LifeMinute recently sat down with Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine, his wife Pamela, and their daughter Electra during a visit to their home, for an exclusive look into their unique wine brand, House of Mustaine. The family graciously offered a glimpse into their life and shared insights into the wine business, and, of course, Mustaine discussed some of his thoughts on the evolving world of metal.
When asked about what music does for people, Mustaine reflected on the power of music and its various effects, mentioning a popular saying: "It depends. If you believe all of the colloquies about music, there's all kinds of sayings and stuff. The one that comes to mind first with your question is music soothes the savage beast. And I don't know who coined that phrase, but it's pretty accurate, depending on the type of music. Now, if you play modern metal with the guys that can't sing and they do the screaming bit, that's really understandable to me, 'cause they can't sing and they're making the best of what they can do."
He then continued to share his opinion on the evolution of metal over the years, particularly the "nu metal" era. "There was a period in 2000 where we had these bands called – I think it was 'nu metal', and they didn't do any solos. Well, why didn't they do any solos? They couldn't do solos. And thank God that genre went away. People started to learn how to do solos. I would say, if you're in a 'nu metal' band, you probably would be challenged even playing ‘Johnny B. Goode’[1958 rock and roll classic by Chuck Berry]. So I'm glad that went away."
The conversation shifted to whether Mustaine has found any newer bands that stand out to him. He acknowledged his preference for older music, explaining: "Well, I like some of the older music because new stuff — I mean, all the good chords are taken. And if you think back when I started 40 years ago, the music playing field didn't have millions of kids sitting at home doing guitar riffs into their computer and then posting it online. There's good and bad with everything, and when people do things for their own art, that's great. But when you start seeing these manufactured records that bandmembers didn't play on, that's fraud. So, I like bands that really play what they do."
As the discussion delved into guitarists he admires, Mustaine shared his respect for Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, one of his all-time favorites. "One of my favorite guitar players is one of the simplest guys in the world — it's the guy from Pink Floyd, David Gilmour," Mustaine said. "He could do more with one note than some of the guys playing nowadays can do with 12. And it's just a matter of feeling — feeling. The guitar, you're touching it, so it's an extension of your spirit, your soul, and how you make it sound. If it's like [makes farting noise], that kind of stuff, well, you probably haven't bonded with the instrument yet."
Wrapping up his thoughts on music, Mustaine humorously compared the sounds of early musical training to instruments like the violin or wind instruments. "Playing a violin — violin has gotta be one of the most dreadful sounds ever when you're learning it, because the sound of it and rosin the bow and all that stuff is almost as bad as having someone practice on a wind instrument, like a sax or a clarinet."
Anyway, Megadeth is about to support Disturbed playing their very nü-metal album The Sickness this September and October. Get your tickets here.
9/28 Copenhagen, Denmark Royal Arena
10/1 Dusseldorf, Germany PSD Bank Dome
10/3 Stuttgart, Germany Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
10/4 Zurich, Switzerland Hallenstadion
10/6 Budapest, Hungary Arena
10/7 Prague, Czech Republic O2 Arena
10/10 Krakow, Poland Tauron Arena
10/12 Paris, France Zenith
10/14 Amsterdam, Netherlands Ziggo Dome
10/15 Brussels, Belgium Forest National Arena
10/17 Munich, Germany Olympiahalle
10/18 Berlin, Germany Velodrome
10/20 Birmingham, UK Utilita Arena
10/22 Dublin, Ireland 3Arena
10/24 Manchester, UK AO Arena
10/26 London, UK The O2
10/28 Glasgow, UK OVO Hydro
