Yesterday [23th October] I caught MEGADETH's ex guitar hero on a Crate demonstration in Key Music Sint Niklaas, Belgium. So why not ask him some questions concerning his departure from MEGADETH and his current solo career.

Tom: Great performance out there, how were the reactions so far?
Marty: Well the crowd in Paris yesterday was very enthusiastic, and so were you Belgian people too, it's nice to see that I have some friends in Belgium. With MEGADETH I was always happy that we could visit a lot of countries on tour, been here 5 times at least.. and always has been great.

Tom: So what's going on in your life lately?
Marty: Well I just recorded a new solo album, titled Music For Speeding, which will be released in January or February in the whole world. There are some labels interested in distributing it, like Steve Vai has released a new label (Favored Nations), Shrapnel Records and Music For Nations. But a guy told me tonight that it's hard to find Shrapnel albums over here, so now my choice is obvious, but I'll announce it later.

Tom: So what's the story about you leaving MEGADETH? Marty: Well after 10 years I decided to go solo again. It's not that I dislike the music and I love the band, but it's like having the same thing for dinner during 10 years, it gets too much after a while.

Tom: Did you introduce Al Pitrelli in the band?
Marty: No, actually I introduced another guy into the band. But Jimmy DeGrasso introduced Al, and they finally choose him. Was hard work during that time, in the day me and Al quickly ran through all the MEGADETH songs and he also joined on rehearsal with the band. And during the evening I still did the shows with MEGADETH. Al was a quick learner though , within 10 days my job was done.

Tom: Are there any plans of forming another bands with ex members from MEGADETH?
Marty: Well me, Jimmy and David Ellefson jammed some time ago, and maybe who knows. But it will be very hard to find such a strong vocalist like Dave Mustaine.

Tom: Actually how is Dave Mustaine doing with his surgery?
Marty: I talked with him the other day on the phone, he's doing fine, but I don't know a lot about his surgery, I'm sorry.

Tom: Your last recording with MEGADETH was the Risk album, how did people react on that album, since it was kinda experimental?
Marty: You liked the album?

Tom: Hmm ... to be honest, for me Risk was a bit over the top. That's why I bought the double CD, with the No Risk album too.
Marty: The No Risk album?

Tom: Yeah, I have the 15th anniversary edition, with an added best of MEGADETH CD, called No Risk.
Marty: Anyway for me, I liked doing the Risk album. Because lately MEGADETH wasn't that heavy anymore, if you listen to Marilyn Manson's latest album, he's way heavier than us.

Tom: Hmmm ... he'll never compete with Rust In Peace though.
Marty: I agree on that one! But we were already playing some more poppy on cryptic writing, and our concerts were huge. For the first time we saw a line of chicks entering on a MEGADETH concerts and we were even in the pop charts in some countries. So we thought, if they liked that stuff, let's make a real pop album. Dave Mustaine didn't really like it what we were doing, he had some serious problems with Crush 'Em and some others but he went along with it no matter what. But with a name like MEGADETH, you can't really make a convincing pop image.

Tom: To be honest, I liked your previous album a lot more, Cryptic Writings.
Marty: Yeah, was a great album. I always wanted to do a song like METALLICA's Nothing Else Matters, but we never got there actually.

Tom: I like A Tout Le Monde (Youthanasia) even more!
Marty: Thanks a lot. And of course guys from Belgium are more used to French too, being a second language here.

Tom: What do you think about METALLICA and the Napster case?
Marty: What about it?

Tom: Well I think it's one big show. Before Kill 'Em All was released, they sent their demo tape to a lot of friends and musicians, telling them to copy the tape several times and to send it to their friends ... and so on. But now that people are doing the same thing with their music online, they make a trial of it. When you start something, you can't blame people for doing the same thing.
Marty: Well this will be an endless discussion I think, too much for just one evening.

Tom: Well I'll rest my case now, because you still have a long promo tour to go. Also thanks for that signed photo. Marty: No problem, has been really nice talking to you, take care and leave a note on my homepage so we can get in touch sometime.

Tom: And I sure will, oh yes one last thing, tonight you played an Ibanez guitar, does that mean that you've stopped your endorsement with Jackson.
Marty: I've always get along with the Jackson company and they really make great guitars for heavy music, but I need something more versatile now. On this tour I have several guitars to check out and I sure liked that Ibanez, even after that low E string jumped out of the saddle it stayed in tune. They just have to find a solution to that bridge.

Tom: Will the Kelly guitar stay in production at Jackson? Marty: No, Jackson has stopped producing those, so if you want my signature Kelly, you'll have to order it through Custom Shop, because they are very hard to find second hand.

Tom: And there goes my savings account!