The supegroup tag may be worn a little thin these days but when you have a group like Metal Allegiance that features the likes of Dave Ellefson (Megadeth), Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater, The Winery Dogs, Sons Of Apollo) , Alex Skolnick (Testament) and Mark Menghi, it’s hard not to think otherwise. Metal Allegiance releases their second album “Volume II – Power Drunk Majesty” on September 7th through Nuclear Blast and like the first one, features a dazzling lineup of guests including Trevor Strnad (The Black Dahlia Murder), John Bush (Armored Saint), Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth (Overkill), Mark Tornillo (Accept), Max Cavalera (Soulfly), Floor Jansen (Nightwish), Johan Hegg (Amon Amarth) and more as well as the return of Mark Oseguesda (Death Angel) and Troy Sanders (Mastodon). We talk to Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson to discuss the new album but not before we talk about his other current projects and going back to the early days of his career.
Andrew: So hows things with you? I guess you must be excited for this release of the new Metal Allegiance album which is exciting stuff!
Dave: I am! In fact I just opened up a new Revolver Magazine and saw a nice, big full page ad [laughs]. So how are things over there with you? Good?
Andrew: Yeah it’s all good as usual over here, I think the last time we spoke you were over here for the Spoken Word shows so how did that end up going for you?
Dave: Oh yeah, it was great! In fact it’s funny you’d say that because out of that I had launched my basstory tour that I’m going to be doing here in the US as well as a couple of weeks in Europe and it’s kind of moving along well. That all started when I did that Spoken Word tour down with you guys in Australia so I’m combining a sort of masterclass, spoken word, story teller concert all together in one! But it all started in there which is super cool.
Andrew: Obviously it must have been a great success since you have continued on which is good stuff, it’s something different rather than doing the stock standard live shows so you get to share some of the stories that you’ve built up. It’s funny because I just spoke to Scott Ian a couple of days ago about his own spoke word show as well so it seems like people really want to hear some of the stories that you guys have been holding onto for the last 20-30 years.
Dave: It is cool, in fact I am writing another autobiography called “More Life With Deth” and it’s funny because Scott Ian and I are probably on very similar paths kind of walking side by side with some of the things that we do away from our bands. It’s funny that book is very much the same thing, I’ve really gone back and told stories of the very earliest days that were never told and that this whole 35 years of Megadeth campaign that we’re doing inspired me to go back and revisit them. Obviously Gar Samuelson is no longer with us, Chris Poland is a dear friend, Nick Menza has passed away on stage while playing in Chris’ band so there’s all this synergy, all this different waves and lines and stories that connect and so with “My Life With Deth” – and it’s not all Megadeth stuff at all, there’s Combat Records and my coffee company and a lot of other things in my life – but it inspired me to go back and tell a period of my life and in the bands life that would be pre-MTV, pre-major label and all that stuff. By the time “Rust In Piece” came out and I know it’s a fan favorite period of the band but the truth of it is a lot of that stuff has already been told, that story has been told, you know, by then we were on a major label, we were getting tons of MTV, we were getting major press so a lot of that history is already known to people and I kind of go back to periods of time of the band and in my life that hasn’t been told yet.
Andrew: Maybe this is a strange question to ask I guess but do you have a particular favorite time in your life that you sort of envy and, not wish that you went back to that time but wish things were similar to that period in your life?
