Being one of the undisputed architects of thrash metal, Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine knows exactly what it takes to survive the brutal realities of the music industry. With over four decades of experience navigating band dynamics, business deals, and lineup shifts, the legendary guitarist recently offered some remarkably pragmatic advice for up-and-coming artists trying to make their mark.
During a recent interview with Brazil’s “92.5 Kiss FM,” the frontman was asked what words of wisdom he would pass down to the next generation of bands. He quickly pointed to the critical mistake of prioritizing personal relationships over musical competence and professional infrastructure.
”Well, you’ve gotta circle yourself with the right people. If you have a band, you’ve gotta look at the performers in the band. Do you have someone that’s in the band because he’s your buddy or because he’s a great f**king drummer? Or a great guitar player? Or is he my brother-in-law? ‘Cause that’s usually the first indication that you’re not gonna make it. And then you’ve gotta make sure you have a good team — a good manager, a good attorney, a good business manager, which is an accountant. If you have those things, and most importantly you’ve got good songs, you’re on your way,” he advised.
This fiercely unsentimental approach to band building is a philosophy Mustaine has championed for years. Earlier this year, during a January conversation with Clash Music, he elaborated on his strict rule against mixing business with existing friendships. When asked to highlight former Megadeth members who perhaps didn’t receive enough credit for their contributions, he used the opportunity to explain his hiring process.
“All of them were great. When you have great musicians, the next thing that comes along is asking, ‘Are they great people?’ ‘Do you have a great friendship?’ I’ve never hired anyone that was a friend.”
He continued, emphasizing that aspiring musicians need a solid foundation in real-world economics just as much as they need chops on their instruments.
“I always say in interviews or meet-and-greets, when people ask me about what advice I’d give to new bands, I say, ‘Stay in school’, because you need to be smart,” Mustaine continued. “I tell people you need to stay in school but also learn certain things they don’t teach you, like check books and compound interest. The other thing I say is ‘don’t hire your friends’. Because if you have to let a person go, you’re going to lose a friend too.”
He further clarified the boundary between professional colleagues and personal buddies: “I’ve always hired people and got into a business relationship and over time become friends with some. Then, when the work stops, it depends on where we are. Say you work in a restaurant; if someone leaves McDonald’s to go work in Taco Bell, I don’t think they spend a lot of time calling the guys in McDonald’s to say what’s up. But if you have a friendship or pre-existing friendship, it’s different.”
Megadeth‘s own history is famously punctuated by numerous roster changes. However, Dave Mustaine doesn’t view this revolving door as a negative, but rather as an inevitable part of keeping the creative engine running. Speaking to Consequence back in 2023, he defended the band’s historical turnover while praising the undeniable chemistry of the current incarnation.
Reflecting on the industry as a whole, he noted that “there hasn’t been that many” shifts in his own group “when you think about how many some of these bands go through. A lot of popular bands will go through lineup changes and sometimes it’s really bad for the band,” Dave explained at the time. “Other times, it’s necessary. So, I try not to hold it against guys that are in bands when they have personnel issues. Sometimes, you just end up having a different perspective, and when you guys start off doing stuff, it’s very much like a marriage, and you want to have the same vision — but it doesn’t always stay that way. So, compared to some bands, yeah, we’ve had several lineup changes, but not as many as others have. And the lineup that we have right now, I think is magic.”
He concluded, expressing immense pride in the current era of the band: “I can tell you at any given time, we may have had a period where there was a more popular person on drums or a more popular person on bass or a more popular person on lead guitar. But the magic that the band is operating under right now is so different.”
In an interview with NME earlier this year Mustaine reaffirmed his decision not to include former members into Megadeth‘s final tour.
“Yeah. If we were to look at doing that, then you’ve got some members that are deceased. You’ve got some members that I’m friends with, but they can’t play anymore like Chuck [Behler, drummer from 1987-1989]. And then you’ve got a couple guys that are saying very bad things about me in the press. So why would I want to play with those guys?”
