David Ellefson has been talking songwriting splits – that tricky issue that has sunk friendships in so many bands and one, as he explains, that was also problematic in Megadeth.
Talking to The Metal Voice podcast, Ellefson, said it was “always an issue in Megadeth – always. We'd have many conversations about it. Youthanasia (their 1994 album) we went into it — it was actually Nick's (Menza, drummer) idea. He goes, 'Let's just pre-decide upfront how much everybody's gonna get.'
"That way when we're showing up every day, whoever brings the best idea that day will get used and it won't have any agenda of, 'Well, he's gonna make more money than me' or 'How come he's got more songs on a record than me?'
"Just bring your best, and if it turns out they're all Dave and Marty (Friedman, ex-Megadeth) songs, then whatever — at least me and Nick will get paid too.”
“And it turned out to be, I think, a pretty fair split of stuff. Now, it only worked on one album, and Dave didn't wanna do it anymore after that. But it was a great album and is one of the more esteemed, especially internationally, one of the greatest Megadeth records that we made — 'cause it feels like a group; it feels like a team."
"The more fair you can be on all of it, the better, at least in the beginning," the bassist added. "And then, as often happens, one or two people try to grab the rest of it and take it for themselves and then bands fall apart.
"So, yeah, it's not often you see a group - Rush is one of the very few where they somehow had a friendship in there and they made it work financially, they made it work creatively.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Ellefson insisted that there is “nothing slanderous” about Dave Mustaine in the upcoming documentary about Menza’s years in Megadeth.
“I think it's very fair and I went to great lengths to make sure that Dave (Mustaine) is viewed very fairly and he's held in high esteem,” Ellefson said. “There's absolutely nothing slanderous toward Dave (Mustaine) at all in it. I made sure of that because you know Dave was my partner during that time and I think it's fair. Dave (Mustaine) and I always had a saying you know you praise in public you criticise in private.”
The Menza film, This Was My Life: Nick Menza’s Metal Memories with Megadeth and Beyond is set for release for this spring.
