Dave Mustaine Interview: Beyond Extinction

By: HP Newquist (National Guitar Museum) – December 1994

Click to Download Youthanasia from Amazon.com

“Marty Friedman is my favorite guitarist,” says Dave Mustaine. “Next to me, of course.”

Megadeth frontman Mustaine is sitting in a concrete-block warehouse in south Phoenix where the outdoor temperature is well over 100 degrees. In fact, the temperature inside is pretty close to 100 degrees as well, but Megadeth and producer Max Norman have built a little studio right in the middle of the warehouse, where they have had the good sense and forethought to add air-conditioning. This temporary studio, which is literally a building within a building, has served as the birthing room for Megadeth’s newest record Youthanasia. The reason for choosing Phoenix to record the follow-up to their platinum-selling Countdown to Extinction is that the city has become the band’s hometown, far from the strain and stress of Los Angeles. (In fact, Phoenix and its suburbs are attracting more and more noted guitarists and bands: Michael Schenker and George Lynch both call the city home, as do Alice Cooper, Rob Halford’s Fight, and local boys the Gin Blossoms.)

The choice of this particular warehouse is another matter completely. It’s in the worst part of town, where fire alarms, burglaries, and nighttime gun shots are regular occurrences. But Mustaine & Co. came here when their first choice for a hometown built studio fell through.

“L.A. was too crazy for what we wanted to do,” says lead guitarist Marty Friedman. “All the studios there were so busy; too many people in and out, lots of other bands wandering around, and too many distractions all the time. We needed some serenity, a completely different place. One by one we all started moving out to Arizona, because it’s so mellow here. We originally wanted to do the album in a house. But every time we found a perfect house and came close to signing a deal to buy, the people would find out who they were selling it to and get freaked out about it. So since we couldn’t get a house, we built a temporary studio in this warehouse. When we’re finished, all this will get torn down and Max will take it to L.A. with him.”

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Mustaine is more blunt about the band’s search for a studio. “At the house we really wanted, they said, ‘Oh, you’re coming to play music, isn’t that great?’ Then they asked, ‘Who is it? MEGADETH?!! AAAGHH!!!’ They started twitching their rosaries between their fingers, so we knew that wasn’t going to work.”

Click to Download Countown to Extinction from Amazon.com

Youthanasia is as relentlessly driving a guitar album as any that Megadeth ever has produced, but it is remarkably different from any of the band’s past efforts. The surgical precision and sterility of individual instruments has given way to a more uniform and integrated feel, where the guitars don’t fight the drums, bass, and vocals as much as they used to. The sound of Youthanasia is that of a full band working together, giving equal nod to each component of the sound, while never losing sight of the fact that guitars are its core. This is especially true considering that Mustaine’s signature growl has given way – consciously – to a much richer and melodic vocal style. Even the songs, with titles like “Train if Consequences,” “Tout Le Monde,” and “Elysian Fields,” indicate the path of a band that is loosening up.

“On the last album, we were so obsessively perfectionistic about it, down to the individual notes,” recalls Friedman. “I remember taking a whole day just to get the chorus of one song right, and then taking two more days to double it. We felt that by doing it like that it would be perfect, and I think it was, and we’re very happy with it. The only thing I can say about Countdown is that it was a little bit too clinical, too controlled. This time, I think we were more confident with ourselves and not afraid to make mistakes. So we said, ‘Let’s just do it live, with all four guys. If one guy makes a mistake, we stop and all start over.’ If it didn’t work out after three takes – wasn’t just killer – then we’d move on to another song.”

“We could have done Countdown again,” adds Mustaine. “We could have made the exact same record. You know who would have noticed? Probably nobody. They probably would have thought, ‘Oh, they’re just stuck in that rut.’ But this has been a much more fun project for us. It’s less staccato and more legato: mostly less rigid. It’s like I used to eat a bite of this and a bite of that, and now I mix it all together; all going to the same place, and all that. You hear us all at once, and there’s not so much separation. Plus, music is such a personal thing, and everybody hears the same pieces differently. So there’s no use in making it so pompous or ostentatious, because no one else is going to hear what you’re hearing anyway unless they’re part of the creative process.

“In addition, I believe there’s also a lot of fear in art, because you’re letting people peer into your soul. Knowing that, we took some chances on this record. I don’t really believe we were willing to take chances in the past. We usually tried to deal with structured formulas that we knew were payoffs. I think now that we have a certain level and caliber of success, that gives us the chutzpah to go for it, to throw caution to the wind.”

