It didn’t take much guesswork to figure out who he was referring to, though all things considered, the reasoning behind it all was perfectly valid and genuine.
Beyond its clichéd, even pedestrian, usage by certain other thrash rivals, the gooey and wet-sounding sweep of an envelope filter is a sound that simply hadn’t appealed to him personally.
At least until now...
“I’m going to give it a try; I don’t know how it’s going to turn out,” pondered Mustaine, talking to his 779k followers from the venue’s catering hall backstage. “But I’m really excited about it and if you’re a guitar player, I strongly encourage you to get outside of your comfort zone, too.”
Wise words indeed. MusicRadar catches up with the thrash mastermind in the aftermath to find out what, beyond delving through the Hendrix repertoire, made him decide to put his foot down - as well as get some reflections on Megadeth’s new anniversary-themed Warheads On Foreheads best-of.
“If I went back in time to congratulate my 23 year-old self on 35 years of Megadeth, he probably would have said, ‘Who the [CENSORED] are you?!’” laughs Mustaine while pondering the young NWOBHM obsessive at the very start of the journey.
All jokes aside, it’s easy to sense the significance behind the 35 tracks remastered for this year’s milestone, especially for a musician so dependably honest about his trials and tribulations on that often-treacherous road to triumph.
“Sure there have been times where I had my doubts,” he admits, recalling those moments where any sort of future anniversary for his band seemed like a stretch of the imagination.
“I’ve had times when the press found me out of favour. But that didn’t change my dedication to my fanbase. I can take a beating… I know they’re just words. When people say bad stuff about my playing, it’s a bit of joke to me. I suck at a lot of things, like walking across a tightrope, but I definitely don’t suck at guitar…”
“I’m not too sure, haha! I think it came out okay. This is going to sound funny, but I don’t know if I’m more comfortable using my left foot or right foot! I’ve gotten really close to Zakk Wylde, I love that guy… he’s such an imposing figure but once you get to know him, he’s such a nice guy. We were joking around about using wah-wahs; some other people don’t use them properly or overuse it, so I wanted to make sure I hit the right spots and subtly.
“I asked him which foot he preferred and he said [thick New Jersey accent], ‘Ah, Father Dave, it doesn’t [CENSORED]in’ matter!’ I tried to remember that during the show and apply that sense of ease to how I used the wah. At first, my adrenaline was going at a zillion miles an hour and I was hoping my ankle would stay smooth, otherwise I might sound real Kirky jerky!”
I just added Purple Haze to the set. I haven’t really found a place for palm muting in that, but I’m keeping it as metal as I can, generally speaking! Being able to move around again during these songs has been so liberating. It reminded me of when I was in Metallica, those years where I didn’t have to sing and I just got to play. When I play in Megadeth, I stand up and play on my feet in front of the mic stand like a [CENSORED]in’ hammer!
“I tend to partition my brain. So as well as playing guitar, looking at people in the audience and keeping track of all the mistakes made during the show that I’d like to correct next time, I also had to add in the wah-wah. My guitar is my best friend. I want to be able to play it any way I can, in my style of course. For example, there are certain ways people use vibrato on violin, and I got really engrossed in learning how to play my guitar like that at points.”