MEGADETH's MUSTAINE Says He Has 'The Right To Pick' Bands He Wants To Share Stage With

John Doran of The Quietus recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On his refusal to share the stage with the openly Satanic Swedish metal act DISSECTION back in 2005:

Mustaine: "I'm a Christian and a headliner who has been playing for 30 years. That gives me the right to pick who I want to play with. So if it's my concert and there's someone on the bill who I don't want to play with, then I should be able to say, 'I don't want 'em on there.' If it's a festival, well, that's kind of different. But I told my agent, 'Don't book me with any satanic bands.'"

On his fighting history:

Mustaine: "I have a first degree in Ukidokan karate. My sensei — Benny 'The Jet' Urquidez — has the style of karate, kung-fu, aikido, judo, ju-jitsu, taekwondo, Greco-Roman wrestling, Muay Thai boxing and American boxing. So it's all those things rolled into one. It's a nine-style discipline. My second black belt is in Songham taekwondo and I was an assistant instructor in that style, and then I taught it privately for a while."

On whether his former lack of happiness may have been necessary to his talent:

Mustaine: "No, no, no, no. No, no, no, no! Listen dude, the last break we just had, we went home for three weeks and it was the most enjoyable three weeks I ever had. Because the career is going so fast and furious at the moment and everything is going so well. We're playing good, we've got a great band, we've got a great crew, our shows are really good... what have I got to complain about? And I was thinking, 'Wow. This is the greatest period of my life.' I was sitting there holding my wife with my kids lying on me, we were watching TV on the couch and I was thinking, 'I wouldn't change a thing. I would go and do the same 30 years of work to have this same exact freedom that I have right now.'"

Read the entire interview from The Quietus.