Sticking by Dave Mustaine’s side through thick and thin didn’t do David Ellefson much good back in 2021, when Mustaine booted him out of Megadeth following a scandal that dogs the veteran bass guitarist to this day.
Ellefson has worked to reclaim his reputation by forming Kings of Thrash with fellow ex-Megadeth guitarist Jeff Young, while also working on various other projects. And despite what he sees as a betrayal, he’s “forgiven” Mustaine and would even perform with him if asked.
This is mostly because he feels he was Megadeth.
“If I hadn’t returned in 2010, the band might not have survived,” he tells Guitar Plater. “The fans and the industry recognize my role, but Dave does not.”
Rather than look back, Ellefson has kept his an eyes on his future. This past November, he joined fellow metal icons Metal Church as their bassist.
As for Megadeth?
“I don’t really have regrets,” he says. “I try to learn from experiences and grow beyond them.”
That said, he wants his contributions to Megadeth to be noted for the record.
“One day during Kings of Thrash rehearsals, Chris Poland walked in while I was warming up,” he recalls. “He later said, ‘Dude, your bass is the sound of Megadeth,’ which just goes to show that we created that band sound together. Period.
“I don’t often say that out loud, but given all the misinformation these past few years, it’s time. And shame on anyone driving the misinformation highway.”
How did you first meet Dave Mustaine? Given he’d just been kicked out of Metallica, what sort of state was he in?
Dave lived upstairs from the apartment where I lived with my best friend, Greg Handevidt. It was at 1736 North Sycamore Avenue in Hollywood, just off Hollywood Boulevard, in June 1983. I hadn’t heard of Dave or Metallica. Kill ’Em All was being recorded and wouldn’t be released until later that summer.
Dave was trying to get it together, cutting back on drinking and very focused on writing new music. That work became songs like “Set the World Afire” [then called “No Survivors”] and riffs that would later evolve into “Devil’s Island” and “Looking Down the Cross.”
What led to the formation of Megadeth? Was the chemistry between you and Dave immediate?
It developed over time. He had a very defined style to his music, and it needed a certain type of bass to it, which we developed together as the songs were composed. I knew how to play and had my own experience in bands from the Midwest, but this process was about defining the bass parts so they would become iconic.
Dave and I had a common musical instinct and a vision for the band, which was coming together in those early weeks of our formation. I loved the music he was writing — it was inventive, dark and wickedly aggressive — and it gave me the freedom to develop my own sound and identity, which he fully encouraged and we worked on together.
I hadn’t heard of Dave or Metallica. ‘Kill ’Em All’ was being recorded and wouldn’t be released until later that summer.”
— David Ellefson
It aligned perfectly with my heavier influences from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and even allowed me to tap into some of my orchestral and jazz band upbringing. My friend Greg was the first to sit down with Dave, guitar in hand, and start learning the material. When Greg and I first met Dave, we intuitively understood what he was aiming for.
In fact, it was Greg who suggested the name Megadeath and then proposed dropping the “A,” so it became Megadeth — more of an iconic symbol than a literal play on the word “death.” There were a couple of other musicians Dave had jammed with from Hollywood before Greg and I entered the picture, but it wasn’t until the three of us came together that the band truly began to take shape.
From there, we started preparing the songs for full rehearsals, which began in Glendale, California, in early July. By that point, we had brought drummer Dijon Carruthers into the lineup. Dave also had a singer named Lor Caine involved, but after a few rehearsals, it became clear he wasn’t right for the direction of the music.
Dijon was a big Cozy Powell and Les Binks fan — his roots leaned more toward Deep Purple — but he understood the riffs and song structure. But not long after, he was replaced by Lee Rausch.
Eventually, Greg went back to Minnesota to raise his daughter, so more auditions were held. Kerry King joined us to fill in as we debuted the group in the San Francisco Bay Area in early 1984. I don’t think Kerry was ever going to fully join the band; he was just helping us out.
