MEGADETH's DAVID ELLEFSON Interviewed By ARTS IN ALABAMA Magazine

Arts In Alabama magazine recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Arts In Alabama: What, in your opinion, has been the best work that MEGADETH has produced?

David: Well, there is the stuff that I would consider our finest, and then there is what the fans would consider our finest. And I say that because just because something sells well, often that is an indicator of the quaility. But, it is also just an indicator of the popularity of the genre or the poplularity of the band. Lots of times sales are perpetuated by momentum. If you are an artist or any business, and you get momentum, nothing sells better than its own mementum. You know, you often become like a juggernaut. Artistically, to me, you know, I think the "Countdown to Extinction" record was really one of our greatest pieces of work. For a lot of reasons. Obviously, the production was fantastic. We were painstaking about every note and every single performance on that record. But also because on that record it was really a four-man contribution. Dave Mustaine is always the primary writer, visionary, and leads the way creatively of what we do. That is one where every one of us brought a lot to the table. That's not to discount the others, because every one of them has something really cool about them, and every one represents a milestone in the MEGADETH journey. But you know, for me, that was just a favorite time of mine.

Arts In Alabama: You mentioned the fact that LPs, CDs, and now iTunes are single tracks. Do you think the kids are missing anything when it comes to buying music? Do you think they are losing a piece of it?

David: No, you know, I don't think so. What's familiar to us and what's comfortable to us, that doesn't mean that has to be the way it is always, has to be done moving forward either. I'm very liberal in my way of thinking like that. In that, you need to have some roots and you need to have some tradition so that you don't get blown by every wind that blows through the door. But at the same time, you have to be open to new ideas. I think we were the first band, if not one of the first bands, to have a web site called MegadethArizona. Capitol Records built it for us back in 1994 when we were doing the "Youthanasia" record. And they were very much on the front edge. We had all these meetings with managers and marketing people. All we knew was it was called the Wild Wild West and this unbridled frontier of commerce and marketing things. We didn't even understand what is was, but Capitol they were willing to pony up the money and get the people involved and we said "Let's do it." Now me and Dave are traveling around the world and South America with our laptops trying to find phone lines. The phone lines didn't even work. Never mind wireless routers. We would look for phone lines around the world in hotels to do chats with our fans. You know, in MEGADETH, we have always tried to be on the edge of technology. Early on we started using Pro Tools and digital technology and digital recording formats. In order to be great, you have to be different. And without innovation, there is no creation. And once creation stops, the human life as we know it stops. So that's all part of what we do in the arts, create and come up with new things. So sometimes you really have to close the door on the past at some point in order to march forward and not let the past be the ball and chain that holds you back.

Read the entire interview from Arts In Alabama.

Interview Part 1 (audio):

Interview Part 2 (audio):

Interview Part 3 (audio):