In a new interview with The Rock N’ Roll & Coffee Show, former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson spoke about “Lockdown”, the new single from his KINGS OF THRASH project, also featuring ex-MEGADETH guitarist Jeff Young, plus Chaz Leon (vocals, guitar) and DEAD GROOVE/BULLETBOYS drummer Fred Aching, along with an occasional guest appearance by fellow ex-MEGADETH-er Chris Poland. he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “We wanted to get some material out, some original material here in 2025, ’cause we’ve got some tour dates coming up here in September and October. So actually Chaz brought the song over. And I gave him some instructions. I said, ‘Dude, 1984, full-blown thrash metal.’ I said, ‘Just head for NUCLEAR ASSAULT ‘Game Over’, METALLICA ‘Ride The Lightning’. Just go right to the heart of the matter.’ ‘Cause he’s got a real thrash heart. And plus he’s our singer. ‘Cause we’ve written quite a bit of material together, and we wanted something that really just kind of came out of the gate swinging. And I find it’s always better to write around the singer and let him kind of lead the charge. So I thought he brought a cool tune, man. And we collaborated on it and got it into shape. I think the time when he was writing it — this started back even in January, February when we were initially working on it — I don’t think we saw probably how poignant the lyric is, in light of all of the unrest going on now. So, yeah, as a good thrash song should be, maybe a bit political, a bit anarchist, and always good fun.”
Elaborating on the need for KINGS OF THRASH to release fresh music, Ellefson said: ”It started out as sort of a, ‘Let’s go honor thrash metal.’ We pulled in a little bit of THIN LIZZY and some RIOT and some stuff that we grew up on as well. And then I think the next logical step to kind of legitimize yourself is to write your own tunes. And even though, look, some of the MEGADETH stuff is stuff that I wrote, and so they already are my songs, and Jeff and Chris were part of ’em, of course. So that setlist is our music. But to move forward, it’s always good to sort of freshen it up a little bit and show everybody what you got. We had another song called ‘Bridges Burned’ that we rolled out in 2023 when we did our first tour, and we literally wrote it on the road. Jeff and I had pretty much demoed it up in the studio the year before, so kind of musically it was pretty much together. But we collaborated on it as a group at soundcheck, tightened it up. Me and Chaz and Jeff sat down and wrote the lyrics in a hotel room while we were on the tour. And then we said, ‘We’ll take it to the stage.’ And our crew were, like, ‘Dude, you guys can’t play that on stage.’ I said, ‘Oh, really? Watch this.’ Like, why not? And who knows if we’ll ever even officially record that, but it sits out on the Internet now. It’s on YouTube… It’s, like, why not, man? It’s thrash metal, dude. This is the kick-ass, have-fun, get-in-the-pit-and-fricking punch-your-neighbor music.”
Regarding the possibility of a full-length album of original KINGS OF THRASH material, David said: “It’s possible. I’m certainly not gonna say no to it. I tell you what, it was great to just do one song. Making a record is a lot of work, especially when you live in different cities and you’re trying to collaborate. One of the things about KINGS is we are not four of the same guy. We are four very different individuals, and so to sort of be agreeable on something, I’m not gonna lie, it’s a bit of a challenge. And quite honestly, it’s the diversity that makes KINGS so cool. And I guess I come from that even with MEGADETH. And Chris Poland, Jeff Young, they were sort of the diverse guitar players to Dave [Mustaine, MEGADETH leader]. So I grew up in an environment that kind of expected that. So to have KINGS mirror that, I think is cool. I’m already used to that dynamic. And having everybody not just agree on everything, but everybody bring a bit of a different perspective, it’s cool. I mean, that’s ultimately what a group is about. I mean, look, every group needs a leader. To some degree I lead a lot of it. I put Jeff over there to sort of put setlists together and do that. With this song ‘Lockdown’, I tasked Chaz with that and said, ‘Hey, go do that.’ Fred, he’s our liaison with the record label. He does all of our artwork and everything. He shot the video, he produced it and directed it and everything. So, we’ve got four really creative guys that do very different things. So it’s, like, we’ve got four guys that really contribute something. And that’s great — to have four different dudes.”
KINGS OF THRASH recently completed a couple of tours during which it performed MEGADETH‘s classic albums “Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good” an “So Far…So Good… So What!” A live CD/DVD package called “Best Of The West…Live At The Whisky A Go Go” was recorded and filmed live at the legendary Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California on October 15, 2022 and was released in March 2023 via Cleopatra Records. The DVD, which was directed by Michael Sarna for Inmotion Entertainment, includes an appearance by Poland.
“Let me put it this way: What’s happening now is a win for all of us — Dave [Mustaine] included,” Young told Metal Edge in August 2023. “He gets to make money off the publishing from the MEGADETH songs we play. Dave knows that, so he’s very aware of us.”
Young continued: “He hates what KINGS OF THRASH is doing. But it doesn’t matter because, eventually, we’ll delete a lot of the MEGADETH from our set, and we’ll keep writing new stuff. But Dave is feeling the heat because we’re getting attention, and the KINGS OF THRASH album will be better than anything MEGADETH has done recently. And we’re playing all the MEGADETH songs better than he has in years. It’s not just me saying that — read the reviews.”
In January 2023, Young told Ultimate Guitar that he and Ellefson had not received any feedback from Mustaine about their new band or their recent live shows. “We couldn’t care less… and it’s a win-win for him,” Jeff said. “Because all the publishing, for example, on the ‘Best Of The West’, he’s getting all that money. We’re making him money and he doesn’t have to do anything. So, we’re performing the songs because they’re part of our history and the fans want to hear them and we will benefit from that, and so will he, so it’s a win-win. How much cooler can anything be than that? So, if he has something to say about it… I wouldn’t imagine it would be very objective… not that anything he’s ever said has been objective.”
Jeff‘s recent comments were similar to those he made in 2022 when he told Thomas S. Orwat, Jr. of the Rock Interview Series that he and Ellefson were “really not concerned” about Mustaine‘s reaction to KINGS OF THRASH. “I don’t pay attention,” he said. “I haven’t really paid attention or followed MEGADETH since, I think, I heard the ‘Rust In Peace’ album a couple of times, and then what you might hear on the radio or in the press.
“For us, this isn’t about any spite or retaliation; it’s a celebration of the music that we were all a part of, that we helped create,” he explained. “And it’s fun for us to do this.
“People said, ‘You should do this.’ And we said, ‘Hey, yeah, you’re right. We should do this.’ It’s a win-win — it’s a win for us, and it’s a win for [Mustaine], because any performance royalties, anything… If we did include live tracks, he would make money off that. It’s promoting albums that hopefully fans will go back and buy, which is putting money right in his pocket. Especially ‘Killing Is My Business’, I think a lot of people are gonna go back and wanna rediscover that album after this tour.
“For us, it’s all about positivity,” Young added. “We’re all in this moment — we’re living in the moment, and we’re not looking beyond. We’re not reading any of the comments on Blabbermouth or any of the stuff. Because we know what our intent is, and intent is everything. And our intent’s positive. We like playing together. We know we’re crafting original music. We’re not relying on this; we don’t need to ride the coattails of this. This is just something that the fans wanted, and you wanna give fans what they want.”
Ellefson told Yes! You CAN Play Guitar! that the intention behind KINGS OF THRASH is not to stick it to his former bandmates. “This is a celebration, not a retaliation,” he explained. “This is a good moment. This is a happy moment, to celebrate these songs and these tracks and these records. So we go at it with just fun… It’s, like, ‘Wow. Wouldn’t it be fun if we went out and played these records?’ And we’re doing it. So it’s meant to be this celebration and bringing people together. And honestly, that was kind of always my role in MEGADETH. Dave [Mustaine] always called me ‘The Ambassador’, and I was always that guy, and I am that guy. So it’s, like, let me just continue that role in our community and have one of good will.”
Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH three years ago after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.
David was in MEGADETH from the band’s inception in 1983 to 2002, and again from 2010 until his latest exit.
In 2004, Ellefson filed an $18.5-million lawsuit against Mustaine, alleging the MEGADETH leader shortchanged him on profits and backed out of a deal to turn Megadeth Inc. over to him when the band broke up in 2002. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed and Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH in 2010.
Young‘s entire career with MEGADETH was spent recording and touring in support of the band’s 1988 platinum-selling album “So Far, So Good…So What!”
Jeff made headlines in December 2009 for accusing Mustaine of, among other things, “dissing, exaggerating and just plain lying on some level about nearly every talented musician that has passed through his dysfunctional little ensemble.” He also disputed Mustaine‘s claim in an interview that Young‘s drug problem led to MEGADETH‘s 1988 Australian tour being called off and the group being “banned” from performing in the country.
There’s more KINGS OF THRASH on the way, too, as they celebrate the 30th anniversary of MEGADETH‘s “Youthanasia” and other thrash classics. Their “Thrashin’ SoCal” mini tour ignites at the Whisky on September 4, before “Thrashin’ The East” begins in Frenchtown, New Jersey on October 17. Young said: “We can’t wait to hear everybody singing the ‘Lockdown’ chorus with us live!”
Content shared from blabbermouth.net.