In an interview with Loudwire Nights, Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine revealed that he values personality and has a preference for his players.
“I guess one of the most important things is who they are as a person,” the rocker said. “They can be great players, and I’ve had great players that were really hard to get into a relationship with. Not saying that that’s anybody’s fault. I have a part in all this stuff, too.”
He also revealed what he has been actually looking for except for the talent: “But I guess what I’m looking for, besides the talent part, is just whether or not they’re going to be able to handle the air at this altitude. Because, as you get more successful, the pressures change, and they increase.”
Megadeth changed two of their members in the span of three years. James LoMenzo replaced David Ellefson and Teemu Mäntysaari replaced Kiko Loureiro.
“Well, we are a band again. It doesn’t feel like me and some side players or some session guys,” Mustaine said of Mäntysaari’s addition to the band in a different interview. “Not that it felt like that with any of the previous lineups, but that was one of the fears that I had. I feel like Kiko did us a really huge courtesy by helping us find Teemu because with Kiko needing to step down… I thought I was gonna finish my career out with Kiko, and when things came up with him, he couldn’t tour anymore because he needed to be home for his kids.”
He added: “So I see he’s touring again, which I’m happy that he’s still playing. But he had to go home. And when he did, he introduced us to Teemu. And it was an even closer connection between me and Teemu than Kiko and I had. We’ll [Kiko and I] always be friends, but this new relationship I have is — it harkens me back to the days when we had Marty Friedman in the band and the four of us actually felt like a band.”
Although Mustaine thinks Mäntysaari was a great choice for the band, he is disappointed that Loureiro had to leave.