David Ellefson on Megadeth Firing: “You Find Out Who Your Friends Are”
In a new interview, former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson further elaborated on his feelings regarding his firing from Megadeth last year amidst a sex scandal. Speaking to Real Music with Gary Stuckey, Ellefson opened up about what he says is discovering his real friends.
“You find out who your friends are and you find out who your friends aren’t pretty fucking quick when the shit hits the fan. ‘Cause everybody wants to be around you when you’re picking up your Grammy.
“Look, life is… You’re never on top all the time. Your life ebbs and flows, your career ebbs and flows—all of that. I’ve been fortunate enough to be a career musician and I’ve had to go with the ebbs and flows of the good, the bad and the otherwise, sometimes from within, sometimes from without.”
He then goes on to compare said ebbs and flows to the appearance of grunge and its effect on the metal scene.
“In the early ’90s, just when we thought everything was going awesome, Seattle music showed up. No one saw that coming. So there’s all kinds of internal and external forces at work, and I think the trick is to be galvanized to be able to withstand the storms and come out the other side and still keep rocking.”
Though he didn’t mention Dave Mustaine by name, another comment in the interview certainly sounds like Ellefson is referring to the band’s frontman, who described an “already strained relationship” when the former bassist was originally fired.
“I’ve been in situations with people that were just impossible, and somehow you just learn to make it work. Sometimes the success becomes the golden handcuffs, so you just have to make it work. And unfortunately, in those situations what happens is you often start to compromise your own morality, your own beliefs, your own integrity, because you just go, ‘Well, if we can just get to the other side of the ocean before we sink, we’ll be okay.’ And then you get to the other side and the phone rings and they say, ‘Hey, we’ve got one more ocean for you to cross,’ so you decide to do it again.”
Ellefson is currently promoting his new band.
