In 1987, Powerline — then a B&W heavy metal fanzine — interviewed Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine and David Ellefson backstage on a tour in Connecticut. 1987 was a trying year for Megadeth. There were many reports of substance abuse and by the end of the year Mustaine kicked out both guitarist Chris Poland and drummer Gar Samuelson due to such substance abuse. The following interview was conducted just before that shake-up took place. During exclusive photos taken backstage (below, by Chip Ruggieri), most of the band certainly looked out-of-it — tired and disconnected. The two Daves, however, gave a very spirited interview.

Powerline: Are you happy will the sales figures of Peace Sells…?
David Ellefson: Yeah, the album’s still selling good. Peace ain’t selling, though.
Dave Mustaine: We’re satisfied.
Ellefson: It’s doing a lot better than Killing … (Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good!, [released in 1985]). The reason why is: better distribution and Capitol (Records) giving us good promotion and support.

Powerline: How did it feel to be an underground metal band and then all of a sudden — bang! — major status?
Ellefson: It’s great! This is where we always wanted to be.
Mustaine: Some think that once you get signed to a major, it’s all over for you. But actually, it’s just the beginning.

Powerline: So, do you think any of your past underground following will like you less now?
Ellefson: They shouldn’t.
Mustaine: We’re no different now than we were then, except we’re better …
Ellefson: …and more polished.

Powerline: What made you choose to do cover tunes like “These Boots…” (“These Boots Are Made for Walkin’”) or “I Ain’t Superstitious”?
Ellefson: ”These Boots..” was a big hit back in the 60s. It’s great because people in another age group — who were into those songs — will hear a metal band do such songs. It shows that you have a little bit of insight. “Ain’t Superstitious.” Started out as just a jam and it sounded cool, so …

Powerline: Let me guess: by covering that song, you must be influenced by Jeff Beck, right?
Mustaine: No, I was never into that lay-back-eat-‘shrooms-and-stare-at-the-walls-for-hours type music. He’s a great guitarist. A legend. But not in my book. Schenker, Uli, early Priest, Zeppelin, are my influences.

Powerline: Did Capitol Records have any influence on you doing a cover song? There was a rumor that Capitol was making their new acts do cover songs so the radio stations would pick up quicker. Or is it coincidence that W.A.S.P., Alcatrazz, etc, just happened to do cover songs, too?
Ellefson: I knew nothing about that … (laughs)
Mustaine: Maybe those other bands needed to do cover songs.
Ellefson: Peace Sells … was actually recorded for Combat Records. Then Capitol bought out the contract. So, Capitol had no say during the recording of “Peace Sells …”

Powerline: What kind of music would you describe Megadeth as?
Mustaine and Ellefson: Megadeth!
Powerline: What I’m saying is that you are always labeled as Thrash Metal.
Ellefson: We’re a little bit of all kinds of music that it’s just … Megadeth. If you do call it Thrash, then you’re forgetting the swing part in “These Boots …” A lot of different musical elements, so it’s hard to categorize us.
Mustaine: There is no classification. There’s too many vast influences in our creation.

Powerline: Why on the back of “Peace Sells …” did you put “Boycott Noise Metal”?
Ellefson: For the bands that are so out of tune and their guitars are faster than all the other instruments and off beat. We won’t name anyone, but we all know who they are.

Powerline: So then, what’s your opinion of the current metal scene?
Ellefson: I think the scene would be better if bands just start to play the music they really want to play, instead of trying to be the heaviest, fastest, thrashiest. In L.A. there’s a little bit of everything. There’s thrash, glam, hard rock. L.A.’s cool because the music scene is happening.
Mustaine: Yeah, the L.A. scene is getting better. Yet it ‘s hard to predict something on a market that’s so hard to crack. L.A. is very current on the issues. Very fashion conscious. I wouldn’t say trendy, though. There are a lot of colleges with yuppies … preppies listening to pop-glam and all that shit.

Powerline: Is glam dying out in L.A.?
Ellefson: Hopefully. But seriously, I think the market is a great unique one. It’s the only place where a thrashy band like us will see people into us with their hair sticking straight up. And I’m not talking mohawks, just total Aqua Net.

Powerline: Speaking of L.A., didn’t you sing back up vocals on Malices’s new album (License To Kill)?
Mustaine: If you consider that singing.
Powerline: How’d you get together (with Malice)?
Ellefson: It was like, ‘Hey, you guys want to do singing? We’ve got a bunch of beer!’

Powerline: By the way, how did you two Dave’s meet?
Ellefson: When I moved to L.A., right in an apartment under his (Mustaine), which was two months after he left Metallica. I remember playing bass one morning and he wakes up, opens his window, and throws a flower pot on my air conditioner and yells ‘Shut up!’ I was like, ‘Who is this guy? I have to meet him.’
Mustaine: Then we got a case of beer and here we are.

