Ex-Megadeth Drummer Shawn Drover Says Dave Mustaine is Military-Level Serious About Music
Dave Mustaine is a lot of things—conspiracy theorist, guitar master, and difficult personality. Yet according to former Megadeth drummer Shawn Drover, we now know he’s also military-level precise when it comes to the band.
In a recent interview with Metal Mayhem ROC (transcribed by Blabbermouth), Drover said his time in the band was very regimented, which is exactly how Mustaine likes it.
“Well, yeah, what can I say? It was a great experience overall. I have nothing but good things to say about that whole experience. And I got to establish tons of great friendships with musicians in other bands over the years that I still have to this day. And you just learn a lot playing in a band that is that big. The whole experience, to me, was really positive and I learned quickly what to do and what not to do, what my job entails and all that kind of stuff.
“Dave takes that camp very seriously—I would say almost military style with his execution. It’s always been like that. And I took that very seriously as well. So we were always on the same page in many ways. I just have so many career highlights, it would take an hour to go through them.”
This isn’t the first time Drover has made comments like this about his time with Megadeth. A few months ago, in an interview with The Metal Voice , he suggested that some of the hate Mustaine gets derives from his personal beliefs.
“I think some of it may be from his political viewpoints at any given time. You know how that goes—politics and religion can definitely rub people the wrong way. That’s certainly, I would say, maybe part of it. Which I never had any comment of any sort on any of that stuff.”
“Who knows? There’s always Monday-morning quarterbacks that talk shit about something. And a lot of it gets thrown out of context. Something I’ll say on here I’m sure will be on a web site, saying, ‘Shawn said this.’ It’s just to create a headline. It’s clickbait, they call it. It’s just music, man.”
While many people would probably disagree about his political opinions and conspiracy theory enthusiasm just being quirks and not a big deal, it’s clear that when it comes to the music, Mustaine prides himself on precision and putting on a good show, and regardless of how you feel about Megadeth, that much is clear from watching any of their performances.
