MEGADETH Bassist LOMENZO: MUSTAINE 'Adopted Me Immediately When I Joined The Band'

Jeffrey Easton of Metal Exiles recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH bassist James Lomenzo. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Metal Exiles: What were the thoughts on how "Endgame" should be before you started the recording process?

James Lomenzo: Interesting question. When we went into recording "Endgame", Dave [Mustaine] was pretty explicit on what he wanted to accomplish. On "United Abominations" we had touched on the vitality of the earlier MEGADETH albums and he wanted to take "Endgame" a little closer to that. Taking into account we are all a little older and our abilities change and our perspectives shift, the idea was to reach the goal of pulling out the old MEGADETH vibe. A lot of the music on the record was picked off of tapes that Dave had from years ago. We set up a studio in San Marcos, California called Vic's Garage and we went through piles of tapes and while digitizing them we peeled off riffs from years ago that we thought would spark what we were trying to accomplish.

Metal Exiles: I would say you found the sound you were looking for.

James: I am happy to hear that. It is weird because when you are in the middle of it you try to be true to each and every song you make and it is hard to see the big picture but you have to keep the focus. That is what made having Andy Sneap [producer] on the project so great. He is a fan of the old MEGADETH as well as the newer stuff and he kept us on target.

Metal Exiles: When Andy came onto the project what was the first thing that he wanted for the record?

James: Andy is a polite British guy so he did not have much to say. He was just taking Dave's direction as we all do and focusing on that. We had discussions on my side so we could focus on finding a cool bass tone. Dave wanted the bass stuff simple, like an old English metal vibe which is something I usually do not do, I usually sit on top of things. The rest of Andy's job was considering where the guitar solos would go, finding the best riffs etc.

Metal Exiles: I know Dave is the head writer, so what did you bring to "Endgame"?

James: I brought years of bass playing knowledge. I do what most players in symphony orchestras do, I interpret. The music is generally there and laid out for you, you just have to interpret it and make it exciting. Inspirationally-wise, I just bang stuff out with Dave and talk about different things. Sometimes on the bus we will have a four-track recorder and throw some things on there, everybody acts as peripheral editor.

Metal Exiles: I know in the last several years you have bounced from project to project. Do you feel that you have a solid standing in MEGADETH?

James: Dave adopted me immediately when I joined the band. He told me I could stay here as long as I like. I took that as a compliment and an extension of friendship. I am quite happy to be here. What a lineage this band has. I have been privileged to have been involved with some great musicians in the past but MEGADETH is such an iconic metal band, what a great place to be.

Read the entire interview from Metal Exiles.