What led to the initial incarnation of Megadeth falling apart and Jeff Young eventually joining the band?
By the end of the Peace Sells tour, our drug addictions were really bad. Chris Poland had to leave and eventually got clean. Gar had to follow suit. Dave and I were in the same boat, though not quite as bad as those guys — yet.
By the end of the ‘Peace Sells’ tour, our drug addictions were really bad. Chris Poland had to leave and eventually got clean.”
— David Ellefson
We were writing So Far, So Good… So What! while on the Peace Sells tour, as we always composed during soundchecks. When we got off the road, Chuck Behler, who had been Gar’s drum tech, stepped into the drummer role. Sitting behind Gar on tour as his tech each night, Chuck was already learning the songs as we wrote them.
Initially, for So Far, So Good… So What!, we were a three-piece again and entered the studio in 1987 with our friend Jay Reynolds of Malice as a possible lead-guitar contender. It soon became clear this wasn’t Jay’s lane musically, so he brought in his acquaintance Jeff Young to record solos.
Jeff was an educated player with a smooth, legato style that contrasted with Dave’s approach and matched more closely to Chris Poland’s unique counterpoint, which had been established on the previous two albums. Jeff actually played guitar on every song on So Far, So Good… So What! except “Into the Lungs of Hell.”
Jeff has often talked about some pretty wild stories with regard to Dave in terms of drug use and so on. What’s the truth of what happened, giving way to Marty Friedman entering the picture?
The main story centers around our tour in Japan in 1988, when we were scheduled to go on to Australia afterward. By that point, we were all addicted and needed to get back to Los Angeles to “get well,” so as a group, we chose not to go to Australia. That decision was absolutely not Jeff Young’s. He was the newest member of the band and had no authority to make that call on his own. We decided as a group.
We returned to the U.S. and finished out touring as our addictions worsened. After the Monsters of Rock at Castle Donington festival in the U.K. that year, I entered rehab in Los Angeles by end of August and by the end of that year everything had come crashing to an end, including Jeff Young departing as well.
Dave and I went downstairs to our manager Ron Laffitte’s office and saw Marty Friedman’s Dragons Kiss and a Cacophony album on his desk.”
— David Ellefson
We continued composing and made demos of songs like “Holy Wars,” “Tornado of Souls” and “Polaris.” As we addressed our addictions in 1989, we completed what would become Rust in Peace. We even did full album demos in December 1989, with a now-sober Chris Poland brought in to play some additional solos for us. Because at that point we were again just a three-piece. Nick Menza had replaced Chuck Behler earlier that year.
The night that Chris Poland recorded his solos at the SBK Records songwriting studio on Sunset Boulevard, Dave and I went downstairs to our manager Ron Laffitte’s office and saw Marty Friedman’s Dragons Kiss and a Cacophony album on his desk. We asked about them, and Ron arranged an audition with Marty in late January 1990.
He did a really great job and looked the part. Having Marty in the band now felt like a complete sentence for us. Mike Clink was available to produce with us before he began the GN’R Use Your Illusion albums. That spring, we entered Rumbo Recorders in Canoga Park, California, to record Rust in Peace.
What did Marty and Nick bring to the band that led to such classic albums as Rust in Peace and Countdown to Extinction?
For the first time, we truly felt like a band. We shared similar influences, we looked good together, and our individual styles meshed well. It felt like a well-rounded think tank of musicians who could raise the bar collectively.
And we were under great management during those years, a real team who thought like a global metal band ready to take over the world together. Countdown to Extinction was the first Megadeth album that was genuinely written as a group. Youthanasia and Cryptic Writings continued with that same collaborative mindset.
What can you say about your role in the creation of those classic albums, which seems to be minimized by Dave?
When Dave gets angry, he has a tendency to minimize or blame someone, but the songwriting credits tell the real story. I had to fight for most every nickel and every credit on those albums because there was often a mindset that everything belonged to Dave. He would distribute credit or compensation based on who he was least upset with at the time.
