TESTAMENT's SKOLNICK: DAVE MUSTAINE Came To Me For Guitar Tips

Mark Eglinton of The Quietus recently conducted an interview with vocalist Chuck Billy and guitarist Alex Skolnick of veteran San Francisco Bay Area thrashers TESTAMENT. An excerpt from the chat follows below.

The Quietus: How was the tour with JUDAS PRIEST? There were a few big personalities kicking around there?

Chuck Billy: "The whole tour was absolutely great and everyone got along really well. We've been doing this for a long time now and there were none of the usual issues. Sometimes the main band will hold back production or sound because they feel threatened, but we do what we do and PRIEST do what they do, so there was nothing like that. There were no big egos and JUDAS PRIEST and Rob Halford are a class act. The London show at Wembley was awesome and was the one we wanted to get absolutely right. Usually in those circumstances something goes wrong when you least want it to, but it was perfect."

Alex Skolnick: "Yeah, the tour was a lot of fun and we have absolutely nothing to prove to anyone, we've been doing this for 25 years."

Chuck Billy: "Also, JUDAS PRIEST could have taken anyone they wanted out on tour with them, maybe a young band or something, but they actually chose us and MEGADETH, and also, we've toured with them before."

The Quietus: Speaking of MEGADETH, how was Dave Mustaine? Do you guys get on ok?

Alex Skolnick: "Dave and I have known each other a long time and he is, without a doubt, a very intense personality, so I could see how people might find that intimidating. He's very interesting and at times during the tour he actually came to me for some tips."

The Quietus: Really? So you're saying that Dave Mustaine, No. 1 in Joel McIver's "100 Greatest Metal Guitarists" [book] came to you, No. 13, for guitar tuition?

Alex Skolnick: [laughs] "Well, I wasn't aware of that, but yeah, I play in a jazz orchestra when I'm not doing this and we have very different styles, so Dave was looking for some help with jazz chords. What you need to know about Dave is that he always wants to improve and he is recording his new record as if it's his first, which says a lot about how driven he is."

Chuck Billy: "Dave and I have a lot of history too and basically at the heart of it he is a great guy. Sure, he has his good days and bad days just like anyone but I have always managed to have a joke with him. He's just one of those people you need to catch right."

The Quietus: Apparently he is "reborn." How does that present itself?

Chuck Billy: "I guess it works for him."

Alex Skolnick: "Yeah, it's definitely not like he shoves it down anyone's throat anyway. It's a personal thing."

The Quietus: Why do you think that you never made that one killer commercial album like say METALLICA's "black album?"

Chuck Billy: "Honestly, we thought at the time that every record we made might be the 'big one' but sometimes it works out differently. When we were signed to Atlantic around the time of 'Practice What You Preach', that was probably the best opportunity back then. There was pressure on us to come up with a single and it's hard not to compromise."

Alex Skolnick: "True. For me though I always wanted a really well-produced record and the 'black album' had that. I like it because it's still heavy enough but with that big production. I actually hoped and thought they'd go back and do the really heavy stuff again, but they didn't. But really, when you compare us to them, we didn't have anything even close to being as commercial as some of that stuff."

Read the entire interview from The Quietus.