Artist: Dave Ellefson  

Date:   24 February 2010

In between studio sessions we catch up with bass player Dave Ellefson to find out more about the band Angels Of Babylon and how it feels to return to the Megadeth fold.

MM - Thanks for taking time out to do the interview today, I know you’re extremely busy at the moment. 
Dave - Yes I’ve got about fifteen minutes before I head back to the studio. 

MM - Firstly Angels Of Babylon, how did you get involved with the band in the first place?
Dave - We met in a studio in Phoenix, almost over two years ago, and Rhino, me and the singer Dave Fefolt got really well together, and Rhino said ... “I’ve got a bunch of songs I’ve been writing and they're coming along really good, maybe we should think about starting something new together, a new endeavour” ... so that was the original meeting of it. 

From there Rhino started sending some songs to Dave to put some vocals and some melodies on them and it continued to develop from there.  It was really a cool process that really became a lot of fun, quite honestly. 

MM - So did you have any input into what actually went into the songs?  Dave - Not really.  You know talking to Rhino I sensed that with him being in Manowar he was just a member of the group and didn’t really have a lot of creative input into the band, so I really sensed he wanted to start something of his own and step out on his own for a change. And I understood because I had gone through that same transition myself in recent years.  So I championed it with him.  I said this would be a great thing for you.  So I was just a supporting role and to be the bass player for him and let his songs unfold, and what Dave was putting down was great.

MM - Yeh it's an all out metal album but there are a huge amount of different sounds in there.  There’s some Symphonic elements, a little Power Metal, but in essence it's a real metal album . 
Dave - Yes absolutely.  I just really enjoyed it, but I just enjoyed being part of it, instead of being the guy that steered the ship.  For me this was just being a supporting role for Rhino. 

MM - Now that you’ve rejoined Megadeth how does this affect Angels Of Babylon?
Dave - Angels was a record that came out.  These albums are very hard to tour on unless you’ve got some really big push from a label to do it.  I think we thought we'd look, we put the record out and we think it’s a good record.  The response to it seems to be really really strong. 

As far a going out an doing the huge mammoth tour, those things are very hard to do without having the huge label support.  So I thought there wasn’t any big mounting tour in front of us that I wasn’t going to be not going to be able to participate in.  So my attitude was ... rejoining Megadeth puts a lot of work in front of me for the next few months.  I thought if anything, all the projects and bands that I’ve been involved with will get those Megadeth fans who don’t know what I’ve been involved with and give those things an eye over that they perhaps wouldn't have done so before. 

MM - Obviously Megadeth has been the big issue lately, so what was the turning point for you to rejoin Megadeth?
  Dave - Well when I got the notification from Shaun Drover that this change was going down, certainly he was really excited about it, as were a lot of other people in the camp ... “Oh my gosh is this could happen!” ... where Dave and Dave could talk and come to terms and an agreement and we could really make this a reality.  I think everybody was secretly high-fiving inside you know! (laughs) 

Then Dave and I got on the phone and it was very peaceful and it was calm, it was really just about if we could just put the past behind us and start on a new foot and a new thing moving forward ... and let's do this, if you're willing then I’m willing, if I’m willing then you're willing.  It really came from a point of willingness to be excited about it again.  There was a genuine excitement from both of us and that's what sealed this whole thing. 

MM - I understand you’ve been working on new Megadeth material as well? 
Dave - There is a new track that has been recorded and mixed but right now its just preparation for the 'Rust In Peace' tour next week. 

MM - So will you continue with Megadeth after the tour or is it just to early to say? 
Dave - You know what, the whole pro-reverence is that this could be the rest of our lives together, so I think we are just taking things through the eyes of mature men now as opposed to twenty- one year old kids who didn’t have anything else to live for.  We just got in a van and went and we killed it.  That enthusiasm was always the spirit of Megadeth and at the heart of it, and to some degree that’s what Dave and I have, that’s the connection we have together. 

I think right now we are in the room living in the moment and just being fired up and excited about what we are doing right now.  We're especially getting excited about the material from the 'Rust In Peace' record, rather than saying ... “Hey this is going to be twenty years of our life together” ... We are just excited at being in the moment right now and saying ... “Hey let's celebrate all that is right in front of us with this 'Rust In Peace' tour and the big floor shows, and the Slayer / Megadeth Carnage Tour in America”.  

