In a recent interview with Mike Gaube and Shaggy of 94.9 and 104.5 The Pick and Mike Gaube’s Headbangers, former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson shared insights into his early musical influences and his deep admiration for Rush. Reflecting on his journey, Ellefson spoke about growing up in the Midwest, a region that became the cradle for his passion for hard rock and metal.
“I grew up in the Midwest where, ironically, most of my favorite bands from the ’70s got me into my love of hard rock and then eventually metal, and then my professional career started in ’83 when we started Megadeth,” he said (via Blabbermouth). “But growing up in the Midwest, most of the bands that I listened to — from Kiss, Ted Nugent, Rush, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Cheap Trick, that whole kind of hard rock contingent — they pretty much cut their eyeteeth on gigging and touring through the Midwest.”
Ellefson credited Kiss as his first major musical obsession. “I guess for me, Kiss was kind of the first big love affair of hard rock music for me. Everything about it — the fantasy, all that stuff. And then, once I kind of got over that, then it was Van Halen, Boston, then Rush, Cheap Trick and all the rest of the stuff, Ted Nugent, and everything that came after that.”
Among these influences, Rush stood out, largely due to the iconic “All The World’s A Stage” album cover. “I used to see that All The World’s A Stage album cover. There was a local drug store where I used to buy, like a pharmacy on Main Street in Jackson, Minnesota, that’s where I used to buy a lot of my records. And then finally a record store opened. But All The World’s A Stage just beckoned to me. It just called to me — Marshalls, a killer drum kit, the Ampeg amps. And most importantly, they had carpet on the stage. I was, like, how [expletive] metal is that, to have carpet on your stage?”
Eventually, he gave in to the album’s allure. “And then I’d look at it and finally one day I bought it. I think probably the most striking thing for me was Geddy’s voice — that really high, screeching, shrilling voice was so different, so unique to everything, but, of course, as a bass player myself, as a young musician, hearing Geddy and Neil Peart’s, their drum combination, bass-and-drum thing, was just incredible. But they all looked cool, they sounded cool.”
Ellefson described Rush’s music as the epitome of rock and roll fantasy for him growing up. “To me, that was what rock and roll was for me growing up. It was this fantasy. Some people play fantasy football. If I had a fantasy gang to join, it would be a band. So I think that’s what my tribe did… What’s my fantasy band that I could probably be in? And I think that was, and it still is, my life pursuit, is to, like, ‘Where is that fantasy band?’ I’m still putting one together, and I’ve been in a gazillion of them. And that’s just what it is.”
He continued, “Even if we’re in bands that are successful, you kind of go, people would ask us in interviews, ‘Who’s that one person you still haven’t played with yet?’ So there’s always kind of this bucket list. So, that, to me, is kind of my overarching sort of career deal with music and Rush has always been a part of that for me.”
When asked whether Geddy Lee’s bass parts or Neil Peart’s drumming was more complicated, Ellefson shared a reflection on his evolution as a musician. “It’s interesting because when you’re growing up, you hear all this proggy stuff and you don’t really know what it is. But then, as you get in the studios, you’re working with professionals, and in the beginning, we’re always working with everybody who’s far ahead of us and advanced — and not just the musicians, but the producers and the engineers.”
He added, “So as a 15-year-old in my basement in Minnesota, I’m going, ‘Oh my God. I have no frame of reference. I’m in a jazz band and I’m learning all this stuff.’ But now I hear it and I’m going, ‘All right, it’s not that hard,’ ‘cause it’s pentatonic riffs. So everything’s kind of in these pentatonic boxes. And I think for all of us, whenever you’re playing someone else’s music or learning their parts, or maybe as I have done, you’re filling in for somebody famous, you find… Where’s kind of the center of what they do?”
Ellefson elaborated on how he deciphers musical styles. “I watch guitar players. You can tell they’ve listened to Michael Schenker. For me, Geddy… Geezer Butler from Black Sabbath, Steve Harris from Iron Maiden, and Geddy Lee from Rush, they’re kind of in this pentatonic box. And once you kind of figure out what that is, it’s like statistics. nd once you kind of figure out what that is, it’s like statistics. Where are the means and the mode and the deviation? There’s the center of it. So there’s the center. And I think for me, that’s kind of how I… all of a sudden it’s like you unlock the Geddy box, like, ‘Ah, that’s what he’s doing. Okay.’ And then on every song, you’re, ‘Ah, there it is again.’
Looking back, Ellefson sees his own style reflected in this approach. “And probably how I play as well. You kind of find the center of where I live in my parts on the fingerboard and that, and then you kind of go, ‘Oh, that’s how he plays.’ So then it’s easier to figure out someone’s parts. That, for me, is kind of the key to studying someone’s playing.”
Ellefson’s admiration for Lee extends to his literary work. Earlier this year, he praised Lee’s memoir, “My Effin’ Life,” calling it “one of the greatest books ever written.”
