MEGADETH Guitarist Doesn't Share MUSTAINE And ELLEFSON's Christian Beliefs

Steve Patrick of Uweekly recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH guitarist Chris Broderick. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

UWeekly: "TH1RT3EN" is your second album with MEGADETH. How does it differ from "Endgame" in your opinion?

Broderick: It was a night and day sort of difference for me. "Endgame" actually took a little while to record; we were dealing actually with the construction of the studio and a lot of things of that nature, so that took a while to record. It was my first CD that I recorded with MEGADETH, so I didn't really know what to expect or how things were going to run. With "TH1RT3EN", of course, that changed and I felt much more comfortable and kind of knew the process and all of that. Not to mention that the songs they almost wrote themselves. They just flowed right out. We had a two-month window to record and we were able to get it done in that time, so that's awesome.

UWeekly: You've played with both James Lomenzo and David Ellefson in MEGADETH. How are they different as bass players?

Broderick: Very different, actually. I think Ellefson his playing, in my mind, is a little bit more like my playing in the sense that it has a really sharp attack to it. It's more guitar-istic in a way. It's very precise and very punctuated. Lomenzo is another awesome bass player. Definitely has more of that soul kind of sound... that vintage bass player kind of growl to his playing and a very cool tone. Much more, in a way, organic sounding. Different types of players and both very talented in their own right. It's just like comparing people's personalities. There is no better nor worse, there's only different.

UWeekly: Do you know what prompted the decision to retool a couple earlier MEGADETH demos ("New World Order" and "Millennium Of The Blind") for inclusion on the album?

Broderick: I really don't. The only thing I can guess is that maybe Dave had a vision for them that he didn't feel had been met up to this point. So, that would be the only conclusion that I could draw, but I didn't really have much to do with that decision.

UWeekly: You've said in other interviews that you like this album because it sounds like a mini-history of MEGADETH's whole career. Do you think reworking those demos helped contribute to that vibe?

Broderick: Yeah, absolutely. I think you can really hear the whole "Rust In Peace" vibe on those and they are the representation of "Rust In Peace" in my mind for this CD. If you look at like "Public Enemy No. 1" that's kinda like "Countdown To Extinction" kinda stuff. "Never Dead" would be like "Killing Is My Business" and "Sudden Death" is like "Endgame". So I kind of have these songs that I've assigned to different CDs that for me are reminiscent of them.

UWeekly: Both Mustaine and Ellefson are pretty vocal about their Christian beliefs; do you consider yourself to be a spiritual person as well?

Broderick: No, I'm agnostic is what I would call myself. My biggest thing is I claim not to know and I don't try to superimpose my beliefs on anybody. They definitely have their beliefs and I think they serve them really well.

UWeekly: "TH1RT3EN" came out the same day as METALLICA's experimental record with Lou Reed, "Lulu". Any thoughts on the fact that "TH1RT3EN" is supposed to far exceed "Lulu" in sales?

Broderick: You know, I never want to try and speak for the fans. It's ultimately up to anybody who listens to our music to decide whether they like it or notwhere their loyalties lie. I'm happy when it works out and maybe a little disappointed when it doesn't, but I can't make those kind of calls. It's ultimatelyonce you put it in the public domain it is up to the public to decide how it's perceived. Hope for the best, but that's as far as I would take it.

Read the entire interview from Uweekly.