MEGADETH's DAVE MUSTAINE Reveals Career Highs And Lows

Keith Carman of Exclaim! magazine recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Exclaim!: What are your current fixations?

Mustaine: The television show "24" is my latest fixation. The writers from Fox actually did the liner notes for the record, which was a coup. Wonderful for me. MEGADETH has been a political band from the start so people asking if this record is political, well, duh! I like to keep healthy and golf once in a while. I like to hit the ball but I just don't like having to hunt around for it afterwards. I should use those bright hot pink ones.

Exclaim!: Why do you live where you live?

Mustaine: I like the hills [in Palm Brook, California] and how it's remote. If anyone trespasses, I can shoot them. No, I don't actually own a gun so it would have to be with a rubber band. The area is actually infamous for a KKK member once living there and for the horticulturalists or botanists or whatever you call those cultivating type of people who grow ten-foot pot plants. I like this area because it's a sleepy community. I don't get restless here and I'm not the only celebrity in town. Everyone here is used to it so you don't get bothered with people trying to take pictures of you with celebrities you wouldn't otherwise be seen with, who you have nothing in common with.

Exclaim!: Name something you consider a mind-altering work of art.

Mustaine: I was just in a museum with my wife and daughter. I like Dali because I think the surreal element is cool but I'm not a Picasso proponent. I just don't get the "classics."

Exclaim!: What has been your most memorable or inspirational gig and why?

Mustaine: I think playing with AC/DC in 2001 was great because they were a big, influential group for me. Playing Buenos Ares in 2005 was great as well because it was the best experience I've had between band and audience — about 25,000 of them. They were so energetic it was amazing. You could really feel the connection and it was a substantial crowd singing along to every word. Sometimes the audience seems to know the songs better than the band.

Exclaim!: What have been your career highs and lows?

Mustaine: The low would have been when [drummer] Gar Samuelson passed away and I didn't get the chance to say goodbye. We'd lost touch and he's not much older than me. The thought didn't register at the time though with all of the things going on in my life. My high would be that I'm ensuring something of that sort doesn't happen again. I'm making peace with the people I've had conflict with over the years, which is a really good feeling.

Read the entire interview at Exclaim!