MEGADETH's MUSTAINE: 'I've Got A Little Bit Of Mojo Left In The Tank'

FMQB recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

FMQB: This is the first album you recorded with the new lineup. How were things different in the studio?

Mustaine: It was exciting to be able to go in there with some new guys and see what we could do. But I had already gone into the studio with Glen [Drover, guitar] when we did some overdubs for the live stuff that needed to be fixed, and we did a live recording with Glen and Shawn [Drover, drums] when we did Gigantour and the Buenos Aires DVD, which was a thrill for me to be able to do that. It made things exciting for me to watch MEGADETH get its crown back, so to speak. And now that we've got our credibility back as far as doing what we do best, I think it's just a matter of us getting on stage and showing people, "This isn't the studio album, this is now a way of life with this band." It was weird with all the lineup changes, because you think you have four people that have the same vision, and then all of a sudden it starts changing. And you're saying, "Look, you can't change the recipe for classic Coke. People are going to revolt." As MEGADETH changed a little bit and started following direction from management and the labels, it kind of pulled on my heartstrings, but as a band leader, you need to be able to promote domestic harmony with everybody. Sometimes you have to listen to people's ideas, and sometimes, even more so as a parent now, you have to say "Don't put your hand on the stove," and then watch the little sucker go and burn himself. We've had some songs that we took chances on and took risks with, and it didn't quite turn out the way we hoped. A lot of that was a learning process so that people in our organization would trust me more about what I like and what our fans like.

FMQB: Being on a new label and having this new lineup, do you feel like this is a rebirth for MEGADETH?

Mustaine: Yes, but it actually happened a while ago after the album "Risk" came out. Because I had told [ex-guitarist] Marty Friedman, "We have to go back to our roots," and Marty disagreed. So we parted ways because Marty wanted to pursue more alternative pop music and I couldn't go any farther down that road than "Risk". Turning around and climbing back out of it, the first offering was "The World Needs A Hero". I had to kind of unlearn everything I had learned with "Cryptic Writings", "Youthanasia" and "Risk". The album "Countdown To Extinction" was a blessing, because it all came together. "Rust In Peace" was super fast and furious, and then "Countdown" started to meld some melody into it, but then after that, everyone started to see how successful the band was and wanted us to do another "Countdown". I couldn't do that. I tried with "Youthanasia" to do everything that the management and label and everybody wanted, but in the long run, you've got to be true to yourself. So after "Risk" I just said, "I'm going off and doing my own thing again." It took a little while to get things turned around. It's like a big ocean liner — you can turn the wheel all the way left or right but it takes a while for that sucker to get turned around. If I would have gone right from "Risk" to "United Abominations", people probably would have said, "This isn't organic. It's not a natural return to form."

FMQB: Tell me about the new single, "Washington Is Next!" What is the meaning behind that song?

Mustaine: It's basically a very friendly history lesson from Uncle Dave about world powers, and a little bit of the story of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. My kids are little thespians and both of them were in Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. So I read the story in the bible and thought, "This is really an interesting story," because for me, in my dreams, there are so many things that I learn about myself and my conditions when I really study my dreams. For the most part, I look at that song and the impetus for it, and think, "This is an interesting way to get my opinion about these things across and say, 'Every world power has fallen, and the successor promises to be something bigger and better.'" The U.S.A. is the world power right now, but people look at the U.N. as being the world power. I'm looking at what the U.N. stands for and what it does, and more importantly what it doesn't do, and to me that place is ripe for a fall. You look at what's going on in Iran right now with comments that [President] Ahmadinejad is making about wiping out Zionism, and the fact that they're putting sanctions on him and they don't work. And then watching the Lebanese/Israeli conflict and knowing that they weren't there for us when we went to war. I don't know all the reasons why we went, I don't know all the reasons why we should come home, all I know is that we're there now, and we need to support the men and women that are in uniform protecting you and me. If people don't like me because I said that or if they don't buy my records anymore, I don't give a shit. I would rather be poor and free in a country that I love than sitting here too chicken to say anything about my beliefs. I'm an American, I love being an American, and I'm an international musician that travels a lot, and there's a very liberating, thrilling feeling coming through customs after you go to a foreign country. "Washington Is Next!" is not a threat or anything like that. It's just that Washington is deemed as the modern Rome. That song is a little bit about all of those different things. I also think it's one of those songs that is a true return to form for MEGADETH. I thought it should have been a single when I wrote it, and I'm glad that everyone else is reacting to the song. We've been playing it live for a little while, and the fans love it, especially the breakdown in the middle where you step on the gas and drop it into low.

FMQB: Do you ever take a step back and reflect on the band's place in metal history and the influence you've had on the genre?

Mustaine: I do recently, but I used to not because it was so hard for me to deal with a lot of the ups and downs that have been going on in my career. I never really wanted to start saying, "Look what I did," because I already had enough of that with my previous band. Coming out of that whole ordeal was difficult for me because I was still a young kid when we met, and when we parted, I didn't really have a lot of support on how to deal with something like that. When you're in a band and you're all of a sudden successful and you've got handling, they nurture and counsel you and mentor you through dealing with conflict. I didn't handle myself well in the beginning of my career because it was just raw emotions coming out. As I started to get a grasp on how to deal with things as a true warrior instead of a brawler, it changed my perspective with what I was playing and with a lot of things. I'm really excited about where I'm at in my career right now. I think I've made a great record. Some people have asked me, "What do I have left to accomplish?" Well, not much. Do I still have any goals? Actually, I'd like to be able to share what I've learned with some of the new bands that come up and help be the elder statesman that I've become. Can I still kick ass on guitar? I don't know — you tell me. I like the new record and I think that it's fun. Can I write something like that again? I think it's just the beginning, because like I was saying to somebody recently, it's like that movie "Stella Got Her Groove Back". I think I found my muse and I've got a little bit of mojo left in the tank.

Read the entire interview at FMQB.