Dave Mustaine Reflects on His Days in Metallica

I mean you were successful pretty early on in your life. Like how old were you when you were in your first band? Panic was the band before Metallica and that was only for a short period of time and I was 20 when I was in Metallica. So I probably started when I was around maybe 17, 18. Just think of that. Just that statement. I was 20 when I was in Metallica. I mean that. Yeah fuck you all. That is crazy. I was 20 when I was in Metallica. That is a crazy statement because if you just think about the average 20 year old's life and that and that this is look at you guys little babies. So cute. That's amazing. Does that freak you out when you look at that? No it doesn't. It kind of brings me a little bit of some sadness. Because of the way it went down with you guys? Oh I don't care about that. Because Cliff. Oh. Yeah. Yeah. When you left Metallica and then when did you go right into Megadeth? Or did you others what did you do right after Metallica? I think in my mind I went right into Megadeth but at the time I was still kind of trying to digest everything that took place. Well you were still only 20. Yeah. Yeah. The thing that bothered me the most was I had all my music and I left it behind and I said don't use my music and of course they did. Oh really? Yeah they used it on the first record, on the second record. There's parts of my music on a song on the third record. All the solos on the first record are mine except that they're just performed by Kirk and close but not the same. He's not a bad guitar player. Did you get royalties for that? Well most of them yeah but Kirk got my royalties from Metal Militia for many many years and you know he has to see the check so I know somebody saw that I wasn't getting paid. So there's a sadness and bitterness? Not bitterness. No bitterness. I'm over it. A little upset. You know it's his money. At the end of the day my happiness and my family and my wife and my children are more important to me than anything in this world and you know I love our fans. I have so many things in this life that I'm happy about but man it's my family and obviously my relationship with God. I take that very very personal and I don't talk to people about it. I don't push it on them at all. It's my thing. I just look at it like where I'm at right now. Yeah 20 in Metallica and now look at me on 60 and Megadeth and I'm a Grammy winner. I'm a New York Times bestselling author. All these things that if you know I was signing autographs the other day Joe and I had these boxes. There was 3000 jackets I had to sign and for a moment I flashed back to elementary school when I was in front of the chalkboard. I sort of got it and I had to write. Did you ever have to do that? Sure. God. And I don't know what brought that up but I thought oh my God I can't even believe that and thinking about you know where I'm at now today and you just how the slightest deviation from where I was going could have ended me up anywhere else in the world.