Powerline: After leaving Metallica, did you move back to L.A. with ideas of putting your own band together, or did you think of joining another band?
Mustaine: I had ideas of putting my own band together while I was in Metallica. Me and James were gonna kick Lars out. Then me and Lars were gonna kick James out. And so on. It was ridiculous.

Powerline: So, you kind of expected your departure from Metallica?
Mustaine: Actually, it was just one of those things: if you’re not comfortable at home, you just have to fly the coop. To me, it was just annoying.

Powerline: Well, I have watched some old videos of you on-stage with Metallica and it all seemed to work well together.
Mustaine: Back then I was their little God. Now I’m grown up, I guess.

Powerline: So you’re still negative towards Metallica?
Mustaine: You don’t know?!
Powerline: What I mean is that I thought it settled down?
Mustaine: Yeah, we talk now more than we did in the past. Now that Megadeth is getting their shit together, they’re starting to eat crow for saying I’m a dumb fuck, drunk, lousy guitar player. Now they seem to want to bury the ax, huh?

Powerline: It was getting pathetic in the magazines. What they said about you. What you said about them, and on and on. Weren’t you getting sick of it?
Mustaine: The reason it started was because I was bitter that they used my material. I mean, wouldn’t you be? But then it’s better to have two bands working for you than just one. Don’t you think?

Powerline: Also you were pissed off about Kirk’s (Kirk Hammett) leads being …
Mustaine: … like the No Life ’til Leather demo, yeah.

Powerline: On that same old video I saw, I couldn’t believe it when I heard your leads … they were like Kirk’s.
Mustaine: The leads he did were almost identical. I can just see Lars in the studio (with Kirk). He used to do the same thing with me, but I used to say ‘Fuck you, Lars.’ He’d say, ‘Play that lead like weedly-doo, weedly-doo, or weedle-weedle.’ That’s exactly how he described it.

Powerline: A couple of kids told me that when you see someone with a Metallica shirt on, at your shows, you try to rip it off them.
Mustaine: No, I don’t! I just think that if you’re gonna come to a Megadeth show, you should wear a Megadeth shirt, or at least buy one. I mean, what the fuck?!

Powerline: Or maybe people wear a Metallica shirt just to piss you off.
Mustaine: It doesn’t bother me anymore. What does bother me is when they ask me, ‘What’s the real story behind Metallica?’ If you’re not from the media or the press, I don’t have the time to get into it with every Tom, Dick, and Harry out there. Ya know? It’s like saying, ‘When’s the last time your girlfriend got fucked by one of your friends?’ or ‘Has your Mom ever gotten it on the side?’ I don’t have the time for this shit. If you want to know about it, buy a copy of the magazine that I’m interviewed in.

Powerline: Tell me about the time Kerry King joined the band.
Mustaine: Kerry’s a poser!

Powerline: Was he ever in the band, or was he a temp?
Ellefson: Kerry filled in for a couple shows in the Bay Area. That’s about the extent of it.
Mustaine: He was temporary. Every time he got his head up his ass, he would quit Slayer and say he was joining us. He really liked our music. He thought we were unique. When we got to Frisco to do some gigs with him, the kids would ask him ‘Did you really quit Slayer?’ and he’d say no! So I felt like saying, ‘You fucking pimple-headed little dickhead!’ … embarrassing us at in-stores and shit. It was like, ‘Kerry, there’s the sign to L.A. Find your own way home, fucker!’
Powerline: But he was the one that asked to join.
Mustaine: Yeah, it was like this big joke. Ha Ha. Quit Slayer. Quit Megadeth. Quit Slayer. Quit Megadeth. Here you had this ping pong guitar player, which was ridiculous. Plus, he wears all that fuckin’ space garbage on his arms and shit. That fuckin’ porcupine came up to me and scratched my arm once … I kicked him right in the ass!

Powerline: How are you on writing your next album?
Mustaine: We’ve been writing stuff for a long time.
Ellefson: We always keep on writing. We wrote a lot of Peace Sells… while we were on the road for Killing….

Powerline: Your lyrics always differ. Like the lyrics in “Black Friday” compared to “Peace Sells …” What style are you going to lean towards on the next album?
Ellefson: You can’t really say. It’s not like we sit down and say ‘We had some lyrics before like this, so let’s write some more like this.’ Concepts and lyrics come out of a mixture of stuff. It always depends on the mood you’re in. Moods change, too. The new album will be just as heavy, don’t worry.

Published in a 1987 issue of Powerline Magazine.

Interview by Pat Prince

80s Megadeth: Photo taken before Powerline interview in 1987

Powerline: Magazine cover of Megadeth, 1987

Dave Mustaine in Metallica: No Life ’til Leather demo cassette cover