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Both guitarists describe the new album as the result of knowing each other better, feeling more comfortable with the writing process, and sharing guitar parts. Friedman especially has settled into his role as lead axe for Megadeth. “We spent a lot of time structuring each song as a band, not just concentrating on our own parts. That mentality got rid of a lot of inhibitions,” he notes. “A lot of that had to do with our getting to know each other better, getting along with each other better, and supporting each other. It wasn’t like each guy was looking out for just his own part and then not worrying about how someone else played. This time we even brought in a harmonica [for "Elysian Fields"], and if someone had done that last time, he probably would have been thrown out.”

Part of this newfound musical harmony and comfort is due to the fact that Megadeth has had more than its share of guitarists, going through axemen in much the same way that Spinal Tap went through drummers. Mustaine always has been the group’s guitar centerpiece, yet he has never been its lead guitarist. “When the music is great, you need to have a guitarist who is just as great,” he claims. “I’m not as good a soloist as the music deserves. I may play solos or fills in a few spots, but Marty is so much more appropriate for the solo position.

“I’ve learned different things from the different guitarists we’ve had in the band – not that my playing has gotten any better for it!” Mustaine laughs. “For instance, Jeff Young [who played in So Far, So Good...So What!] was a unique individual in that he was very much into his instrument and was a very, very good guitarist. It was good move for us to have him in the band at the time because it introduced us to a whole different mentality of having a guitar player who was a soloist. If we had to do it all over again, I still would have Jeff in the band to help us get to the point where we had Marty. I’m grateful to Jeff for helping us recognize that we needed a guitar hero to help the music come alive.”

Click to Download Rust in Peace from Amazon.com

He continues: “No, when I was playing with James [Hetfield] in Metallica, that was totally different, because we have a real similar approach to rhythm writing and playing. I don’t know if I’ve ever run into anyone else since James who writes rhythms like I do. Not necessarily the same kind of rhythms, but the same approach to rhythm styles: chugging out on the bottom string, palm muting over the bridge, two-finger chords, one-finger barre chords, pedaling on one string, hammer-ons and pull-offs, that kind of stuff. A lot of people have emulated what we started in Metallica, but now it’s more fun to play with Marty because I can write a riff and Marty can harmonize with it. Sometimes, though, I’ll be doing a rhythm part and Marty instinctively harmonize with it, and I’ll have to give him the evil eye to get him to back to rhythm.

“But it pays off,” Mustaine concludes, “because now I have somebody who can embellish what I’m writing instead of just mimicking what I’m playing.”

Friedman is very nonchalant and low-key about the recognition that his guitar playing gets him and the resultant “guitar hero” status. “The misconception about me – and it is a big misconception – is that I know technical stuff about scales and modes. I don’t. When I joined Megadeth, all the guys said the same thing: ‘He’s from that Varney/Shrapnel technical school. That’s great! Hey, why don’t you transcribe the Rust in Peace album for the music book?’ But they found out right away that I couldn’t read or even write music. To this day people like Max Norman say, ‘You’ve got a scale for everything!’ But I don’t know scales! I’ve always been an ear player. One thing I have a good knowledge of is note choice, and where notes fit in the framework of chords, and [intervals] such as 3rds and 4ths and 5ths. I’m good at that, but it’s so natural that it seems like I have good theoretical knowledge. It’s not a technical thing at all.”

He elaborates on his lack of formal guitar education. “By the time I understood guitar, I didn’t really feel like I had to go back and learn the actual theory. I think the most important thing is what you’re playing against and what you’re playing over, and knowing it well. I don’t want to take up my brain space with that technical knowledge, because it takes away from any technique that I might have. Besides, I don’t like being lumped in with those guys who play really fast all the time. My playing isn’t really all that fast – it’s almost an illusion. It has more to do with the rhythm. Occasionally, I’ll let the floodgates open and just burn, but not very much. What I take pride in is note choice and being able to add meaning to the song. A lot of people think that’s fast, but it’s an illusion. And I’m more impressed with the illusion because I don’t like listening to 64th notes. If you play right in the pocket at a climactic point, a single triple at the end of a measure can sound like it’s blazing right by.

“I’m schooled only in the way that everything I wanted to learn I sat down and learned,” Friedman continues, “no matter if it was a guitar or a banjo, a flute, a violin, a sitar, or a Chinese instrument. It’s not from book schooling, it’s from learning the things that intrigued me and figuring out what made it work, both the chords and the melody. Things like, if you hold this note and come in a little bit late, that gives it more emphasis, or pausing at just the right time, or staggering and even rushing at certain times.

