Former MEGADETH Bassist Explores New Avenues

In the ten months that have passed since MEGADETH announced their decision to disband, bassist David Ellefson has kept a relatively high — albeit primarily behind-the-scenes — profile, involving himself with a production company and committing himself to several recording projects that have yet to see the light of day.

Ellefson's busy schedule and the countless unconfirmed reports of David's involvement with various musicians were reason enough for us to recently contact the bassist with a view towards conducting a short interview regarding his post-MEGADETH activities. David, ever the gentleman, initially agreed to answer our questions via e-mail, but changed his mind upon seeing the list of topics raised by BLABBERMOUTH.NET, which included questions about his previously announced project with fellow ex-MEGADETH members Marty Friedman, Jimmy DeGrasso and Al Pitrelli, his rumored involvement with the new band formed by ex-ANTHRAX guitarist Dan Spitz and IRON MAIDEN drummer Nicko McBrain, and the possibility of a MEGADETH reunion in the not-too-distant future.

Citing his inability to answer many of our questions "at this time," Ellefson provided us with the following general statement regarding his recent and upcoming activities:

"When MEGADETH ended early last year I jumped into action immediately as I didn't want to sit around and rest on my laurels. However, I didn't want to rush into announcing every new project publicly as I knew it would be a fair amount of time before most of them would actually materialize properly. Keep in mind I was in MEGADETH for almost 20 years and it's going to take time to put the pieces together for the next phase of my career.

"The first thing I needed was a home base to communicate with you all so I registered www.davidellefson.com. This is my official site that I monitor and the information on that site is confirmed activity.

"Ellefson Music Production was of the highest priority for me this last year. Some great artists came my way from all around the world, so much so that I had to stop taking submissions for a few months so I could make time to work with them. Writing, producing and management have been full time activities for me and something I really needed to do as a way to regroup my thoughts, refocus my creative energies and take the necessary time to redirect my life after being in a band for so many years.

"In addition, I've been asked to be part of many other projects this past year in the way of recording, touring, writing as well as joining bands. In other words I've had many irons in the fire over the last several months.

"I'm enjoying exploring many new avenues that are open to me and there's no telling where some of them may lead. Thanks for your interest and support in my endeavors and hopefully I'll be seeing you soon."