Megadeth 2010. Photo by Stephanie Cabral

By Pat Prince

On Barnes & Noble’s Web Site, Dave Mustaine’s memoir, “Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir,” is described as a “Dickensian life” in brash marketing terms:

Impoverished, transient childhood? Check.
Abusive, alcoholic parent? Check.
Mind-f**king religious weirdness (in his case the extremes of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Satanism)? Check.
Alcoholism, drug addiction, homelessness? Check, check, check. …

And so on.

We get it. Many already know that Dave Mustaine has had a troubled and complicated life without reading his memoir. But Mustaine’s life is much clearer now. Clean and sober and spiritually balanced, Mustaine is cherishing the camaraderie of a current tour with Slayer and Testament (the band Anthrax is to join later) called the “American Carnage” tour. The name is a bit overdramatic but heavy metal has never been known for its subtlety. Nonetheless, the combined musical experience can be best described as brutally brilliant.

With bassist David Ellefson returning to the fold this year — Mustaine has forgiven him for an unsuccessful lawsuit regarding royalties and rights — everything seems rightly aligned in the Megadeth universe.

Goldmine briefly caught up with Dave Mustaine on the “American Carnage” tour after a sound check in Detroit, Michigan.

The “Big Four” (Megadeth, Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer) are categorized thrash metal bands, and the “American Carnage” tour is advertised as a thrash tour, but I don’t think of Megadeth as a thrash band.
Dave Mustaine: Yeah, I know. I don’t either, but people think that way, so … I don’t know, I really don’t care. It’s just fun to be playing with these guys. They’re just great bands.

Any chance there will ever be a side project with some of these guys you are now touring with — getting together, jamming together …?
Mustaine: It depends, you know. A lot of that depends on who you are talking about. Last night we were at the bar and we were talking — Shawn Drover and myself with Kerry King — and we talked about playing a song together and, you know, it just shows you the power of thrash metal and the brotherhood that we have, and the power of forgiveness with everything that took place, with me getting David (Ellefson) back, me changing my life around, and here we are not only touring with Slayer but talking about playing onstage again with Kerry. That’s just great stuff. I’m really excited about all this.

But I can picture you doing a solo/side project someday, maybe doing covers of New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands.
Mustaine: That’s interesting.

Just because you were a huge fan of that period. Do you still listen to that stuff?
Mustaine: Actually, a couple of the bands. Not a lot of them. There were a lot of different bands. If you think about it, there was a ton of different bands and it depended on what year it was. And in the process of a few years in the heavy metal scene, from the ’80s to the ’90s, every year it almost doubled itself with the popularity of the bands and the technology. Because when we first started we were using tape and we would record on tape, making records and cassettes. And now that’s all changed and records don’t even matter anymore, they’re like business cards, and that’s a shame because you pour your life into something like that and then someone listens to it and just throws it into their glove box.

A lot of the bands I liked were Motörhead, Mercyful Fate, Diamond Head, but also bands like UFO and Led Zep and Judas Priest, too. I like old school rock. I like Jazz stuff. I love punk rock, old school punk rock. There’s a lot of stuff that I grew up listening to that alot of other people probably think is corny like some of the New Wave stuff that I listened to when I was a surf punk, like Devo and Split Enz, but that’s all just stuff that helps define me of who I was growing up as a little surfer.

I do like how Dave Ellefson is wearing an Angel Witch shirt in a recent promo shot (above).
Mustaine: Yeah, that was my shirt. (laughs)

How did it feel getting Dave Ellefson back in the band?
Mustaine: Yeah, it felt pretty good. He’s a good guy. We had our falling out, obviously, when my arm got hurt I had to break the band up and he didn’t really like that too much. Then the lawsuit happened. It was dismissed and he lost. And we met and he apologized and I figured how can I not forgive him. He’s my little brother and he made a dumb decision and I love him, and he’s my friend, so … You know, I don’t know if he won what would have happened, but he lost, and I’m Christian and I’ve been forgiven so I have to forgive him. There’s just no way that I can think that I deserve to be forgiven if I’m not going to do the same. And that set up the whole feeling of what’s going on here, right now. There’s just such a great feeling of camaraderie. Now I’m not saying it’s the Christian forgiveness that I experienced with Dave Ellefson that has permeated the whole tour but I will say this: everybody is getting along really well and we are getting along better than we did when we did “Clash of the Titans” (90-91). And if you can remember, we did Clash with Slayer and Testament overseas in Europe. So this is like the European version of “Clash of the Titans” if we had Suicidal Tendencies on here.