Dave: Fortunately we as humans are wired to forget pain [laughs] and to remember the good times more than the bad, I think somehow the Good Lord sort of wired that default setting in us at the factory! But with that being said, I have fond memories of different periods of the early days, they were not always a lot of fun because we were so poor and I did not grow up poor so to just immediately leave the nest of my home and jump right into the vagabond musician lifestyle of Hollywood, California was a challenge but I did it because I knew that’s the only way to get to the top, is you have to start at the bottom. So I did it and that’s why you and me are having this conversation today is because I paid those dues and made those sacrifices 35 years ago in my life. Yet at the same time, probably some of my most fond memories in Megadeth were probably in 1992 to 1994, 1996, 1998, somewhere in the 90’s. We weren’t so poor anymore so it kind of at least alleviated some of that financial desperation yet keeping the band on track, that very precarious ledge we walked. Kind of a razor’s edge if you will at all times and it’s probably what kept things exciting, both in the music as well as the fans interest in the band. Then moving past that there’s a period when I wasn’t in Megadeth, 2002 the band ended, it was gone, it was over and talk about a freak out! At that point my whole life, my identity, my income, who people knew me as was as the guy in Megadeth and when that ended, I’m not going to lie, I freaked out like, ‘Woah what the hell!’ Yet fortunately I was sober, I had a sober lifestyle, I had friends, I had a sort of design for living that I knew I could rely on that would get through that.
It was interesting because in that period from 2002 until 2010 was a period of my life that really taught me how to grow up, and I was in my mid-30’s so I mean growing up like learning how to be a man on my own two feet away from the reliance of the cocoon of being in a big rock band with managers and accountants and handlers and all the people that sort of buffer you from the realities of life! I went to college, I took a consulting position with Peavey Electronics, I really got networked into the music business on a much bigger level than just being the bass player. I started to perform with other groups, I put records and bands together myself and I really thoroughly enjoyed it. I mean that was probably some of my most fun years as an adult and in fact just today, I had the same thought that I’m so thankful that my life is about being so much more than just being a bass player because I’ve seen people that have been in groups for long periods of time and I feel bad for them because it’s almost like success can almost be like golden handcuffs. As much as it comforts and the adoration and the fan worry and all that is fun, it can also limit how you are able to really evolve and grow as a human and I found that sometimes the more difficult periods of my life have actually helped me grow the most, more than when the wind was falling my way.
Volume II – Power Drunk Majesty review here
Andrew: Sure I guess there’s always the positives that come out of the negatives and a great thing to learn from. Now fast forward many years later and here we are with the second Metal Allegiance album. I had a preview of the album the other day and I loved it, I think it’s probably better than the first one. How do you feel about the new songs?
Dave: As I’m doing the interviews, people are saying the same thing, they really love the album. I think by and large this is a perfect example of what I was just talking about, that period of 2002 to 2010 where I learned how to just start saying yes to things and jumping in and being a part of it and not having to know what the final outcome is going to be but just doing it for the love of the music. Doing it out of friendship, doing it for just being in love with playing music and I think that’s the spirit that you hear in both Metal Allegiance albums. I think this one has in some ways surpassed the first one for no other reason than the first one started with the right spirit and now we just have a little bit more experience together and learn how to do that same thing just a little bit better.
Andrew: Sure and I guess part of that is the fact that, like the first one you have a lot of guests on here but you’ve kind of scaled it a little bit back this time and focused more on the core members of the band. Was that something that you really wanted to consciously do this time around or was it something that came around naturally?
Dave: It always happens naturally because as we write the song, we sort of sit in a room together and go, ‘You know who would be awesome to sing on this song is’ – fill in the blank – or, ‘Hey wouldn’t it be great to solo on this song, we should call up our buddy’ – whoever – and have them get involved. So it’s almost like the songs call out to the performers and that’s of course the core 4 of us, me, Mark [Menghi], [Mike] Portnoy and [Alex] Skolnick being the principles of the band, essentially being the band and then reaching out to our guests. And with that said, when we went into this one we realized the last one was a very ambitious undertaking, we got a ton of guests which was so much fun because first of all, they are all of our friends and so we call everybody to arrange their participation and everything which is also part of the fun. But we also realized that we wanted to dip into more of the European and kind of international music community and I felt like the last one was kind of we were sort of a US based band, I feel on this one we’re more of an international band and I think our guests reflect that. I also felt that it was important to get younger people as well, that as much as we have our heroes ahead of us, we have our contemporaries next to us, it’s also important to reach into the younger pool of heavy metal influences and to bring them in to be part of this and I think Johan [Hegg] from Amon Amarth, Troy Sanders from Mastodon, Floor [Jansen] from Nightwish, even Max Cavalera who is kind of a half generation behind me and the Big 4 if you will, they kind of came a half generation beind us. So I think we’ve got a good representation of people that really represent the genre from an age group, stylistically and also internationally.
