Mustaine Vintage Interview From Euro "Diezel"

Dave in 1991 was perhaps a different Dave than were used to. Coming off a new wave of sobriety Dave speaks his mind to a strange euro show in 1991.

Dave Junior Ellefson On Dave Senior

Despite David Jr being a devout christian we still like him here. I hid my pot and pill jar while we spoke and let em fly. Junior is a nice guy and certainly a legend around here


So how is the healing process going between you and Dave (Mustaine)?

 Ellefson: It's been good. Yeah, it's been really good. You know, he and I have talked several times over the years and I think of it like we got to develop a friendship we never got to have the first time around (Ellefson left MEGADETH in 2002 and rejoined in 2010). The first time around, it was always about the band so the band came first and the friendship suffered. This time around, we're putting the focus on the friendship and the band stuff comes pretty easy and falls into place.


 You've played with so many different lineups of MEGADETH. How does this one stack up to the rest?

 Ellefson: It's really good. I love the way Shawn Drover plays drums especially on this "Rust In Peace" stuff. He's got a really good, laid-back pocket which makes the music sound really good live. And Chris Broderick, he emulates the past guitar players so well. [He plays] with such perfection, and of course his own original stuff that he's been doing with MEGADETH is just ferocious.




 How did the whole 20th anniversary of the "Rust In Peace" live album/DVD project come about?

Ellefson: It was cool. Originally, the "Rust in Peace" tour was put on sale to just be a one month sale in March, and so very early on, the reviews were just great. Everybody was so thrilled that I was back and that me and Dave were playing together again. Doing it was kind of the one-two punch. We thought we need to "record this and capture that." Then it turned out, as the tour carried on, the next bunch of dates we were going to be doing in South and Central America. Over in Europe, everybody's requesting "Rust In Peace", so we just started playing it everywhere because that became the fan-favorite setlist for the whole tour this year. That's why we've carried on playing the whole "Rust In Peace" album throughout the whole year.


 I'm sure this question is on every MEGADETH fan's mind, but when can we expect another MEGADETH record with the mighty David Ellefson back on bass?




Ellefson: Well, we've started working on some stuff already. We started to work on some new tunes, you know, just over the course of the last few months. Just cataloging some ideas away, which is how the process starts. It's been cool. There's been some good things coming up and we're gonna finish the touring through the rest of this year, but then as we flip the calendar into 2011, we're going to start to get more serious about cutting a new record at some point.

Tom Hunting On Shawn From Megadeth

Evidently, humor was in the air when Tom Hunting, longtime drummer for S.F Kings Exodus was asked about buddy Shawn Drover, Megadeth's newest drummer.

When I asked Tom Hunting of EXODUS about his (Shawn's) drumming technique, he had this to say:

"One of the things he learned was that the faster you hit the snare with as much force as possible and the sooner you get out, the more it's gonna resonate. I tried to teach Drover that, but he, you know, he's stuck in his glam metal. [laughs]"

Would you care to comment on that?

Drover: [smiles and shakes his head] The thing about Tom is that he has tree trunks for arms. The guy hits with such insane velocity and power that it's just… What can you say? The guy's brutal. He's a huge influence on my playing. When I discovered thrash, EXODUS was right up there with all the bands like METALLICA, SLAYER and ANTHRAX. Right off the bat I was a big fan of Tom's playing. He's a completely original thrash metal drummer. His rolls and the drum fills that he does are amazing, I think. I didn't realize until we toured with them in 2004 how hard he hits the snare. The drum set he's got now is a Yamaha and he's got probably the loudest snare, I would say, in the world. I've never heard a snare that loud where it was like crushing my head. I'm sure he took great joy in hitting a little bit harder just to piss everybody off because his snare sounded so fucking awesome. Tom's a great drummer, but I do have better hair than he does, so you can tell him that from me!

Book Em All

Dave Mustaine has scheduled the following book-signing sessions to promote his new autobiography "Mustaine, A Heavy Metal Memoir" will be released in the U.S. on August 3 via HarperCollins's It Books imprint. The U.K. edition, "Mustaine: A Life In Metal", will hit bookstores in the U.K. on September 30.


August 9
Book Revue
313 New York Ave.
Huntington, NY 11743
7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. EDT

August 10
Barnes & Noble
555 Fifth Ave. @ 46th St.
New York, NY 10017
12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EDT

August 10
Bookends
232 E. Ridgewood Ave.
Ridgewood, NJ 07450
7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. EDT

August 12
Borders
Wall Street
100 Broadway
New York, NY 10005
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. EDT

August 14
Barnes & Noble
800 Boylston St.
B&N # 2115
Boston, MA 02119
12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EDT

August 15
Barnes & Noble
Rittenhouse Square
1805 Walnut St.
Philadelphia, PA 19103
12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EDT

August 16
Borders
1201 Boston Post Rd.
Milford, CT 06460
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. EDT

August 18
Joseph-Beth & Davis-Kidd Booksellers
24519 Cedar Road
Lyndhurst, OH, 44124
12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EDT

August 19
Borders
43075 Crescent Blvd
Novi, MI 48375
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. CDT

August 20
Borders
150 N State St.
Chicago, IL 60601
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. CDT

August 21
Borders
1540 Golf Road
Schaumburg, IL 60173
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. CDT

August 23
Rainy Day Books
707 W 47th Street
Unity Temple on The Plaza
Kansas City, Missouri 64112
12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. CDT

August 25
Tattered Cover Book Store
9315 Dorchester St.
Highlands Ranch Town Center
Highlands Ranch, CO 80129
12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. MDT

August 26
Borders
2240 Q St. NE STE 10-K
Albuquerque, NM 87110
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. MDT

August 27
Changing Hands Bookstore
6428 S McClintock Drive
Tempe, AZ 85283
12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. MST

August 29
Barnes & Nobles
Mira Mesa
10775 Westview Parkway
San Diego, CA 92126
12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. PDT

August 30
Borders
101 S Pine Ave.
Long Beach, CA 90802
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. PDT

August 31
Borders
233 Winston Drive
San Francisco, CA 94132
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. PDT

September 1
Borders
2339 Fair Oaks Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95825
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. PDT

September 3
University Bookstore
4326 University Way
Seattle, WA 98105
12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. PDT

September 4
Powell's Bookstore
2720 NW 29th Ave.
Portland, OR 97210
12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. PDT