MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine spoke with Steve Appleford from LA Weekly this week about a number of topics including tomorrow's (April 23rd) Big Four show at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA and finally getting over METALLICA. Here are a few excerpts from the chat:
LA Weekly: Leaving Metallica and then becoming a platinum-selling artist on your own was a huge accomplishment, but your acrimony with that band seemed to go on for years.
Mustaine: "It was a pretty big mountain to climb. The thing was, I wasn't really looking at what was right in front of me. I was looking down the road at my pals that had left me behind because the different chemical reaction that alcohol had on us. When we drank, those guys would get happy and I would get angry. I grew up fighting. My whole life I was living on the streets, scratching and clawing. I'm almost 50, and when I think back . . . David Ellefson and I had an asinine agreement: We were panhandling in Hollywood, and if we didn't make it, we were going to handcuff ourselves to a light pole and pull a hand-grenade pin and go out in a bang. Obviously we were stupid and probably stoned at the time."
LA Weekly: You've said that performing 'Am I Evil?' with all those guys in Bulgaria last year was an important moment for you.
Mustaine: "Well, I think it was important for everybody. It was almost like a cosmic polarity thing that happened between two opposing forces. Me and James (Hetfield) were the guys that people used to always put against each other. For us to be onstage finally playing . . . The sad thing was, when they put a face to the feud, it was me against James. So when it was over, I remember hearing the audience when I hugged James and how loud they were - it was like a global sigh, like the world going, 'Uhh, finally.'"
LA Weekly: Tom Araya of Slayer told me he would actually be interested in doing 'The Four Horsemen' (an early Metallica song originally written by Mustaine). He said it was more representative of what you guys were all about.
Mustaine: "Wow. On tour I've gotten to know Tom and I really like that guy. He's a really interesting and cool guy. Today I just walked in [to Slayer's dressing room] and said I heard from (ailing Slayer guitarist) Jeff Hanneman - because I texted Jeff and told him I've been praying for him about his arm and asking if he wants to talk to me. I said to Jeff, "Look, I want you to remember I had an arm injury that almost ended my career. And I know what it feels like to not be able to play."
SLAYER guitarist Kerry King spoke with Steve Appleford from LA Weekly about a number of topics including tomorrow's (April 23rd) Big Four show at at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA and the status of guitarist Jeff Hanneman. Here are a few excerpts from the chat:
LA Weekly: That's a gigantic venue to fill in Indio. How are these four metal bands (METALLICA, Slayer, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX) able to fill it?
King: "Metallica is pretty huge on their own. The historic-ness of it - four of the biggest metal bands to come out of the US getting together. The media named us the Big 4 so long ago, it's been every fan's pipe dream."
LA Weekly: What is the latest news with [guitarist] Jeff Hanneman?
King: "He's trying his ass off. He's been talking about playing that show, but I just don't see how physically he'd be able to do that. I'm just being realistic. He came to the last rehearsal and surprised everybody. I was blown away that he was even out of the house. That was after his first or second skin graft to fix the huge opening he had. He was totally out of gas because he hadn't left the house much. He was cold because his immune system was all fucked up. We haven't talked since then. I get updates through management. He's doing whatever the doctors tell him to do."
LA Weekly: Outside the Long Beach last time, there were a couple Christian protesters. Do you still get a lot of that?
King: "I think it was bigger before. Now I think people are more tolerant of different people's views and opinions. The funny thing about protesters is, you never see atheists or Satanists protest anything. They're comfortable in their beliefs. It's only Christians that are so uncomfortable with how they feel, they're not happy unless everyone believes what they believe."
Exodus guitairst Gary Holt will fill in for Jeff Hanneman during Slayer's set in Indio, CA for the Big 4 show.
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