MEGADETH's TEEMU MÄNTYSAARI Believes GHOST-Style 'Phone Ban' At Concerts Is A 'Great Idea'

In a new interview with Fernanda Hein of Chile's Sonar FM, MEGADETH guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari was asked for his opinion on phone-free concerts, such as was the case with Swedish metallers GHOST, who instituted a no-phone policy on their recent tour by utilizing Yondr pouches. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think that idea is really cool. I've been to a couple shows that had that, where you would take your phone and you would put it in a kind of a locked bag. And we actually did that as well when we did our album pre-listening session in Nashville, which was like a small kind of a private VIP party for a couple hundred people. So we did that there as well, because we didn't wanna show those songs, of course, to everybody beforehand."

Teemu continued: "I think that's a cool idea, during the live shows, and those couple of bigger shows that I've been to where that was done, I think people really get to concentrate on the music when it's not through the phone screen, but it's actually direct contact. And I think it's nice for the audience as well. I mean, of course it's a kind of trade-off — then people don't get to share the videos and photos from the show. But if the band has their own, like, media crew there filming stuff and it's still shared, then you still get the video clips and you still get the stuff in the social media. So I think that's probably gonna get more common, and more people probably will start doing that once it gets easier to do. And I think it's a great idea."

Asked if MEGADETH has thought about recording any of the live shows during the band's ongoing farewell tour for possible future release, Teemu said: "We are actually recording all the shows always. And usually it's just the audio part. So our front-of-house engineer records everything always. And whenever we can, we also do video, and we're looking into different possibilities of doing more shows with video as well. And, yeah, [we are] hoping, at some point, to have enough material to choose from to do some kind of a live release."

GHOST made its entire 2025 and 2026 tours phone-free experiences — with attendees maintaining possession of their phones at all times, secured in Yondr pouches — after playing a pair of phone-free shows in Los Angeles in 2023 for the filming of the "Rite Here Rite Now" concert film. IRON MAIDEN asked fans to put their phones away while attending concerts on the British heavy metal legends' recently launched "Run For Your Lives" world tour. Other acts, such as TOOL, have also employed a similar approach, requesting fans stay off their phones until the final song of their set.

Through the use of technology like Yondr, fans are able to place their phones in a pouch that unlocks only after they leave the no-cell-phone zone. The pouch can also be unlocked at specific cell phone stations inside the venue.

Phone-free concerts are touted as a way to cut down on illegal filming and non-stop selfies that can take away from the performance.

Yondr founder Graham Dugoni said his company's pouches were created for "phone-free spaces" where "creativity and productivity could flourish in the absence of technology."

Phones, Apple watches and other communication devices are placed in the pouch and sealed using a magnetized lock, which can be opened with an unlocking base.

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.

MEGADETH's new album, the group's first with Mäntysaari, was released on January 23 via a partnership between MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine's Tradecraft imprint and the Frontiers Label Group's new imprint BLKIIBLK.

MEGADETH once again worked with Chris Rakestraw, a producer, mixer and engineer who also helmed the band's previous two albums, 2022's "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!" and 2016's "Dystopia".