MEGADETH's MUSTAINE: 'People Say Musicians Should Stay Out Of Politics And I Agree'

Shawn Macomber of The American Spectator recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH frontman Dave Mustaine. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

On the United Nations:

"I'm sure the United Nations does some good stuff. I mean, they've got one of the most beautiful women in the world pushing rice in Darfur. But that's the irony of it all. They'll send those C130s over there full of supplies, drop it off and...the rebels get it. Deliver it all the way if you're going to deliver it. What good is it if it goes to the bad people? Then there are these allegations of women and children being raped by peacekeepers in Africa — the first time that happens it's a crime, the second time it is a travesty."

"Why doesn't Michael Moore do an expose on the UN? When I see Syria on the Security Council [in 2002-2003], am I supposed to feel secure? It's mad....They just rely on UNICEF, this one good thing they're doing, to cover up all the stuff that they're not doing, to put them beyond dissent. I'm not impressed. How long are they going to sit by and watch Hezbollah fire Katyusha rockets into Israel from Lebanon? That's a question I'd like answered."

On musicians making their political views public:

"People say musicians should stay out of politics, and I agree. But I'm a citizen, too. I love my country. When I went to cover the [1992] Democratic National Convention for MTV, I walked around like a respectable American who happened to be in the music business instead of like one of these idiots in a T-shirt that says 'F -- k Our President.'

"In a lot of ways, it doesn't matter. I can't tell you how condescending the look I got from John Kerry was when I walked up to interview him at the 1992 convention or the way Oliver Stone treated me. I was like, 'You know what? Don't let the hair fool you, guys.'"

On MEGADETH's early lyrical approach:

"I had labelmates when I was on Capitol Records like POISON who had songs like 'Talk Dirty to Me'. That never appealed to me. I wanted to do something that was a little bit more profound, even if I didn't really want a bunch of pontificators in the front row."

Read the entire interview at www.spectator.org.