DAVE MUSTAINE: 'A Lot Of People Think I Hate The Current President Of The United States'

RushOnRock.com editor Simon Rushworth recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

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.