Former Metallica guitarist and current Megadeth frontman and leader Dave Mustaine recently discussed a variety of topics during a recent interview with Jeremy White. It included how music and business, together forming a thing we know as the “music business,” did more harm than good to the genre of metal.
When Dave was asked about metal not being “massive in the mainstream” and what musicians can do to make the genre grow, he replied:
“Just stay pure. One of the things that happened to metal back in 1992 was that it became popular. And then people started making money off of it. And it changed because the music business used to be one word, right? And it became two words. And we were the music and they were the business. Right?
“And then, the music business started to take over. And the business people became the people who ran the music business. Not the artist. We were no longer in control. No matter who we were.”
He also added:
“I mean, people that are superstars… There’s one level higher than a superstar, that’s a megastar. It goes star, superstar megastar. Madonna, Michael Jackson, people like that. Mega stars. Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryant, megastars, right?
“So there’s still room for people to grow. If you’re a star, you can work up to being a superstar.”
Discussing the issue further, Mustaine also pointed out how having a band and wanting to make great music is rough on its own, especially if you’re starting a band with your friends. He said:
“You got a band that’s got four people that are playing. And they’re all guys that play music, it doesn’t mean they’re musicians. And you make a couple of changes. And now all of a sudden, you got four musicians in your band, and you start to excel, and you become a star. And you’re happy with that.
