SHAWN DROVER Knew His Role In MEGADETH

Levi of Sticks For Stones recently conducted an interview with former MEGADETH and current ACT OF DEFIANCE drummer Shawn Drover. You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below.

Asked if he was disappointed when he heard that MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine had referred to him and ex-MEGADETH guitarist Chris Broderick as "quitters" during his short speech at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods in June, Drover responded: "Oh, I didn't even know about that. I don't even know how to respond to something like that."

He continued: "With respect to the past, I don't live in the past and I choose just to focus on what I'm doing now with ACT OF DEFIANCE.

"I had great times in [MEGADETH]. I have nothing bad to say whatsoever.

"I haven't done that in a year now — I haven't been in that band for a year.

"[ACT OF DEFIANCE] is my focus right now — to present this band in the most professional way and to let the music speak for itself."

Shawn also talked about his working relationship with Mustaine and whether personal differences played a part in his decision to quit MEGADETH. He said: "I never had an issue with [Dave] whatsoever. I always thought we got along very well, and I knew my role in the band. And that's a big part of joining a band like that. If you don't know your role and think that you can walk into a situation… to an established band and think that you can be an equal partner or something foolish like that, that would be just that: it would be quite foolish. I walked into the situation knowing what my role was, and I respected the legacy of the band and just tried to do the best that I could. So it actually was quite easy. I got along with him very well. I got along with everybody very well. But I was smart enough to know what the situation was, and never thinking, 'Oh, I'll get my songs on the next record.' It was never like that. I respected the legacy of the band and [tried] to uphold that to the best of my ability, no matter who… whatever lineup was in the band at the time, I just did my job. But at the end of the day, I left the band — I was not fired; I left. So it was just purely a musical… I wanted to write heavier music, and that's what I did [with ACT OF DEFIANCE]."

ACT OF DEFIANCE, which also includes Broderick, ex-SCAR THE MARTYR singer Henry Derek Bonner and SHADOWS FALL's Matt Bachand (bass),released its debut album, "Birth And The Burial", on August 21 via Metal Blade Records.