Sharing the tour with Slayer … Do any of the Satanic themes of Slayer bother you?
Mustaine: No. I’m not really really familiar with Slayer’s stuff, so it doesn’t really bother me. I like the guys in the band and their music is really aggressive. Their live show is really happening and it’s just one of those shows you gotta see. Tom (Araya) had an injury that kind of set him back a little but the band still has enough adrenaline going for them that even with his adjustment after his surgery they’re still a force to be reckoned with. And I’m proud to be touring with them. And then Testament has two really great guitar players, with Eric Peterson and Alex Skolnick.

And soon there will be the addition of Anthrax.
Mustaine: Yeah. That’s another one of the Big Four. And a lot of people have said that Testament should have been one of the Big Four. And, of course, I can add, that would have made it the Big Five. Plus I think it would have been awesome if Anthrax could have been on the tour when Testament’s on here. I’m not sure if Testament is still going to be on here when Anthrax comes on. I hope they do, it’ll be really great, but I’m not sure that they’re going to.

Anyway, back in the ’80s, people probably took the Satanic stuff seriously. No one really cares as much now. Back then, it was a huge thing.
Mustaine: See, that’s the scary thing, too.

That no one cares?
Mustaine: Yeah, that no one cares. Well, I do. One of the greatest tricks that the devil has ever done is convincing people he doesn’t exist.

As a Christian, do you fee like there is, in the world right now, an increasing lack of faith?
Mustaine: I think as times are changing and people, they all have different things that they hold dear, and as we progress as a race, the things that matter to us don’t matter to us anymore. Sitting down and having a meal with somebody used to matter. It doesn’t matter anymore. You just stuff your face and you’re off to the next appointment.

In your new book, do you talk a lot about religion?
Mustaine: No, not a lot. It’s balanced. My whole life is a life of balance and I think the book is really well-balanced.

What’s next for Megadeth? Are you writing songs right now?
Mustaine: I do when I feel like it. If something moves me and therefore I want to pick up the guitar and play about it, and certainly it’s going to be written about. But the thing is, there’s a lot of stuff that happens through the course of the day … it’s moving, but it doesn’t make me want to write anything.

BAD LIEUTENANT is comprised of (from left) Bernard Sumner, Jake Evans and Phil Cunningham. Photo courtesy Joel Chester Fildes

By Peter Lindblad

Not every studio is Abbey Road, and New Order co-founder Bernard Sumner, now playing guitar and singing with Bad Lieutenant, has plied his trade in some real dumps.

“I remember playing a rehearsal studio with New Order that had rats in it,” recalls Sumner.

As far as Sumner knows, the home studio of his Bad Lieutenant band mate, Jake Evans, is free of vermin. That’s a plus. But the facility does present its own unique set of challenges, ones Bad Lieutenant had to overcome while recording parts of their fall 2009 album “Never Cry Another Tear.”

“The control room is a reasonably sized control room, but the only way to describe it is, it’s shaped like a coffin,” says Sumner. “You put the speakers at one end, which is not ideal. It has all the ambiance of a Gestapo interrogation room. There’s a light bulb hanging off the ceiling. There are no chairs in there.”

Though spotless, perhaps even antiseptic, the studio’s Spartan atmosphere offers little inspiration for creative types like Sumner. The other distractions, including a karate studio upstairs, made it even tougher for Bad Lieutenant to get anything done.

“The studio is typical of Jake’s organization skills,” jokes Sumner, who seems to take real pleasure in busting his band mate’s chops. “The studio is good, clean. That’s the only good thing about it. Like most musicians, Jake gets to work late. He starts about 1 p.m. Then school gets out, and karate class starts about 4 p.m. And then, about 4:30 p.m., there’s a heavy-metal drummer, and he’s got a tribute band in the next room playing away.”

If that was the only studio Bad Lieutenant had access to, “Never Cry Another Tear” might never have reached the finish line. But Sumner, Evans and Phil Cunningham, part of the last incarnation of New Order, and Sumner’s former Joy Division band mate, drummer Stephen Morris, plus bassist Tom Chapman, didn’t spend all their time at Evans’ studio.

True DIY vagabonds, Bad Lieutenant pieced “Never Cry Another Tear” in various home studios. And those familiar with New Order will hear echoes of Sumner’s other band in Bad Lieutenant, the pristine, with streamlined guitar parts that Sumner is famous for at front and center, along with his earnest vocals.

That doesn’t mean Sumner dominates the proceedings. Along with sharing vocals with Evans, Sumner shares guitar duties with Cunningham and Evans, and their melodic, hook-filled parts are woven together to cast a magical spell of sparklingly danceable, New-Wave rock brimming with romance and ennui.

Some have wondered when Sumner might embark on a solo project. This is not it. Bad Lieutenant is a product of various points of view and contributions from all involved, including Blur’s Alex James. In fact, Bad Lieutenant would conduct three-day studio sessions to get everyone together to write.

“It was very much a band thing,” says Sumner. “Everyone chipped in. It’s been said to me, ‘Are you going to make a solo album?’ But it should be fun. I enjoy working with people if they’re the right people. You get better results with three brains and three sets of tastes.”