When Dave gets angry, he has a tendency to minimize or blame someone. But the songwriting credits tell the real story.”
— David Ellefson
Beyond being a rightful composer, I also served as the ballast for the band during some very turbulent years. I guess that is just part of my personality, but it further defines my role from the beginning.
By March 1990, I got clean and have remained that way ever since. That clarity gives me a very clear recollection of how things actually unfolded. Dave can absolutely be a masterful composer, but those songs didn’t just magically appear. They were shaped by band members, producers and even managers. The best things in life are a collaboration. It’s never a solo act.
How did your bass rig evolve from the ’80s to the ’90s, and what was the key to your tone?
Tone is always in the hands, only made louder by an amp. You can color it slightly, but my picking attack and clean sound start in my mind and come out through my hands. During that era, I used Hartke aluminum-cone cabinets, Gallien-Krueger 800RB heads, Jackson basses and Rotosound Swing Bass strings with Jim Dunlop 1.00 Tortex plectrums.
Was it hard to ride out the ’90s leading up to Marty leaving the band? Can you recall what actually happened there? The story is always murky from all sides.
When tours were canceled during the Countdown era because Dave entered rehab, we lost our opportunity to perform at Budokan in 1993. For Marty, who was very Japan focused, that was really the beginning of the end, even though he remained in the band for the rest of the decade.
On Risk, Marty contributed a lot of material but was paid very little for it, from what I saw. When he later discovered that one of his solos had been replaced without him being told until the full album playback, that became the final straw. Music was changing, we were changing, and Marty was clearly looking for something else. He ultimately relocated to Japan in 2002.
When Marty discovered one of his solos had been replaced without him being told, that became the final straw.”
— David Ellefson
What led to your departure from Megadeth in the early 2000s, and did you keep in touch with Dave? What allowed you to return?
Dave called me the first week of February 2002, after rehab, and said, ‘I quit Megadeth.’ He then asked me to remix the entire catalog, which I felt was unnecessary. You don’t outdo the brilliant mixers like Max Norman or Dann Huff.
That disagreement between us became a breaking point, and since Megadeth was now disbanded, I had to move on and provide for my family. We didn’t stay in touch after that until he called me two years later to record the next album, which then landed us in a lawsuit that was settled out of court.
After coming back to Megadeth, what was Dave like?
Dave was very thankful and warm when I returned. It allowed us to have heartfelt conversations and rebuild a friendship. The music reflected that energy, especially during the Rust in Peace 20th anniversary tour, which was incredibly successful and led directly to the Big 4 shows — one of the biggest challenges of Dave’s career, performing alongside Metallica again.
It's a sensitive topic, but do you feel you were treated fairly as you exited Megadeth? [In May 2021, Mustaine fired Ellefson amid allegations of sexual misconduct, ending the bassist‘s second run with the band.]
No, I absolutely don’t! My exit was forced upon me by misinformation, and Dave personally signed a public statement that was horribly defamatory toward me. He did similar to Chris Poland and Jeff Young when they departed. I am one of the bookends of Megadeth, and everyone knows it.
What are your thoughts on Dave calling time on Megadeth? Are you open to coming back if a spot were offered to you?
Of course, I’m open to it, and it would be right to have me back. But that would require Dave to admit that my firing was unjust and unfair. That would mean owning his words, and he probably won’t do that. I have forgiven him for all his sins and shortcomings—every one of them that impacted me, band members, staff, careers and our families. At some point, you let bygones be bygones.
What are your short and long-term goals, and do you have any regrets?
Short term, it’s about touring. I’m playing a lot of music across multiple projects.
Long term, I sometimes think about retirement, but music is still the passion, the lifestyle and the life I choose to lead. I’m grateful every day for the opportunity to perform and connect with fans and for everyone who has allowed me to live the life I have today… including Dave.
