DAVE MUSTAINE On Why He Didn't Attend METALLICA's HALL OF FAME Induction

Ryan Stewart of SuicideGirls.com recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

SuicideGirls.com: Did you ever lose anything important that you attribute to drugs?

Mustaine: Yes, a lot of things. My job in METALLICA. I also died once. I've had a lot of friends that I've lost. And there's a lot of credibility that you lose in the face of doing that. I also lost a lot of respect with my son. I remember one day when that "Behind the Music" thing came out — you don't really think about this when you're doing it, but when that "Behind the Music" came out some kids cornered my son on the bus and started saying "Your dad's a crackhead, your dad's a crackhead!” And I was like, "Yeah, and I'm gonna crack your dad's head!" You know? [laughs] And I hadn't thought about that, but it made me start to really reflect on my behavior and how it was affecting my son. I don't think that a lot of parents' behavior really out-and-out affects their kids, unless they're celebrities. My son said something to me one time, Ryan, about having to live up to me, and I was like, "Oh, Justis, son, you don't ever have to live up to me, please don't think that."

SuicideGirls.com: Has your faith realigned any of the political views you used to espouse? Do you still rock the vote? Do you still worry about war and peace?

Mustaine: Yeah, to a degree. There has been some moving of the goalposts and stuff that you change your opinion on as you grow a little bit older. As far as me being a Democrat or a Republican, I've never been either. I've always been somebody who is in the middle. I vote for the lesser of two evils, basically. And when I did the Rock the Vote thing for MTV, I went there to represent the youth of America. I didn't go there representing Democrats, I went there to ask questions. We unfortunately don't have a lot of people who can be spokespeople for us and go and ask those hard questions and talk with these people. I mean, you'd go up and talk with some of these people and their skill is in speaking — you'd ask them a question and they'd answer you and you wouldn't have the faintest idea what they just said.

SuicideGirls.com: When you go out on the road these days, do you try to surround yourself with like-minded people?

Mustaine: Well, I don't care what people do on their own. One of the work policies we have with our staff is that you can do what you want after the show, that's your business, though of course we don't tolerate any hard drug use. We have our band meetings and our band dinners and stuff like that and there is no chocolate milk being served, you know? If someone wants to drink, that's fine. We're not the sobriety police, and looking at our fan base, you know, young people like to throw back a cold one in the summertime. I used to be an alcoholic, and when I got saved I was totally set free from that whole thing. I can have a couple of glasses of wine now, but I can't handle hard liquor. I just stopped. It was a thing for me where every single day I drank Vodka or Cognac like it was going out of style. Now, the only time I drink is before I perform; I'll have a glass of wine before I go on stage, and maybe one while I'm on stage, and that's it. It's really weird to think, "Oh my God, I've been completely set free from this incredible bondage of drinking like this." You know, when all you can think about is drinking, that just sucks.

SuicideGirls.com: You recently did those "Big Four" shows with METALLICA. Did that meet your expectations, sharing a stage and jamming with them?

Mustaine: Well, we only did it that one day, where we jammed with them. But to be on the same venue and the same lineup and to play like that, I thought it was really rewarding on a lot of different fronts. For once, so many people there were really cognizant of the whole scene and how it started and who the players were and what their roles were. And that was great, to be able to go back in time and tell the whole story of how the West was won, basically. And it was a great feeling. I'd love to do it again. I don't know that it's in the cards, but I'm certainly open to it.

SuicideGirls.com: Don't take this as a combative question, like before, but in the book you sort of end on a very detailed explanation for why you declined to attend METALLICA's Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Basically, you feel that your contribution was enough to be inducted with them. Did that event sort of reopen the wound?

Mustaine: [long pause] That pregnant pause probably worried you, didn't it?

SuicideGirls.com: Yes.

Mustaine: I was just kidding. I think that if you really look at things for what they are, and what my role was in that band…. I know what it was. And I think that the way it went down was exactly how it was supposed to take place, in order for me to go through this… season… and just handle myself in as respectful a way as possible. It didn't feel great. I wanted to be there. I couldn't, under those circumstances. And also we were really busy at the time. And I told those guys how I felt — I was proud of them. And I think that's all that really needs to be said about that.

SuicideGirls.com: Do you think MEGADETH's time will come?

Mustaine: I would expect that it's probably going to happen, I hope so, but then again there have been things that I expected in this business that I haven't gotten. And there's been a lot of stuff that I never expected, that I have.

SuicideGirls.com: Would you be cool with having everyone who's played with MEGADETH up there?

Mustaine: Well, unfortunately one of them is deceased so that couldn't happen. And that's a question left up to the other guys. I have nothing against them. There's been a lot of stuff that's been resolved over the years and there's been a lot of growth on a lot of people's parts, but I can't be responsible for the resentment that other people still have. I've obviously been a part of it, but if you clean up your side of the street and someone else is still sitting in their debris, you can't really do anything about that. But yeah, I think it would be fun and fine, but I don't know that there would be a lovey-dovey feeling for everybody. I certainly know that other guys in the band, Chris [Broderick] and Junior [David Ellefson] and Shawn [Drover], would love to see a lot of those guys. And I get the feeling there would be a couple of people there who would be rotten apples, but that would be okay by me because I'm willing to forgive and forget. God knows I'm not without fault for some of the stuff that happened.

SuicideGirls.com: The Hall of Fame is pretty lenient about letting in blues artists and other distant branches of rock; do you think they'll be equally lenient in recognizing metal in years to come?

Mustaine: I don't really know enough about the organization. I know that when it comes to metal none of the organizations in our fine country could be quite as inept as the Grammys, which gave JETHRO TULL a metal award. As long as that is in the annals of history, I think the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is pretty safe to do whatever they want.

Read the entire interview at SuicideGirls.com.