MEGADETH's DAVID ELLEFSON Talks Technique With BASS PLAYER Magazine

Bass Player magazine conducted an interview with MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson for the cover story in its December 2010 issue. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Bass Player: What was it like revisiting "Rust In Peace"?

Ellefson: Pretty seamless; I had stayed up on our catalogue, playing along with the CD every once in a while. This was a great way to rejoin the band because we didn't have to start over and make a new record; it was an easy onramp. Having played other kinds of music with different people in my eight years away from the band, I definitely felt more seasoned and matured — at first it was almost like being in a cover band, covering my own parts. The one song that's kicking my butt is "Hangar 18". If I knew then what I know now I wouldn't have created such a complicated bass line — what was I thinking!? There are no breaks in the part and it's just ripping up my hands [laughs].

Bass Player: How did your role become defined when the band was starting out?

Ellefson: For us, it was first about defining our music. At the time in L.A., hair bands playing melodic metal or heavy pop was all the rage. We were more into the European neoclassical metal of people like Yngwie Malmsteen and the SCORPIONS with Michael Schenker and Uli Roth — that combined with the punk rock attitude of the SEX PISTOLS and the RAMONES; the hybrid of those two is really what thrash metal is. In addition, we were looking to add a level of complexity and intensity to the METALLICA template. So instead of three-chord songs with a cute lyric, Dave [Mustaine] was writing these epic compositions, with different sections, tempos and keys, that were orchestrated to the last note and took months to record. Bass-wise, he was always very good about getting me involved, saying, let's make this part the bass line, or, why don't you start the song.

Bass Player: Did that help you settle into a concept?

Ellefson: Yes, and it's essentially three-fold: To support the guitar lines, to hunker down and lock with everyone on the main unison riff — because that's where the power and heaviness comes from, and last, to play in melodic counterpoint to the guitars or rhythmic counterpoint to the drums and create a voice of your own. I quickly realized the guitar and the drums are the foundation of the band, not the bass; I'm more like the mortar between the bricks — the connection that glues those two sides together. That's what led me to always add my bass late or last in the recording process. Ideally, Dave would lay down a keeper rhythm guitar track first and then the drums were added, and at least a scratch vocal. So by the time I was ready to cut, I'd have a clear direction as to how the part should go, and if I wanted to play some upperregister melodic fills I'd know how to not conflict with the vocals. Plus, I could get a better tone by tailoring it to fit between the drums and guitars.

Bass Player: How do you reflect on your first 19 years with MEGADETH?

Ellefson: I see it as three phases: Our first four albums, through "Rust In Peace", was the progressive, aggressive, off-the-wall phase. Then, on "Countdown To Extinction", we realized as we were playing bigger venues the tempos needed to slow down so people could actually hear the music — so we wrote differently. That continued through "Youthanasia", which is when I started using the Modulus 5-string to get deeper and punchier for the new, slower songs. The final phase for me was doing "Cryptic Writings" in Nashville, with Dann Huff producing. Realizing I was going to be around all those heavy Nashville session bassists led me to take lessons with my friend Ray Riendeau. When we started tracking and formulating bass lines with Dann, I referenced a lot of mainstream rock and players such as Adam Clayton. So that redefined my style and it also redefined the band on American rock radio, really giving us another five years of our career.

Read the entire interview from Bass Player magazine.