Still, it took time for all the parts of Bad Lieutenant to come together. The first four months, according to Sumner, were spent trying to get to know everyone, even though Sumner knew Cunningham from New Order and James “ … is a long-standing friend of mine,” says Sumner.

As for Evans, he was a bit of a wild card. Hailing from Macclesfield in the U.K., a place where Morris and tragic hero Ian Curtis met to plot out Joy Division’s Dark Wave revolution, Evans leads the upstart U.K. combo Rambo And Leroy. He’s also a friend of Cunningham’s. Sumner first heard him sing and play a Neil Young song at a birthday party. Then, Rambo And Leroy supported New Order at the band’s last gig, and for Evans, a big New Order fan, that led to a part in Sumner’s new project.

“Yeah, we met at a friend’s birthday party,” recalls Sumner. “A guy was playing acoustic guitar, and Jake, not being very organized, had not brought a present. He claims he was on the dole, which is partially true, but instead of a present, he would play a song. It was ‘Like A Hurricane’ or something, and when he did it, I thought, ‘The guy’s got a lot of balls to get up in a crowded restaurant and do it note-perfect.’”

NEW ORDER (circa 1989), which formed from the ashes of Joy Division, put Bernard Sumner in the spotlight as lead singer. Photo courtesy Andrew Catlin/courtesy of Warner Bros. Records

Bad Lieutenant began rehearsing at James’ British home, and James wound up playing on some of the “Never Cry Another Tear” tracks. But people who heard of James hooking up with Sumner would be sorely disappointed when they found out that Bad Lieutenant was not going to be a Blur/New Order supergroup.

On the new album, Sumner is particularly pleased with how the song “Sink Or Swim” turned out. “It’s so simple. No overdubs whatsoever,” he says.

Much of “Never Cry Another Tear” sounds just as effortless. And soon America will get to hear Bad Lieutenant live on a tour that was supposed to happen last fall.

“That was an administrative error,” says Sumner. “Someone made a boo-boo with the visas.”

Of course, the set list will be made up of Bad Lieutenant material. However, this tour will also offer a Sumner retrospective of sorts, as Bad Lieutenant plans on playing songs from Joy Division, New Order and other one-offs Sumner has done with other groups. “Which is really the first time I’ll ever have played them live,” he says.

Talking about the set list, Sumner adds, “We’ve spent a lot of time putting it together, gluing it together. There was a bit of to-ing and fro-ing involved. Jake just wanted to play Bad Lieutenant songs, but people want to hear the old stuff.”

What about the Joy Division songs? Hearing Sumner play them again will certainly bring back a lot of memories, including Curtis’ suicide, which brought Joy Division to an end.

“I dropped {Joy Division songs] when Ian died, and for 10 years I didn’t play any Joy Division songs,” says Sumner. “The decision [to play them again] is ethical. Jake’s enjoying it. It’s his first time on tour, and it’s nice seeing it through his eyes. He loves playing live. They’re a good bunch of guys to be with. I enjoy playing with those guys more than I’ve enjoying playing with anybody in a long time, which is what it’s about. If it became a job, I wouldn’t like doing it. Being in a band is like eternal adolescence. I don’t want to be 95 and buy a house and cut the grass. In my head, I do feel that eternal adolescence.”

by John Curley—The brilliant and gripping drama Ashes to Ashes returns to BBC America tomorrow night (Tuesday, May 11th) with the first episode of the show’s second series. Ashes to Ashes will air on Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. Eastern with repeat airings at 1 a.m. Eastern and 3 a.m. Eastern early Wednesday mornings. The first seven minutes of the first episode of Series 2 can be viewed in the video above. (I believe that Ashes to Ashes will also be available for viewing anytime after the airdate on BBC America On Demand, but I’m not able to confirm that.) 

Like its predecessor Life on Mars, which was set in the early 1970s, Ashes to Ashes concerns a cop seriously injured in the line of duty who seemingly goes back in time following the injury. Ashes to Ashes’ Detective Inspector Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes) is a cop in modern-day London who was shot at the start of the first series and upon “waking up,” finds herself in 1981 and working under Detective Chief Inspector Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister), a character also featured in Life on Mars. Series 2 of Ashes to Ashes places the characters in 1982. 

In addition to featuring well-drawn characters, interesting storylines, razor-sharp dialogue, and, for better or worse, the fashions of the early 1980s, Ashes to Ashes also has a fantastic soundtrack that is chock full of the music of the time. (Ashes to Ashes, like Life on Mars, is named after a David Bowie song. The clown from Bowie’s “Ashes to Ashes” video featured quite a bit in the first series of Ashes to Ashes.)

