Megadeth mainman Dave Mustaine recently spoke to Paul Marshall of Marshall TV about the recording process for the band's forthcoming new album, TH1RT3EN. An excerpt from the chat follows.
"This record actually, the process was a little different because we really didn't get a chance, [or the] luxury, of taking our time. We'd come off the road and somebody had said, 'You've got about a two-month period. Do you think you can make a record in there?' and I laughed. I thought, 'You guys, you're trying to kill me is what's going on; there's no rest for the wicked.' You can't put a horse away wet after you've run him in a race, you've gotta let him cool off.
And it seemed like we just came off the last tour and just went right into the studio. But I've always believed my playing ability has been a gift, so rather than sit back and doubt what God's given me, I just went in and I trusted the process. And we made a great record and we did it in the two months allotment.
On top of that, I think that we also learned a lot about ourselves as musicians. We really went to a new level with our playing ability and we've got a great new partner with [producer] Johnny K. I mean, I was satisfied with our last co-producer, with Andy Sneap, and Andy really took us — and he even admits — as far as he could take us, and it was great because we wanted to go back to the big leagues where we were, and we feel that Johnny is, obviously, a big-league producer; not that Andy isn't — don't get me wrong. But we feel that this record is definitely one of our best.
It's a great feeling, because, you know, finishing some of the last record, I can honestly say, in my heart I knew that it wouldn't contend with some of the great records in the past, just because of the timing, the label that we were on and stuff like that. Lineup changes and stuff… But I really think that everything just lined up for this record."
You can watch the full interview below.
Dave Mustaine Megadeth Interview At Sonisphere 2011 - YouTube
Josh Hart is a former web producer and staff writer for Guitar World and Guitar Aficionado magazines (2010–2012). He has since pursued writing fiction under various pseudonyms while exploring the technical underpinnings of journalism, now serving as a senior software engineer for The Seattle Times.
