MEGADETH's DAVID ELLEFSON Says DAVE MUSTAINE 'Is A Great Leader'

Nev Pearce of Australia's "Rabid Noise" podcast recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson. You can now listen to the chat below.

Speaking about the musical and personal chemistry that he has with MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine, Ellefson said: "I really understood Dave's music [from the beginning], I understood the musicianship behind it, I understood the vision. And I think that… Dave is a great leader. Great groups need great leaders. And great groups also need good people to get in line and follow the vision. And I think that was where I've always been good at that."

He continued: "MEGADETH is a group where I have my role. And that role was carved out pretty much from the beginning. And the other two positions, I guess, in some ways, were carved out from the beginning too. It's taken some time to fill those positions over the years — finally with Gar [Samuelson, drums] and Chris [Poland, guitar], when we did the first two records; Jeff [Young, guitar] and Chuck [Behler, drums] on record three; and then, certainly, Marty [Friedman, guitar] and Nick [Menza, drums] through most of the '90s. And those roles are not always easy. People sometimes go, 'You know what?! I don't wanna play that role anymore. I wanna do something different.' And then they either leave the group, or we need to have somebody leave the group. And those are difficult transitions. People need to do what they feel they need to do too."

Ellefson added: "I just found that… Musically, I have [done] some other things outside of MEGADETH, which I think are good things, because they always remind me of how special the role inside of MEGADETH is. And it always reminds me that, while it's nice to be able to have some other outlet musically, it brings me back, when we start working on MEGADETH records and tours again, that it's, like, 'You know what?! I'm very valuable to MEGADETH. And MEGADETH needs both of what Dave and I have in order to really make that thing work the way that it's meant to work."

MEGADETH has yet to announce replacements for drummer Shawn Drover and guitarist Chris Broderick, who quit the band last year.

Only hours after Shawn Drover announced his exit from MEGADETH on November 25, 2014 to "to pursue [his] own musical interests," Broderick revealed he also quit the legendary metal band, saying that he was leaving the group "due to artistic and musical differences."

Broderick joined MEGADETH in late 2007 as the replacement for Glen Drover, who left the group in order to focus on family life.

Shawn joined MEGADETH in 2004 as the replacement for Nick Menza, who had only just rejoined the group. Drover performed on four MEGADETH studio records: 2007's "United Abominations", 2009's "Endgame", 2011's "TH1RT3EN" and "Super Collider".