Click to Download So Far, So Good....So What? From Amazon.com

“When I was younger I did learn all the fast stuff, just so I could do it, and I still have the ability to do it even though I find it less and less useful. Instead of all those technical guys, I always had more admiration for those guitar players who did something cool album after album, not like the guys who just come out with one or two great albums and then deteriorate. I always hoped not to be one of those guys where people thought one album was great but weren’t sure how I was going to sound on the next one; like ‘How’s he going to top that solo or riff?’ I’ve always had a lot of respect for guys like Brian May and Uli Roth whose solo playing always has something in it each time that it didn’t have before. They play like they still care enough about their guitar playing to show both emotion and improvement; something personal each time out. There’s a lot of great guitar players you hear on their debut albums and they’ve got these great licks you can listen to for days, but on their next album you say, ‘I’ve already heard that lick or this riff.’ I don’t want to be like that.”

Friedman’s innate ability to immediately add the right guitar touch to Megadeth’s sound is in near-perfect complement to Mustaine’s ability to immediately write the guitar songs he hears in his head. In fact, Dave is unabashed about his own guitar abilities. “I can do something with the guitar that I don’t think anybody else I’ve met can do,” he says, “which is just pick it up and write an opus. A lot of people pick it up and get pissed because they sit down with pen and paper and still can’t come up with anything. But I’ll be in traffic and get cut off and then – boom!- it all comes out. That’s exactly what happened to me when we started this album. I was sitting in traffic and ‘Train of Consequences’ came out by the time I got to the studio. I think for me it’s an incredible gift and I enjoy it. And my feeling is that people who can’t handle musical stardom – not to mention any names – forget that being able to do this is really a gift.”

For his part, Friedman will continue to develop his own solo efforts, something he has been known for since his days with Shrapnel and his pairings with Jason Becker. He has his own new album due out soon (follow-up to last year’s Scenes), one that emphasizes orchestration over guitar wizardry. “More than being just another acoustic style album, this has more instrumentation and orchestration with real violins and piccolos,” says Friedman. “I try to play those instruments myself or try to play them on guitar, which I normally would have done. This time I got actual musicians to play the actual instruments. Instead of writing violin parts for guitar, I wrote violin parts for violin.” Why the switch? “I’m not really a guitar fan, per se,” he explains. “It’s the instrument that I play, because I’m able to play it. I wish I could play violin or some foreign, exotic instrument like the koto. But since I’m a guitar player, I try to do on the guitar what [those musicians do on their instruments].

“Mostly I listen to a lot of soundtracks, especially Kitaro’s Heaven and Earth. That is absolutely jaw-dropping.”

Youthanasia isn’t like any soundtrack, but most likely you’ll figure that out for yourself. Instead, it’s a bludgeoning tour through a more confident Megadeth (as if they needed any more confidence!), so in that way it’s bigger than what the band’s done before: more guitars, more melodies, even more interesting.

One last question for Mustaine, one that relates more to his mouth than to his fingers: What is the reason why the guitars have managed to keep screaming away in overdrive while Mustaine’s over-the-top voice has gone in a new, less screaming direction? “I think I got tired of listening to songs and thinking that I could have sung them better. I held back a lot, even though I had some great vocal teachers. Part of it is that you can’t be very melodic when you’re singing about politics, death, and war, like this…”

He ends by crooning the words “Killing is my business” in a deadpan Tony Bennett imitation. And while Mustaine has no problem imitating lounge-lizard vocals, it’s a damn shame that more lounge guitarists can’t imitate Megadeth’s guitar players. A few guys with turquoise tuxes and mai-tais playing Megadeth’s new “Reckoning Day” for blue-hair on vacation? It just might work. And after losing that house in Phoenix, it probably would make Mustaine’s day.

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About HP Newquist: HP Newquist is the founder of The National Guitar Museum, the first museum dedicated to the evolution and cultural impact of the guitar. He has authored books that have explored a wide range of subjects and include: Legends of Rock Guitar (with Peter Prown); The Way They Play series (including Blues Masters, Hard Rock Masters, Metal Masters, Acoustic Masters), with Rich Maloof and the award winning The Great Brain Book: An Inside Look At The Inside Of Your Head. Newquist is the past Editor-in-Chief of Guitar Magazine. He wrote Going Home, a Disney Channel documentary featuring Robbie Robertson, as well as directed the film documentary, John Denver – A Portrait.

Note: This interview is reprinted from an article by HP Newquist, originally published in GUITAR Magazine (December 1994). It appears here courtesy of Newquist and The National GUITAR Museum.