“We were at a club, and some guy was punching on a girl, and James says, ‘Kill him!’ This guy turns around and looks at the two of us and says, ‘Who’s gonna kill me?’ And James pointed at me…": Dave Mustaine on early days with, and split from, Metallica

Dave Mustaine has sat down for an interesting, if volatile, interview with the Daily Telegraph. Well, two interviews if we’re being exact here – he abruptly cut off the first when the journalist in question began asking questions about the Megadeth mainman’s faith (these days Mustaine says he is a born-again Christian).

Anyway, inevitably, the subject of his ejection from Metallica, forty-three years ago, comes up. Clearly, it’s a grudge Mustaine will take to his grave. “In hindsight, I understand what happened and why, but at the time, all I knew was I was p***ed, and I wanted to be heavier and faster than they were. And so that’s what I set out to do.”

He also brings up an incident from the early days of the band: “We were at a club, and some guy was punching on a girl, and James says, ‘Kill him!’ This guy turns around and looks at the two of us and says, ‘Who’s gonna kill me?’ And James pointed at me… I had to fight the guy on the spot.”

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Then in a fascinating moment of self-reflection, he concedes all that was a long time ago: “You know, I’m a grandpa now and I’m successful. I’m not begging for food anymore. I think my younger self just needed to be loved.”

He also talks about the reasons for seemingly throwing in the towel – their current self-titled album will apparently be their last: “I was feeling kind of run down, and it was just getting to be too much. I finally said to my management, ‘I don’t know how much longer I can do this’ and that started the conversation.”

Mustaine also admits it’s “challenging to sing with the same quality and conviction” as he used to. And as for shredding: “It’s painful if you don’t set up right. It’s one of those things that professionals make look effortless and it really isn’t. A lot of guitar players, their fingers get deformed because of the way that they hold the pick and the way that they fret the guitar.”

Now he’s on the final lap of his career, he seems, at least, proud of his legacy: “Megadeth music will live on forever,” he insists. “I know it’s an arrogant thing to say, but every time you hear that heavy guitar down-picking on a TV show or movie soundtrack, that’s the sound of Metallica and Megadeth. I don’t know if we changed the world, but we changed the world of guitar.”