DAVE MUSTAINE's Advice To Young Musicians: 'If You Have A Band, You've Gotta Look At The Performers In The Band'

In a new interview with Brazil's 92.5 Kiss FM, MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine was asked what piece of advice he would give to young, up-and-coming bands looking to make their mark on the music industry. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Well, you've gotta circle yourself with the right people. If you have a band, you've gotta look at the performers in the band. Do you have someone that's in the band because he's your buddy or because he's a great fucking drummer? Or a great guitar player? Or is he my brother-in-law? 'Cause that's usually the first indication that you're not gonna make it. And then you've gotta make sure you have a good team — a good manager, a good attorney, a good business manager, which is an accountant. If you have those things, and most importantly you've got good songs, you're on your way."

Mustaine previously touched upon the importance of surrounding himself with the right musicians this past January in an interview with Clash Music. Asked if there were any musicians who were in MEGADETH that he wanted to highlight as ones that he felt hadn't gotten enough public credit for their skills or contributions, he responded: "All of them were great. When you have great musicians, the next thing that comes along is asking, 'Are they great people?' 'Do you have a great friendship?' I've never hired anyone that was a friend.

"I always say in interviews or meet-and-greets, when people ask me about what advice I'd give to new bands, I say, 'Stay in school', because you need to be smart," he continued. "I tell people you need to stay in school but also learn certain things they don't teach you, like check books and compound interest. The other thing I say is 'don't hire your friends'. Because if you have to let a person go, you're going to lose a friend too.

"I've always hired people and got into a business relationship and over time become friends with some. Then, when the work stops, it depends on where we are. Say you work in a restaurant; if someone leaves McDonald's to go work in Taco Bell, I don't think they spend a lot of time calling the guys in McDonald's to say what's up. But if you have a friendship or pre-existing friendship, it's different."

Back in 2023, Mustaine told Consequence that "there hasn't been that many" lineup changes in MEGADETH "when you think about how many some of these bands go through. A lot of popular bands will go through lineup changes and sometimes it's really bad for the band," he explained. "Other times, it's necessary. So, I try not to hold it against guys that are in bands when they have personnel issues. Sometimes, you just end up having a different perspective, and when you guys start off doing stuff, it's very much like a marriage, and you want to have the same vision — but it doesn't always stay that way. So, compared to some bands, yeah, we've had several lineup changes, but not as many as others have. And the lineup that we have right now, I think is magic."

He continued: "I can tell you at any given time, we may have had a period where there was a more popular person on drums or a more popular person on bass or a more popular person on lead guitar. But the magic that the band is operating under right now is so different."

In 2012, Mustaine addressed the reasons for MEGADETH's many lineup changes, telling AL.com: "That's the problem when you start a band. You have to pick the right guys. But things happen. … We have our lineup and everything's working, and one guy says, 'I want more money.' Or 'I want to write more songs.' The truth of the matter is that it's hard to write songs. You have your whole life to write your first album. After that, it's hard."

MEGADETH's final, self-titled album arrived in late January via Mustaine's Tradecraft imprint on Frontiers Label Group's new BLKIIBLK label.

"Megadeth" debuted at the top of the U.S. album chart after earning 73,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending January 29, according to Luminate. The bulk of that sum was driven by pure album sales (purchases of physical and digital copies of the album),totaling 69,000.

MEGADETH also claimed the top spot in Australia (highest previous position No. 2) and Austria (highest previous position No. 8). Other top five spots included No. 2 in Finland (and No. 1 physical),Sweden (plus No. 1 physical; highest previous position No. 9),and Belgium (highest previous position: No. 6); No. 3 in both the U.K. and Germany (highest previous position No. 6); No. 4 in the Netherlands (highest previous position No. 7); and No. 5 in both Italy (highest previous position No. 15) and New Zealand (highest chart position ever).

For its final album, MEGADETH once again worked with Chris Rakestraw, a producer, mixer and engineer who previously worked on MEGADETH's previous two LPs, 2022's "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!" and 2016's "Dystopia".

Photo credit: Ross Halfin