Recently, LifeMinute was invited to the home of Dave Mustaine , leader of Megadeth , his wife Pamela , and their daughter Electra , to learn more about their wine brand, House Of Mustaine , which combines music, culture, and high-quality oenology. The team had the opportunity to tour the family's beautiful residence and talk with the Megadeth vocalist, who readily expressed his dissatisfaction with some aspects of modern metal.
When asked what music represents to people, Mustaine replied: “It depends. If you believe all the sayings about music, there are several clichés. What comes to mind with your question is that 'music calms the wild beast'. I don't know who coined that phrase, but it's quite accurate, depending on the type of music. Now, if you play modern metal with those guys who can't sing and just scream, that's understandable to me, because they can't sing and they're doing the best they can.”
Mustaine continued: “There was a period around 2000 when bands called — I think it was 'nu metal' — came along, and they didn't do solos. Why didn't they do solos? Because they didn't know how. And thank God that genre disappeared. People started learning how to do solos. I would say that if you were in a 'nu metal' band, you'd probably have trouble even playing 'Johnny B. Goode' (the 1958 rock classic by Chuck Berry ). So, I'm glad that's over.”
Asked if there are any new bands he particularly likes, Mustaine said: “Well, I like some of the older music because, in the new material—I mean, all the good chords have already been used. And if you think back to when I started, 40 years ago, the music scene didn’t have millions of kids at home creating guitar riffs on the computer and posting them online. There are good and bad things in everything, and when people do something for their own art, that’s great. But when you see manufactured records where the band members didn’t even play, that’s fraud. So, I like bands that actually play what they do.”
“One of my favorite guitarists is one of the simplest guys in the world—it’s the guy from Pink Floyd , David Gilmour ,” Mustaine explained. “He could do more with a single note than many guys today do with 12. And it’s a matter of feeling. The guitar is something you play, so it’s an extension of your spirit, your soul, and how you make it sound. If it sounds like [imitates a farting noise], well, you probably haven’t connected with the instrument yet. Playing the violin—the violin must be one of the most terrible sounds when you’re learning, because the sound and the rosin of the bow are almost as bad as someone practicing a wind instrument, like a saxophone or a clarinet.”
Dave mustaine and the nu metal era
In September 2022, Mustaine told WSOU 89.5 FM that he and his Megadeth bandmates used to make fun of various nu metal bands they were "forced" to tour with in the 1990s. "It's impossible to describe how much we laughed at the bands we were forced to take with us on tour, especially during that nu metal phase we went through years ago," he said at the time. "You know, all those bands that didn't play solos and stuff like that."
One of the bands that toured with Megadeth three decades ago was Korn . Jonathan Davis , the band's vocalist, revealed in a 2011 interview with ExploreMusic that opening for Megadeth was a challenging experience. “It was difficult to tour with Megadeth because, back then, Dave Mustaine was very rude and had a difficult demeanor,” Jonathan recalled. “It was scary being there. I was drinking at the time and ended up getting him to drink again, which I shouldn't have done, but it was Dave Mustaine, and I was just a young kid thinking, 'It's Dave Mustaine, he wants to drink. I'll give him a drink.' I respected him and all that, but I ended up getting hurt because he was rude sometimes. I don't hold a grudge against him now, because you know how it is—when you get older, you get wiser—but back then, it was really scary.”
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