Ashes to Ashes is a wonderful nostalgia trip for those of us that remember the embryonic years of MTV and all of the videos by the UK-based New Wave and New Romantic bands and solo artists that MTV played back then. Among the songs that will feature in Series 2 of Ashes to Ashes are: 

“Rio” by Duran Duran
“Love Plus One” by Haircut 100
“Rat Race” by The Specials
“Tempted” by Squeeze
“Town Called Malice” by The Jam
“Wishing” by Flock of Seagulls
“Lies” by the Thompson Twins
“Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie
“The Man Who Sold The World” by David Bowie
“Ace of Spades” by Motorhead
“Hot In The City” by Billy Idol
“Goody Two Shoes” by Adam and the Ants 

To find out more about the use of music in Series 2 of Ashes to Ashes (and to ask one question about the future of the show), I contacted series co-creator and writer Ashley Pharoah via e-mail. The Q&A follows: 

Do you write the songs into the scripts?
Ashley Pharoah: Yes, we certainly do. Sometimes we have battles in the cutting room when directors try and change them but we’re mostly victorious. 

Have you had difficulty getting the rights to use some of the songs that you wanted?
Ashley Pharoah: For some reason, it was easier for the 1980s than the 1970s. Perhaps they need the money more. 

Series 2 takes place in 1982. What bands and artists were you listening to in 1982? And how enjoyable is it to get to use some of the music that you loved back then in the show?
Ashley Pharoah: It’s a huge pleasure. I was something of a New Romantic back then, so listened to a lot of the obvious—Spandau Ballet, Scritti Politti, Grace Jones, Dexys Midnight Runners. I loved Squeeze. There was also some very interesting music coming out of Bristol, my home city—Pigbag, Rip Rig and Panic. And I was obsessed with early Tom Waits.

 I’ve heard that the show will come to an end at the conclusion of Series 3. Are there any plans to do another series that will bring Gene Hunt into the grunge years of the early 1990s?
Ashley Pharoah: Nope, we end A2A3 in 1983 and that’s where we will end the TV series forever. I think it’s come to a natural conclusion. It’s been a 13-year journey from inception to the final credits. 

For additional information about Series 2 of Ashes to Ashes on BBC America, go to http://www.bbcamerica.com/content/350/index.jsp. 

For more on the music featured in Series 2 of Ashes to Ashes, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/ashestoashes/music/seriestwo/.

Series 2 of Ashes to Ashes on BBC America features a fantastic soundtrack of early 1980s music.

by Susan Sliwicki

When Jacques van Gool began planning Backstage Auctions’ 2010 game plan, it started with items from drummer Johny Barbata, whose collection van Gool had promised to include the first auction of the year.

When van Gool realized he could accommodate additional lots, he invited more consignors to join the event. The plan was working fabulously, until Walter O’Brien’s collection came into play.

“It was so big, we really had to split it up into two collections,” van Gool said. While a portion of O’Brien’s collection will be featured in the Vintage Pop and Rock Auction in May, the remainder will headline another auction later this year.

Van Gool was at O’Brien’s home, evaluating items for auction, when O’Brien mentioned his media room, almost as an afterthought.

“He said, ‘You know, I have some vinyl in that room, too, if you’re interested’,” van Gool recalled. “We opened the door, and I ended up with probably 25 boxes full of vinyl, and it is absolutely amazing stuff.”

O’Brien’s classic rock items from the 1960s and 1970s are part of the May auction; hard-rock and heavy metal pieces will be featured in an upcoming Backstage Auctions event.

Record lovers will enjoy diving into O’Brien’s extensive vintage vinyl collection, which features everything from prog and punk to New Wave and synth pop in beautiful condition.

“The vinyl lots that we have are so impressive, because most of his vinyl is U.K. pressings, which every collector will tell you the British vinyl is hands-down the most collectible vinyl there is,” van Gool said.

While O’Brien’s vinyl collection certainly has volume, it’s an entry from consignor Stuart Wiener, who was a songwriter in the legendary Brill Building in Manhattan, that has an edge on rarity.

The song 'Wasting My Time' was pressed on a 10-inch acetate (78 RPM) and has aged reasonably well. Courtesy of Backstage Auctions

Bidding will start between $1,500 and $2,000 for a never-released 10-inch acetate that Wiener recorded with Paul Simon in 1958, van Gool said.

“Paul was one of the local musicians that would work for these songwriters, and they would sit and write songs and hand the song to one of the musicians and say, ‘Could you play this with me?’ “

The auction also features an incredible collection of Stiff Records albums, including a tough-to-find 7-inch record by The Damned, van Gool said.

“There’s a lot of really impressive British punk, original 1970s 7-inches and records,” van Gool said. “Whether it’s The Sex Pistols or The Damned or Generation X, or anything along those lines, it’s all there.”

Backstage Auctions can be reached online at www.backstageauctions.com, or on Twitter , or Facebook

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