On lineup changes in MEGADETH:

Mustaine: “It would be predictable to say this is the best line up. If you go down the list, it was great to play with James Lomenzo and James MacDonough to remember how good I had it and to see different playing styles.

“They were both really good players but Dave [Ellefson] is the right bass player for MEGADETH. Shawn [Drover, drums] has been in MEGADETH longer than Nick Menza was and I think on this new record he’s played better than he ever has in his life.

“It sounds like he’s a certain metal drummer with a lot of Dave from the FOO FIGHTERS. He was pretty flattered. I didn’t want to say, ‘Hey, you sound like Dave Grohl‘ and he be like, ‘I hate alternative!’ You never know with drummers, they’re unpredictable creatures.

“Then you’ve got Chris Broderick. We had other guitar player come in after Chris Poland and there always was resistance in that shotgun position. They had to play other people’s guitar solos and a lot of the time they would complain and want to improvise it. There is no improvising in MEGADETH. These fans love these guitar parts.

“What would you think if someone went up to do ‘Comfortably Numb’ and did ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’? I remember when Ozzy had come out after Randy Rhoads died. A couple of guys filled in for him and they were good players but they wouldn’t play Randy’s solos and I thought, ‘Shame on you, guys. You can do these solos, respect his legend by learning his stuff.’ Chris plays all the solos note for note.”

On MEGADETH‘s new album, “Super Collider”:

Mustaine: “We have a two-album thing that we do with people. We try to keep things fresh. Sometimes when you have an artistic relationship, it can be chemical in nature and it can become predictable and lose its artistic merit.

“Some people don’t want music, they want me to record ‘Black Friday’ 12 times on a record for the rest of my life. I get it, that’s a ferocious song, but there’s some great stuff on ['Super Collider'], like ‘Built For War’. I love that. I don’t know how I’m going to sing it live, but I love it!”

On writing process for “Super Collider”:

Mustaine: “When I write, I’ll try to figure out how to capture it. Sometimes it’ll be my phone or a recording device. I’ll transfer it to somewhere until I can sit back and listen to it again.

“Part of the first process is locating everything. I’ll be laying in bed and call my voicemail and I’ll go, ‘na na na, na na na, na na,’ with my hand over the phone so I don’t wake my wife up. Several times she’d wake up and say, ‘Who are you calling?!’ So locating the riffs is first and then playing them and translating them to guitar. Then it’s piecing it together. It’s pretty fun.

“Lyrics are usually the last thing that gets done. I’m a stickler for lyrics. I don’t want to sound arrogant, but guitar is fun for me, so it comes natural. The lyric part is where I challenge myself because there’s a lot of people that respect how I write.”

Read the entire interview from MusicRadar.com.

RushOnRock.com: Do you regret some of your past outbursts?

Mustaine: Sometimes when you make comments, they don’t sit well with certain people. But it’s my character that matters. Everybody who ever meets me says my reputation precedes me and how they thought this or that about me. But I prove them wrong. And that makes me happy. But I suppose the one thing that makes me really happy right now — the coolest thing about being in MEGADETH — is that I’ve got Dave Ellefson [bass] and Shawn Drover [drums] alongside me and they’re like family these days. Shawn‘s been in the band for nearly a decade now… That’s some stint for a MEGADETH drummer!

RushOnRock.com: When it wasn’t so much fun being a member of MEGADETH, did you ever think “that’s it.” Surely being in a band is all about having fun…

Mustaine: I don’t want to sound like a bleeding heart. I’m blessed to be in a band and to be in a position where I can make people happy. That’s the coolest thing in the world. But it takes a lot of work being a public figure. You have to be careful about what you say. There was a time when I’d just had neck surgery and I was on the kind of medication that makes you bold. You only think about what you said after you’ve said it. A lot of people think I hate the current president of the United States because of a comment I made. But I don’t hate him — I just don’t agree with him on some points. It’s no big deal. There will be another president after he’s gone and I’ll still be here making music.

RushOnRock.com: Do you worry that a happier Dave Mustaine could dilute the power of MEGADETH‘s music?

Mustaine: Don’t get me wrong — I’m not happy. I’m just happier! I still get pissed off about stuff. There’s still stuff that makes me mad. During the recording of the last record and the recording of “TH1RT3EN”, I watched a lot of news. I can’t really watch so-called television very much these days. “Normal” TV shows really insult my intelligence. Watching the news all the time is bleak, so it clearly affects your outlook and obviously inspires the songwriting process.

RushOnRock.com: “Super Collider” is packed full of future classics. Will they make it onto the current setlist?

Mustaine: We’re really looking forward to going out on the road with the new stuff, because that’s who we are. We’ve got a bunch of new songs that we feel are more than good enough to play live alongside the other material. For me, playing the new material will be my favorite part of the show. We’re including four songs from “Super Collider” in the set — the first four, in sequence. I really wanted to do “Built For War” live; it’s really aggressive and is a good, old-school mosh song.

Red the entire interview from RushOnRock.com.

Metal Hammer: Is there a tiny part of you that enjoys provocation?

Mustaine: No, I don’t say things to get a reaction. The stuff that I write about is important to me. Some of the subjects on “Peace Sells…” are still relevant, particularly environmental issues. And the personal stuff is relevant. I’ve written songs about loss and pain — everyone goes through that so, no, I’m not being provocative. We actually have fun songs too. If you’re pissed off, the title track on “Super Collider” or “Symphony Of Destruction” might make you feel better.

Metal Hammer: Your mischievous sense of humour and interview rhetoric seems like it has always bordered on the self-destructive?

Mustaine: Yeah, and it doesn’t translate well, does it? Probably the biggest thing that has harmed my career is being misunderstood, but is it better to be understood or to understand? I understand much more now, so I’m less inclined to be preaching or complaining about being misquoted now. There are people who love me and people who don’t, but everyone’s entitled. I have love in my heart for both. I don’t get mad about the people who dislike me. You can get obsessed with that. Someone doesn’t like me? Tough shit for me!

Metal Hammer: You seem fairly approachable today.

Mustaine: I am approachable! But I have a terrible reputation. There was a guy who used to manage me, and when we had a falling out, I think he started rumours about me being difficult. But we became friends again, and reconciled. And that was all part of a process of reconciliation, including with METALLICA and [MEGADETH bassist David] Ellefson, too. And do you know what? When that happened, my injured arm and injured thumb started working again. Crazy, huh?

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