MEGADETH's DAVE MUSTAINE: 'This Is Such A Great Time To Be Me'

Allen "Slayer" Beck of the "Midnight Metal" show, which airs on Detroit's WRIF 101.1 FM radio station, conducted an interview earlier this month with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine. The chat is now available for streaming using the audio player below. A couple of excerpts from the interview follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On how MEGADETH's new album, "Endgame", has been received thus far and his current headspace:

Mustaine: "The public is making it very clear that this is the kind of music they like MEGADETH to play. We're on top of all the charts right now in places we never even imagined. We just got a notice today that we're No. 1 on the AOL Top 40, if you can believe that. [Laughs] I'm thinking, 'I'll take that.' I don't use AOL, but I certainly know that they've got a huge following and a huge fanbase, and, you know, No. 1 is No.1. That's great."

"This is such a great time to be me. The band is cranking, we've got a great lineup, we've got a lot of great songs on this new record. The touring's been the best we've been playing ever. Chris [Broderick; guitar] can do anybody's stuff in the past, and James [Lomenzo] is a fantastic bass player and a better singer than our previous bass players, and that really helps when you've got songs that have melody to them. We were able to score with the secret of being able to be heavy and still have a bit of melody. I think that's the one thing that sets us apart. We kind of went real heavy in the melody direction for awhile, but now we're back on what we feel the most comfortable — playing the thrashy stuff.

"I'm just having fun right now. You probably haven't spent a lot time around me when I've been happy or having fun like this, so it's probably alien to you. And I think a lot of the fans, too. I get such a... not a rise, but kind of a smirk, I guess, when I see people go, 'He smiled.' [Laughs]"

"My career right now is... I've been playing longer... for more than half of my life, and probably nearing three-quarters of it, and that's a long time. That's a really, really long time. And I've learned so much over the years. I got real serious, and then I got real cocky, and then I got real serious again, and then I got real comfortable, which is where I'm at right now."

On how he gets prepared to perform:

Mustaine: "[Laughs] A glass of fine, a couple of insults and making sure my underwear is clean in case I get hit by a car. This is a gift from God; it's certainly not my doing. I pick up the guitar about three days before a tour starts. I have to go back into the studio with the band. We'll play the songs. I have to re-learn everything, and then it'll come back to me, and then we'll go out there and just nail it. Now that's the beauty with Chris and me — I play from my heart and he plays from any place that he wants to. I can say, 'Hey, this is what's going on right here,' and he'll play it, and then I'll listen to him play it, and I'll be like, 'Maybe not.' And then I'll go back and I'll listen and I will [go], 'We've been playing it wrong.' Because Chris is so good and he sounds a lot like me when he plays his rhythm. Not exactly — I've got my own rhythm style — it's just that he sounds like me in rhythm. A lot of people can play better than I can, but as far as the sound, I can pick up a guitar and make it sound different from someone else. It's all in the hands; it's weird. Like a golf club — I'm sure Tiger Woods can put with a baseball bat."

Dave Mustaine interviewed by Allen "Slayer" Beck of WRIF 101.1 FM (click on player below to launch audio):