Dave Ellefson – Megadeth

A band and a person that need absolutely no introduction, Dave Ellefson of Megadeth fame is headed to our shores for a unique and possibly eye-opening event – his Spoken Word tour. Having recently released his biography ‘My Life With Deth’, Ellefson is all set to do a series of shows around the country where fans will get the chance to listen to the legendary bassist and founding member’s experiences, stories about his life being in one of the biggest metal bands known to mankind and also talk about his book. There will also be a bass demo, a video presentation and an interactive session. Metal Obsession had the oppurtunity to catch up with Ellefson recently for a quick chat!

Dave Ellefson being Dave Ellefson has a lot happening at the moment. “Yeah it’s going great, things are going really well. Megadeth’s busy, we’re writing songs getting into the studio to get the new album and recording it and busy with a few other things.  Been really busy with Metal Allegiance working with some really good friends of mine. Also looking forward to my tour of Australia!”

Dave mentioned how the idea for a Spoken Word Tour came about. “No I have not and to be able to do something like this for the first time and in Australia where I haven’t been  in almost four years is awesome because I love the country; people are so friendly, the country is beautiful, there’s so much to see, so yes it is pretty exciting for me. As for the idea, well, it sort of hit me about a year ago when my autobiography (My Life With Deth) had just launched and  when you write a book it sort of opens up your life to other people and I was approached to do gigs like this and that’s how the whole thing started – because of my book.”

So what exactly can fans expect from this massive event? “Well I’ll be talking about my life as a musician and essentially the tour will be based on my book which offers a whole lot of insight into my personal life, my years of being in Megadeth, my journey, a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff and moments that were special to me and also things I learnt from like my years of addiction. There’s a lot of stuff that people don’t know and I’m hoping with this tour that I’m able to answer a lot of questions, and share my experiences with the fans. there’s going to be specific parts of the book I’ll be talking about, a video, a few stories and in general it’s just going to be a fun night out for people. It’s also a chance for me to get up close with the fans and get to know them so I’m really looking forward to it.”

We also talked about his biography and why he felt the need to write one, which addresses many personal details of Ellefson’s life such as overcoming addiction, the Megadeth journey and being a reborn Christian. “Well, you know, it is becoming increasingly popular among musicians to write books about their experiences an personally I thought it was a great idea too – to share what I know and what I’ve learnt over the years with other people. I got to work with such a great writer too, Joel is brilliant and it was fun to do it really. When you write a book, you have to choose what you want to elaborate on and the things that you don’t really want to go into too much detail with. But like I said, writing a book also means dealing with past experiences, and looking back and when I started that process of writing I realized ‘Wow, I really do have a story to tell!’. A big part of my story though is to be inspirational,in that there is also a faith component. In my book I  wanted it to be about faith, hope and heavy metal. So to me that’s what my life is about and the same goes for my Spoken Word tour.”

“Having been sober for a while and getting over addiction has definitely brought me a sense of relief.  It’s certainly not an easy thing to face after you spend a good amount of time doing drugs and playing music, it all just happens. The moment you take that step and own up to the fact that you are an addict, that’s the light for you. My moment of light was when I decided to go clean 20 years ago and from then on it was just one success after another.”

With the recent departure of Shawn and Chris, Dave talked about where he sees Megadeth going from here. ” Well, there will always be new twists and turns to Megadeth, we’ve seen that from the very beginning and you’ll hear it in the music as well. But for them I think that it was just the right time for them to move on. Both of them are amazing people and outstanding musicians and the band will always be grateful for what they’ve done. Personally I think it’s great that they’re working on something else now and that they will be able to experiment in other projects. Right now, me and Dave – we’re completing work on the new album, that’s our main focus. We’re keeping all our options open when it comes to people we think will fit in with Megadeth and the kind of direction the band is going in. The album, the music will determine that!”

Trust us when we say this is something you do not want to miss! So grab your tickets now and catch the mighty Dave Ellefson on one of the dates below: 

Tuesday 24th March @ The Civic Hotel, Perth

Thursday 26th March @ The Factory Theater, Sydney

Friday 27th March @ The Prince Bandroom, Melbourne

Saturday 28th March @ The Hi-Fi, Brisbane

Sunday 29th @ The Gov, Adelaide

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