it's like a three-corded braid... If you start to unravel that and each person starts going in another direction, it loses its strength. I can remember the day I was in Tokyo and [now-former MEGADETH members] Marty Friedman and David Ellefson and Nick Menza were all sitting down at lunch with me and they said they wanted money to just be in the room with me when I played guitar from my music because I wouldn't be able to write the songs if they weren't playing in the background. And I thought, 'OK, that's the last straw. The musical relationship with all of us is over. Just because you guys can't write songs doesn't mean that I should be punished for it.' And it killed our relationship. And . . . what have they done since? I love those guys— well, I don't love Ellefson — I care a lot about those guys and I respect them for what they've done for the franchise and for the legacy that's MEGADETH and they all have a place in my heart. But there's a difference. When you lose your vision and you start to be in it for the wrong reasons. 'Cause if you're playing music for money, you're playing for the wrong reason. I play music because I love it."

On Roadrunner Records' promotion for "Endgame":

Mustaine: "Well, I don't really know how to say this other than just to try and be as positive as possible for myself, because I've done my part. I made the best record I could. The record is critically acclaimed everywhere — even some of my main detractors, like Blabbermouth, have given it an 8.5 out of 10. To which, I'm grateful for the review and I also am grateful for the times when they do have nice stuff to say about me; I appreciate it. And I look forward to having many of their fans discover MEGADETH music and being able to provide good, intelligent news stuff with them that's going on in our world, because we've got a lot of great things happening with us. Sadly, they're one of those sites that also contribute a lot to villifying me. Like I said, it doesn't really bother me so much, but it disappoints me that these guys, these young droogs, are possibly gonna miss out on seeing me before I don't play anymore. I missed out on seeing LED ZEPPELIN, and I've gotta tell you, I'm 48 years old, and I missed it when I was in my teens. And if I could talk to the Dave that was a teenager, one of the things I would say is, 'Don't drink so much.' [chuckles] The other thing would be, 'Don't miss the ZEPPELIN concert when it comes. Someone's gonna tell you, 'Don't go, because Jimmy's playing bad,' and you're gonna believe it. But don't listen.' I didn't go to that concert, and I could kick myself. I went and saw them two years ago at the O2 [in London], but it wasn't the same. I just wanna be able to let people that are critics or something have a fair shot at evaluating what I do, and if at that point you don't think that I'm good at what I do, hey, go ahead. But there's times where it gets a little unfortunate, the things that are said, because my daughter's reading it now. And I don't think any of these guys [Internet detractors], whether they're really, really mad at me or they don't really know why they're mad at me, I think that if you probably sat down with a bunch of them and you said, 'Hey, you know what, buddy?! I don't know if you know this... It's fun to kind of throw barbs at me and stuff like that, 'cause I could give them back, but you're hurting my daughter. And I don't think you're the kind of man, or the kind of young man, or if it's a woman, that would really wanna hurt an innocent 11-year-old girl.' It doesn't seem like that's the spirit of heavy metal. But there's people out there that do that, and I just try my best not to focus on it and to give them the benefit of the doubt and to, hopefully, meet them at some point and welcome them into the fold."

Greg Giles' entire interview with Dave Mustaine is available for streaming in three parts below.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3: