My Life With Deth: Discovering Meaning in a Life of Rock & Roll by David Ellefson & Joel McIver

Author:David Ellefson & Joel McIver [Ellefson, David & McIver, Joel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Music Biography
ISBN: 9781476728223
Google: mffvAwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2014-07-08T15:57:34+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

The End of an Era

“Most people adjust their lives to meet their goals, but addicts adjust their goals to meet their lives.”

—Anonymous

Life goes on despite the sadness of bereavement, and I remained on pretty solid ground with my new life during this period. There really is strength in numbers when you’re trying to move away from old playgrounds, playmates, and playthings. This was the first big proving ground for me of my motivation for being clean. When I watched other addicts go back down the old roads, it initially looked like fun. It was the morning after that didn’t look so pretty.

Megadeth continued to work as prolifically as ever. In 1993, we recorded a song for the Beavis and Butt-Head compilation album The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience. At the same time, we were also asked to cover a Black Sabbath song for the Nativity in Black tribute album. We went into that session at Enterprise Studios in Burbank, where we had done Countdown to Extinction, and right away I suggested that we do “Paranoid.” It was easy, and it was one of the more popular Sabbath songs. I used to play it in cover bands back in Minnesota. It was a no-brainer.

When Dave called, saying he wanted to get started on our next album, Youthanasia, it was a real relief for me to start working again. From a recovery point of view I had never sat down and made amends with him before. In early 1994 I sat down with him at the Orange Tree resort in Phoenix, where he and I sometimes played golf together, and I made amends with him. It was important that I clear my side of the street, and I felt it necessary to sit down man-to-man and clean a few things up. You can’t walk around with a life of resentment. It was great, because it started a new journey for us.

This was an exciting time, personally as well as professionally. When we moved out to Arizona, Julie cashed in her pension and put it in the bank. I had bought our house, but it was a little scary because I had taken this risk assuming that we would record another Megadeth album. It was a real leap of faith, and I had no backup plan. After all, I had no plans for a solo career. I grew up wanting to be in a band, because I was seeking camaraderie and a brotherhood to lock arms with. I wanted the band to work.

I started writing some songs with a friend of mine, Pat Schunk, who was a great guy from the Midwest I’d met through Nick Menza. Nick, Pat, and I would go mountain biking in the hills of Los Angeles just above the San Fernando Valley, in and around the Rust in Peace and Countdown to Extinction records. We hit it off and started writing some tunes together at his home in Studio City, a few blocks from where I lived at the time.

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