So it seems like a great period in time where everyone is excited and triumphing the Thrash Metal movement. It seems like twenty years later its come around and is really, really popular again.  Especially the "BIG 4" so to speak.  And even the likes of Exodus and Testament and other big bands that were iconic in the movement, we've all really able to rally around this celebration of Thrash Metal that’s going around this year. 

MM - Yes, all those band are coming to that 25^th year marker in their careers. 
Dave - Yes exactly.  It's cool on a personal level to have reconciliation, it's cool just to get back on the stage together musically and just look at each other and smile and have a laugh.  We survived! We made it!  Isn’t this cool this music that we created back then and if that makes for a good doorway to move forward from then we will. 

MM - Speaking of the 'Rust In Peace' album, when was the last time you played any of those songs off that album? 
Dave - Well all those songs, I’ve brushed up on them and played  through them here and there.  Sometimes people have asked when I’ve been doing the bass thing ... "Hey can you play a track?" ... and I’d whip one out.  It's pretty impressive music I’d have to say, so I’ve stayed up with most of the Megadeth catalogue over the years, just because it’s fun for me to just go back and revisit, even though I wasn’t in the band and playing it live.  As far as the 'Rust In Peace' record goes, we’ve never ever performed that record.  I think half the record has never played live before.  

MM - Will the album be re-released as part of the 25^th year package?
Dave - You know with this 25-year anniversary and there are probably all kinds of possibilities that are open ing up for us.

MM - Obviously the whole thing between you and Dave has been highlighted many times in the press over the years, but for you, what was it like leaving a band that you co-founded? 
Dave - It was a weird thing.  It was a strange time quite honestly, because my whole life, my whole identity, all that I’d done from being eighteen years old was be a member of Megadeth.  Then all of a sudden one day to not have that there anymore was kind of bizarre, it was weird.  All of a sudden I went out… 

I guess the first thing was that I was scared to be away from it, because I didn’t know who I was to some degree.  So the last eight years have been about recreating and reinventing, being a new person.  That’s what growing up is too.  Really just being your own man.  Being your own person and having your own identity.  It was good for me to have that away from Megadeth, because I think now as I come back to it, I realise I’m not defined by Megadeth and probably I never really was.  It was just my fear of it.  

I think over the years people have got to know me as a player and a writer, and as a person through all the different ventures and different things that I’ve done.  That was just cool for me, it was a great experience for me to have, and now I’ve come back into Megadeth and will hopefully bring those strengths and other things back to the band.  To some degree there is an instant chemistry between Dave and me with those kind of things, and it isn’t just a continuation of the past, its sort of like entering into a new friendship.  So we get to start something new and also capitalise on the strengths both of us had from before to. 

MM - Since 2002 you haven’t exactly been resting on your laurels you’ve been involved with various band projects and the very successful Rock Shop serious on YouTube, how did the whole Rock Shop thing start out. 
Dave - Well the Rock Shop thing really came from a continuation of that book I wrote back in '97 called 'Making Music Your Business', because a lot of people were asking when are you going to write another book?  I just thought good gods, the thought of undertaking and writing another book was more daunting than I could take right now!  The thought of just filming it and throwing it out on YouTube and doing it quick and on-the-fly, doing it for free obviously, it just became something that was just a lot of fun.  

It was not only being able to chronicle my life but to be able to parlay a lot of the wisdom and ideas, and some of the mind-set of how operate in the music business.  Also to give the viewers something that’s educational, entertaining and something people can walk away from and say ... “Hey that was cool! “. 

MM - It also brings the Bass Player in a band more to the forefront. 
Dave - The interesting dynamic about that is the bass as I play it has never been a background instrument.  I always like it to be an upfront instrument.  Obviously it has a foundation of being a supporting role, but the way I’ve always approached it is that I put my personality into it, and my personality is ... I wanna be up front!  Maybe to a large degree I have leadership skills and capabilities.  But certainly in Megadeth there is only one leader and that’s Dave, so I think for me to be away from the group for a while, to go out and exercise those qualities that I have on a lot of different endeavors that I did, that was very gratifying and it was satisfying for me to do. 

Now coming back into Megadeth, one of the things I talked about with Dave was I’m not going to come back into a submissive or junior roll.  I can't, I’m not that guy anymore, and he was real cool about that and he embraced that and probably for him and I that was one of the biggest … not hurdles, but that was maybe the biggest conversation I needed to have.  Maybe it took the last eight years of my life to really feel good about that on my side, so I definitely take responsibility for that. 

