You can imagine my surprise as Dave Mustaine tells me he just got out of the shower. All of a sudden I go blank and talking about music is the furthest thing from my mind. In between a sweat on my forehead and a grin on my face, my only comeback was “Geez, you were really prepared for this interview!” “Absolutely!” says the strawberry haired Metal Warrior who never misses an opportunity to say what he thinks.
We both only found out an hour ago that we were to conduct this interview, to which Dave reassures me “don’t worry, we’ll be fine”. The phone rings during our conversation, he hangs up the other line ‘cause “honey…you’re more important to whoever was calling”. Right on Dave, it’s just you, me and my illicit thoughts!
Back to the music, I remind Dave of his Australian tour, for which he releases a sigh of relief “I can’t wait!”. Eighteen months ago, Megadeth reached our shores for the “Blackmail the Universe World Tour”. Dave is truly excited in being back down under. “We had a period, where a long time ago we had some problems where we couldn’t go to Australia and it seemed like forever before we returned. The last time we went, Oh my God! it was just so fantastic …Australian fans are so over the top!”
A little perplexed by his summary of Australian fans, I ask how they differ from those in the US? “You can’t generalise the Australian audience and you can’t generalise the American audience but what I will say is that the time that we went down there last (Australia), I have never had as good a time as the last time…maybe its just Megadeth’s time down there… I don’t know, it was just fantastic!” There is this appreciation and fondness for Australia that is evident in his voice when speaking of his rowdy Aussie mates, the last tour, Australian pride and the like. This is a man who isn’t just saying he likes Australia because he wants to put bums on seats at his upcoming concerts rather someone who genuinely is or may be in love with Australia. “You know I’ve come down a few times before…I’ve invited my family to come down there because the last time I was there I called home and said you’ve got to come down the next time. So my wife and daughter are gonna be coming. My son decided to stay home because he’s in high school now and he’s dating the captain of the cheerleading team. I guess old dad got kicked to the kerb!” (Laughs) To his dismay he cannot believe he “never dated a cheerleader…I’m thinking when I was in high school I don’t think I dated anyone!”.
Those days of inactivity are a far cry from being the front man of the mega successful Megadeth. Nevertheless, the road to Megadeth involved the pain of being ousted from the other great Metal act Metallica. This dark episode was tackled in Metallica’s Some Kind of Monster movie. Just for the record Dave does not feel second best to Metallica and yes that scene in the rockumentary was dramatised and taken out of context. “That was the art of ad libbing…if you look at the entire movie, I’m the only one who looks like he’s normal…that was filmed on my 40th Birthday , now I was supposed to be home with my wife and children and I’m with Lars!, now that’s enough to make anybody cry!” (Laughs)
“I thought it was a little weird that they were filming cause Lars called me, he basically said do you want to get together and I said yeah, fine!...up until the film came out I hoped that we could reconcile and that some day James, Lars and I could do something together again, but then after the movie came out I realized that it’s just not meant to be. I still respect them very much, I like Lars, I like James. I like James more than Lars, I think the whole world does!” (Jokingly).
As aforementioned, the video was shot at an inopportune time in Dave’s life and is by no means a true indication of either himself nor his beliefs. “My birthday’s September 13th , two days before that was filmed, the Towers were hit in New York, so our whole nation was freaking out, everybody was afraid …it was a really scary time for everybody…I was grounded in Canada, couldn’t fly home to see my wife and kids and to top it off I was being filmed. But you know what? It was good for me, it helped me. For years Lars said I was not in Metallica…I was not a permanent member, I was unimportant and not that good. I’m thinking that if I’m unimportant and not that good and I was only temporary than why do I have to be in your movie! So my position on this has been were you lying then or are you lying now?” Conspiracy theories aside, Dave is quick to point out that this interview is about Megadeth and not Metallica!
Getting back to the roots of Megadeth, one is intrigued as to how Dave comes up with such killer riffs. “I’ve always been really transparent …I’ll tell you what I’m thinking ‘cause it comes out through the guitar, it’s a great way for me to express myself…to share my feelings with other people, to let them know that they are not the only one whose afraid or lonely…especially nowadays for younger people its really hard to get work, fit in, there’s so much stuff”. Despite words of such conviction, Dave has not allowed these sentiments nor world and domestic affairs to engulf him. He has come to accept that the condition of the world has worsened, wishes it was not so but it was evident to him quite sometime ago. Could “Holy Wars” have been a premonition?
For those intending to see Megadeth down under, Dave is unleashing a new song and he gives it his all when on stage. “It’s really, really important to me that when I play, that I don’t leave any gas in the tank when I’m done. I want to make absolutely sure that I’ve used every ounce of energy that I have”
Catch Megadeth when they tour Australia this month as part of Gigantour
Sat 21 October – Brisbane, The Riverstage
Sun 22 October – Sydney, Hordern Pavilion
Tues 24 – October – Melbourne, Festival Hall
