MEGADETH's DAVE MUSTAINE: 'Do Interviewers Not Know That I Am On To Them?'

MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine has issued the following update:

"So yesterday I am doing an interview, the third in a day full of interviews, which I am so weary of, and their 'certain' questions, that it can turn the mood of an interview into complete sh*t with-in seconds.

"I mean, do interviewers not know that I am on to them? That I know they are just waiting to spring an antagonistic question to get me to talk shit about someone?

"You have no idea how much it sucks to be talking to a complete stranger, baring your soul, and then the person springs the questions that he has been salivating over asking, and within seconds, like I said, the interviews can turn south.

"I think it is unfortunate that you, as my fans, or if you're just lurking, and even if you are [on the band's official forum] under false pretenses just to be a shit-stirrer (and there are a few here),it still sucks to be reading an interview and then it sours, and you are left at the mercy of the guy telling the story in the press, because he will ultimately decide that selling his magazine (or whatever — some people don't even have a job, and they just fool our publicity department at Roadrunner and get to the band) is more important than decency, character, and literary, journalistic integrity.

"There are journos out there that do have these good qualities and character traits like this, but they are few and far between. Mostly because they are music fans too, and then want to be famous tot, what started as an innocent desire to bring interesting information to a curious audience is surpassed be ego and vanity. The thought of asking questions that hurt people's feelings or that could destroy lives, families, friendships, and ultimately the relationship that would result in selling more magazines (or whatever) by having said relationship versus an artist saying, 'I never want to talk to this 'person' again.'

"OK, so what brought all this on?

"Yesterday, an interviewer was asking me about people that have said that they auditioned for us, but that they were too busy with their band, or that they were doing something that would have resulted in something bigger than joining MEGADETH. Basically that they were too good for us, and I just shook my head. I tried to answer the question, but it just went completely south.

"Here's what happened . . . when we were trying to replace Jeff [Young] and before we found Marty [Friedman], we auditioned a lot of people, and most of them sucked. Therefore, anyone in between Jeff and Marty, and that means EVERYONE that said they auditioned, weren't good enough, regardless of what they said. The fact that there are people saying that they were too busy with their own sh*t too is rubbish, There were only two people that I called. Junior [David Ellefson] may have called them, but if I don't make the decision, then you ain't in the band. So, you can imagine my temperament as this kept on. We even had some dunce named Steve Cox spouting that he wrote 'Wake Up Dead', and we were already writing 'Rust In Peace', so tell me, how the f*ck is that possible, Steve?

"That is not the end of it. I had a friend, who is no longer a friend, that gave me his sh*t demo tape, and after 'The World Needs A Hero' came out, he had the balls, no, let me rephrase that because he only had one ball, so he had the ball to say that 'Dread And The Fugitive Mind' was his song. Staggeringly stupid statement, if you ask me.

"I then got into what the difference is between a good guitarist and a great one. I think that Chris Poland, Marty Friedman, and Chris Broderick were the only noteworthy guitarists in MEGADETH, Chris being the best. I also said that I thought that myself, Jeff Young, and Al Pitrelli were good, but not great like Polie and Marty, and certainly not one of us latter three I mentioned could touch the former three.

"That is my opinion, but for some reason, I have a feeling that the interview would be a disaster if I didn't explain this. The journo is not on my shit list, so no harm there, but the question and the fact that there are people out there that are saying stuff like this, and then to look at what they have done, which is dwarfed by MEGADETH, I think just looks ridiculous.

"Go ahead if you want to say you auditioned, but I think you look silly. Either way, Junior would know if they did or not, because like I said, anyone, EVERY SINGLE PERSON that auditioned between Jeff and Marty were not good enough!

"There is only two people that I asked and one lived too far away, and was a bit nutty anyway, and that was my friend Jeff Waters [ANNIHILATOR]. The other person was Darrell Abbott [PANTERA] and he would have been in MEGADETH if I didn't hire Nick Menza. Here's why . . . Darrell and I talked, and he asked me, 'Can I bring my brother?' and I said, 'Who is your brother?' and he said, 'He is my drummer,' and I said, 'Sh*t, I just hired Nick Menza,' and we parted ways that day.

"I would have loved to have played with Darrell and Vinnie Abbott, no offense to Nick Menza, but I think that I made a mistake on this one. I am glad that I chose Nick and stuck by him, but the imagination has to go off the Richter scale when one thinks of what Darrell, Vinnie, Junior and I would have done. WOW! I guess I will have to wait for Heaven to find out.

"So, in closing, I don't know if the two guys he asked about were ever 'called' to join MEGADETH. I do know that they were not called by me, because I was NEVER familiar with their bands, In fact, I have never heard one single note of either one of their music, therefore, I have no idea how they play, and I WOULDN'T KNOW WHO THE PERSON IS.

"Guys like Steve Cox, you just end up looking really silly, me, I look like I am pissed all the time. I will admit I have anger issues, and this is helping!!

"Moving on, I am off to the sporting goods store to go get some more fun stuff for the studio and the school here. I am also moving a lot of stuff down to the studio for our eBay store. Each tour we clean out the lockers of all the stage, dressing room, wardrobe, and gear that we accumulate and that we need to pass on to people who will really benefit and enjoy the items. We have a lot of stuff that we have been donating to local schools and churches too, which is a great feeling, so thank you for making all of this happen. Even the fun schismy parts of the day."

In the latest instalment of the Kerrang! video podcast, Simon Young talks to Dave Mustaine about MEGADETH's new album, "Endgame", military strategy and why you really shouldn't drink from hotel coffee pots. The 23-minute chat, which was taped earlier this month, can be viewed below.