MM - You mentioned your book ‘Making Music Your Business’, do you wish you’d had a book like that around when you were starting out in Megadeth? 
Dave - Yes, when I was writing it I thought if Gene Simmons, or Geddy Lee, or Angus Young had wrote a book like this, I would have bought it in a heart-beat, you know.  Because there is so much about the music business that you don’t know until you get into it, and you just figure it out as you go along.  As in most things in life, most of the most valuable things you learn isn’t from the positive experiences it’s usually from the negative experiences.  It teaches you those lessons, where you say I don’t want to go through that ever again.  It's both the good and the bad, and one thing that I do have is experience and hopefully out of that I’ve deemed an awful lot of wisdom that I can parlay it through the book and now the Rock Shop series. 

MM - What plans have you had to put on hold for 2010 now that you’ve rejoined Megadeth.  Did you have any irons in the fire?
Dave - Well the Angels of Babylon record we’re finalising the release for North America, so that’s something that we're moving forward to, to at least release it.  Again the attention on Megadeth is going to spill over into the other things I’ve done in my life.  I consider Angels of Babylon as being a "work in progress" that started before I rejoined Megadeth.  I’ve also got my band Hail that I have.  That is a sort of all star celebration, tribute sort of band.  That’s something that I’m gonna continue doing when the timing is right, when there’s holes in the schedule.  Also I have family and that’s a big part of my life, I want to spend time with them. 

That’s been a good thing over the past couple of years where I’ve been able to call the shots and have a much better say in how my life has rolled, so I could spend time with my family.  That doesn’t sound very rock n' roll to talk about, but I’ve been able to go around the track a lot of times in my career, and that’s one thing that I realise is very important.  I had good parents growing up and they supported me in my music and I want to be there to do the same thing for my kids.

MM - Yes, a lot of bands from around that same era now have families and they become more a part of your life, sometimes more than the music itself.  Dave - Yes absolutely.  I think that’s just as important as everything.  That is again as you get a little older, you get a little wisdom.  I’ve always wanted to play rock n' roll, I’m always excited about the music, especially with the stuff coming up.  Man this is an awesome celebration to have with the other bands in the genre, as well as the fans of the genre as much as anything, quite honestly, but at the same time it’s a balancing thing, because especially as people know the Megadeth story over the years.  When we were younger we burned the candle at both ends and it costs you.  If it doesn’t cost you your life it definitely costs you big pieces of your soul, so I think for Dave and I, moving forward is a big part of this, and that we don’t want to sacrifice our souls just for the thrill of going out and being on the ride.

MM - Yes everybody matures, we can't all be the teenagers we once were.  If you want to get on in life you have to mature at some point. 
Dave - Even in rock n. roll.  That’s what's kind of cool about this point in time with Megadeth, there’s enough of a catalogue, there’s a history.  Obviously albums are still being written.  The 'Indian' record is real good and the songs are real strong.  So creatively it’s still vibrant.  You're able to put things into perspective. 

Take this 'Rust In Peace' tour, right now it's really important because it’s a time to go out and play for fun, we don’t have to go out and promote a record right off the bat with this first tour, we can go out, stand there and be proud of the work that we did, and probably to a large degree be humbled by the fact that a whole lot of gifts have come out of this thing over the years. 

MM - Well I know you’ve got to get back to the studio so to finalise things, will we be seeing the band extend things out of the US and into Europe and the rest of the world? 
Dave - I don’t know.  The 'Rust In Peace' tour is only scheduled for this American leg and then after that it will be the festivals throughout Europe.  Believe me, there is a lot of fan enthusiasm, people are putting requests for the 'Rust In Peace' tour to go to other countries.  Now that we’ve opened a can of worms it’s anybody's guess on what’s going to happen.

MM - Hopefully we’ll see you this side of the pond very soon, best of luck with the Megadeth tour and the new Angels Of Babylon record. 
Dave - Thank you very much, it’s been a pleasure.  

MM - With that we leave Dave to head back off into the studio and wish him all the best with the forthcoming 'Rust In Peace' tour.  Hopefully Angels Of Babylon will grow to something much more than just a studio album. 

All content copyright of The Mayfair Mall Zine unless otherwise stated.