MEGADETH's DAVE MUSTAINE Says New Guitarist TEEMU MÄNTYSAARI Is 'A Really Great Fit'

In a new interview with Brazil's Rádio Kiss FM, MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine spoke about the recent departure of the band's longtime guitarist Kiko Loureiro and addition of his replacement, Teemu Mäntysaari. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We've got a new guitar player playing. Kiko needed to go home to stay with his family, and it was a really great time together for a while. And now we've got a replacement that Kiko had recommended for us that is a really great fit."

Asked if there is any chance of Kiko coming up on stage and performing at least one song with MEGADETH at an upcoming concert, Dave said: "I don't think right now that's something that Kiko's interested in, because he left for a reason, to be with his family. He needs to be there. And if the time presents itself in the future, I'm not opposed to it. We just got done playing [a couple of shows] with [former MEGADETH guitarist] Marty [Friedman]. So, that kind of shows you how I feel about that. But I'm trying to be a little realistic about stuff. I know if it was me, the last thing I would do is quit a band I love to be home with my family and then go back out on the road with the band that I quit."

Teemu stepped in last September for Kiko, who announced earlier that month that he would sit out the next leg of MEGADETH's "Crush The World" tour in order to stay home with his children back in Finland. It was later revealed that Mäntysaari would continue to play guitar for MEGADETH for the foreseeable future, with Loureiro seemingly having no plans to return.

In a separate interview with Brazil's A Rádio Rock, Mustaine was asked what he looks forward to in this next chapter of MEGADETH. He said: "Well, I'm expecting us to keep doing what we've been doing. Kiko had recommended Teemu, and Teemu is an exceptional guitar player. Kiko was at the top of his game when this happened, so we were obviously disappointed, but it is what it is. If Kiko would have said, 'I don't know anybody, and you're on your own,' that would have been a lot harder. But Teemu is the right guy for MEGADETH. And Kiko knows that Teemu is the right guy for me. So, he actually did us a really big favor, and I love him and I wish him the best with everything that he does."

Mustaine went on to say that "Teemu is gonna make a lot of people happy" on MEGADETH's South American tour "because we're gonna be playing some songs that we haven't played for a long time. When he came in, I figured instead of just saying, 'Well, you've gotta learn these 30 songs here,' I asked him to learn a couple more. I mean, what's the difference when you're learning 30 songs? What's 33, right? Well, if he learned three and I said he's gotta learn 30, that's different. But I asked him to do some other songs that Dirk [Verbeuren, MEGADETH drummer] and James [Lomenzo, MEGADETH bassist] have been asking me to play for a very long time, and we're adding them now, which is great."

Kiko announced his decision to step back from MEGADETH in a social media post in November. He wrote in part: "Dear MEGADETH fans, I want to share with you a decision that hasn't been easy for me. In September, I had to step away from the U.S. leg of the tour for family reasons. Looking ahead, during 2024, we anticipate an even heavier touring schedule for MEGADETH. After thorough reflection and discussions with Dave Mustaine and MEGADETH's management, we have collectively agreed that it is the right move to extend my absence. I don't want to hinder any of the band's plans or the hard work of all the incredible people involved in the tour."

In early October, Mustaine told Shaggy of the 94.9 and 104.5 The Pick radio station in Idaho Falls, Idaho about Teemu's addition to MEGADETH: "People are losing their minds over how things are going right now 'cause we have a really good chemistry together."

According to Mustaine, MEGADETH has been able to change up its setlist a bit as a result of the guitarist switch. "We've got a bunch of songs from our catalog that we're playing, a bunch of new songs too," he said. "We've been able to add a bunch of songs to the set because Teemu was a metal fan. Kiko did not grow up baptized in metal… Like the show we did a couple of nights ago, we opened with 'Hangar [18]' and then we followed it up with 'Mechanix'. We've never done that before, so it's a pretty heavy beginning. And we've added a second track off of the new album with 'Soldier On!', and we're getting ready to add a third."

In September, Mustaine was equally full of praise for Mäntysaari, telling Wes Styles in a separate interview: "He's really great. And I'm super excited with what Teemu has brought. And it's uncanny because he plays a lot like Marty. And it's really exciting. At certain times I just close my eyes during the set and I just hear these songs played, whether like Kiko in the past or Teemu now, it just sounds really magic because these guys have learned these songs and they're not just going out there and just banging their guitar around; they actually learned the solos from some of the virtuosos that I've played with over my career."

MEGADETH played its first concert with Mäntysaari on September 6, 2023 at Revel in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Mäntysaari was born in Tampere, Finland and began playing guitar at the age of 12. In 2004, he joined the band WINTERSUN. He has also been a member of SMACKBOUND since 2015.

Loureiro officially joined MEGADETH in April 2015, about five months after Chris Broderick's exit from the group.

Shortly after Loureiro's addition to MEGADETH, Mustaine called him "definitely the best guitarist we've ever had." His comments echoed those he made about Broderick during the latter's tenure in the band. Back in 2013, during the making of MEGADETH's "Super Collider" album, Mustaine wrote in a tweet that Chris was "without a doubt the best guitarist I've ever played with."

Mustaine told Revolver magazine that finding Loureiro "was really a mind-blower. It was the first time since Marty Friedman joined the band that I was really intimidated as a player," he said. "He's such an amazing talent, and he's been coming in with all of these fresh ideas." Mustaine added that Kiko was a good fit personality wise. "Chris [Broderick] and I had a good chemistry, but we weren't really as close as I would have wanted us to be," Mustaine explained. "Kiko, I feel like I've known him for years."

In 2009, Mustaine praised Broderick, saying in an online post: "I am going on record and I am saying unequivocally that Chris is THE BEST GUITARIST MEGADETH has ever had. And the real talented musicians in MEGADETH's alumni will agree, he is an absolute monster. I mean, he plays the catalog better than anyone did. Jeff Young never wanted to do Chris Poland's stuff, and so on, and so on, until the last guitarist we had before we disbanded over my arm injury."

Mustaine added: "It's funny, because just when I think [Broderick] can get no more outrageous, or any more thrilling with the guitar solos, he comes up with something really beautiful like Marty Friedman would do (he has Marty pretty well down pat),and then goes into the GIT styles that Jeff Young did, yet, there is still such a freshness to his playing and he is so raw, it's like having a new prize bull. And even though he ain't a such a young bull, he's definitely an old bull like me."