MEGADETH's ELLEFSON: 'My Personal Thought Is That The Next Record Will Be Much Different' To 'Super Collider'

MetalTitans.com recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

MetalTitans.com: What's the length of time that you worked on [your autobiography] "My Life With Deth"?

David Ellefson: When we started the book it was summer of 2010. That's when [co-author] Joel McIver approached me about doing it. We got started on pretty quickly on it while I was in Europe on tour. I didn't know what the book was going to look like, to be honest, because all of my harrowing darks dark days are all behind me. That was like 25 years ago! [laughs] Traditionally, these type of celebrity books are a crash-and-burn, tell-all, pull-the-covers-back books. It's not my style to do that. That's not the legacy that I want for my life for something like that to be out there forever. The other thing is that "those" things were so many years ago and I've worked through them. I have a much different life today. The whole process took about three years close to three and a half actually from the time we started our first interview to the day the book hit shelves. I had written a book years ago in 1997 and that was about a three-year process as well. So I was already familiar with the publishing time for printed material. Joel, because he's written so many books in the past, he knew how to direct me; he knew what the readers want to know. He is very knowledgeable in the MEGADETH history, so he knew what stuff to get into and what was not as important. Joel was a great coach and guide throughout this process.

MetalTitans.com: In the book, you took us inside the two near-misses where you almost came back to MEGADETH. After a couple failed attempts, you reconnected with [Dave] Mustaine and returned. You want to talk a little bit about that for the readers?

David Ellefson: Yeah, one day, all of a sudden, my life was turned up upside down when the band ended in February of 2002. Anyone that has gone through a career or a job transition knows what that is like. Sometimes you see it coming, sometimes it comes out of the blue. So now you have a set card and that's the hand you have to play. There have been times in the past when MEGADETH went on three-, four-, five-month hiatuses; we took some time at the end of the tour for people to have some down time. Anytime I got started writing or working on other things, they'd be cut short when MEGADETH fired up. So that stuff never saw the light of day. It was different in 2002, because MEGADETH was officially done. The press release went out and the band now ceased to exist. My work with F5 and Peavy were well underway, then Dave gets a hold of me and said that he'd like to get started working on some new music again. Part of me was very excited, then other part of me didn't want to kick all these things to the curb. I had put a lot of work into them and people have invested a lot of time. I felt that they'd be very disappointed if I pulled the plug. My goal to keep it all going; unfortunately, it didn't work out. It was very disappointing because it was a much different set of circumstances that were put before me in 2004 than they were when things ended in 2002. Trying to make it work again between Dave and I; there was always this excitement if we could make it work again. The fans would have been happy, but it just never worked. Quite honestly, on side of things, I had a lot of unresolved issues, which added to why it didn't work. It took time to work through that and eventually… When legal matters head to the courts — when things go to that place… Dave and I are really a rare situation because when things end up in court, people usually don't get back on stage or back into business together again. That's a story that I did want to tell in this book; I wanted to show testament in our faith. Faith isn't something that is looked upon favorable in mainstream things and most certainly not in the metal world. Dave and I aren't 21 anymore; we're a lot more open and honest about things. I really wanted to write about the reason things worked out between Dave and I was because the good Lord provides a way when there just doesn't seem to be another way. That is very clear to me; acknowledging that publicly was something that felt needed to be put out there. I'm glad I did it because I'm receiving a lot of positive feedback from people who say stuff like, "It's very bold of you to do that." I have received comments from people that say that they've received strength and encouragement from reading my book that helped them push through barriers in their lives. You know what? If that's a reason why the book came out other than some entertainment value? That it helped inspire people to get through some personal barriers, then the book was worth all of the three years that it took to write and put it out.

MetalTitans.com: "Super Collider", I like the record, but it's received some very "critical" reviews by fans and press a like. I think the consensus has been that this ranks at the bottom of the MEGADETH catalog alongside "Risk". What's your take on that?

David Ellefson: We're aware of the comments for sure because they're on our own web site or our MEGADETH Facebook page! [laughs] My personal thought is that the next record will be much different. We go through these phases. Dave made three records when I wasn't in the band, and a couple of them quite good, I might add. They were good records because they were really good "metal" records. That's what fans want to hear; because MEGADETH has this 30-year career, we have more than just one style in our cache. Fans have discovered us at various times throughout our journey; there are fans became fans when they heard "Risk", that's when they go into rock 'n' roll and they bought their record and to them that is their debut MEGADETH record. I have learned not to criticize our own work, simply because there are naysayers out there and the fact that every record has significance to different people. Having said that, the first thing that people heard from the record was track "Super Collider", which is a very mainstream, commercial song. I think had they heard "Kingmaker" first, for instance, the reaction would have been much different. The first impression is more often than not the most lasting impression. When you hear a song that sounds like MEGADETH right out the gate, you say, "Awesome, man!" When you hear a song that you have to listen to several times, analyze it and get your mind around it, the first impression may not make you want to dig right into out of the gate. I get that. I'm a fan. I used to buy KISS records as a kid and CHEAP TRICK records. I remember some records, I got it right out the gate, and there were records where I'd say, "What the heck is this?" It wasn't what I was expecting. Some records take one listen, other take three or four listens other more. I think for me, "Super Collider" is one of those records.

Read the entire interview at MetalTitans.com.