Andrew: Yeah it’s funny you mention the international flavours of the guests because there’s also some different musical choices on here as well. Trevor [Strnd] from The Black Dahlia Murder is not necessarily one I would normally think of when I think of Mike Portnoy or Dave Ellefson because Black Dahlia Murder is a different sort of beast of a kind of music. But then you counteract that with someone like John Bush from Armored Saint who obviously fits in with what you guys were doing back in the 80’s and so on so it seems like you have that nice balance between the old and the new so to speak on this record.
Dave: I think so, I really do. And yeah, Trevor, exactly, another perfect example. Young, edgy, a new sound. I mean even the core 4 are four very different people. Obviously I’m known as one of the thrash metal titans of our bands, Alex Skolnick is known not only as a thrash shredder but also as a jazz aficionado, Mike Portnoy of course being a sort of poster boy for prog drumming of our generation and Mark Menghi of course being somewhat unknown on the first record, made a real presence known with a Sabbath and Pantera swagger that he brought in. I gotta give big props to Mark, he really stepped up this last 2 years since the first record as a bass player. He took pointers and cues from everybody from Geezer to Billy Sheehan and friends like that who he is buddies with, he called them and said, ‘Hey how do I play faster? How do I play this or do that?’ He put the time in to practice whereas on the first record I was kind of coaching him how to play, how to record and literally I was sitting there with him kind of working with him almost as a producer. On this record he not only brought in very strong musical ideas, he recorded stuff all by himself. He and Alex Skolnick worked really hard on the record and it was actually my suggestion that they take the producer credit. Mike is on tour, I’m out here in Arizona so I’m physically removed from where Mark and Alex worked on most of their stuff which is back in the New York area and they really put a lot of time in. I remember we had this discussion at the end of the first record like who’s the producer and I felt it right to throw a lot of that on Alex Skolnick and on this one I think Mark was right there with him so Mark has really earned his stripes as a writer, as a performer, as someone who really has a vision for the band and so I think he’s deserving of the credit that he got as a producer and certainly as a bass player on this record.
Andrew: Absolutely and as I said, it sounds fantastic from what I’ve heard so far so I think the fans will really dig this one when it comes out. Before I let you go I do want to ask as people have been asking what the deal is with Megadeth at the moment, I hear that you guys have been working on new material for a possible new album next year?
Dave: Yep we have, we’ve been working on it really since early in the year. We’ve just been compiling and putting things together, working on arranging and getting it together so yeah, the process is underway. We only had 6 or 7 weeks of touring this year, other than that we’re hard and fast into working on a new album.
Andrew: Fantastic, looks like there’s a lot of stuff happening in your world! I wish you a lot of success for the new Metal Allegiance album, as I said it sounds like fantastic stuff and I know that you guys were supposed to come down here to Australia a couple of years ago but hopefully at some stage we will get to see that happen.
Dave: Yes absolutely, very much looking forward to it. Thanks for the chat today Andrew, I appreciate it!
METAL ALLEGIANCE – VOLUME II: POWER DRUNK MAJESTY
1. The Accuser (feat. Trevor Strnad)
2. Bound by Silence (feat. John Bush)
3. Mother of Sin (feat. Bobby Blitz)
4. Terminal Illusion (feat. Mark Tornillo)
5. King with a Paper Crown (feat. Johan Hegg)
6. Voodoo of the Godsend (feat. Max Cavalera)
7. Liars & Thieves (feat. Troy Sanders)
8. Impulse Control (feat. Mark Osegueda)
9. Power Drunk Majesty (Part I) (feat. Mark Osegueda)
10. Power Drunk Majesty (Part II) (feat. Floor Jansen)
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