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After almost two years of
playing with Megadeth, guitarist Al Pitrelli seems to have found a new home,
considering himself a full-time and fully dedicated member of Megadeth. But when
asked if he’s going to be a permanent fixture, he still jokingly says, “that’s a
question you should ask Dave (Mustaine).” Thus far, Pitrelli says that his time
with the band gets “better and better everyday, and it’s been a learning process
to say the least. It’s absolutely great.”
“We’re trying to get back to what the band was best as, and I think The World
Needs a Hero is a journey back towards that. I don’t think we’ve hit it yet
cause with all the changes that had happened prior to making this record, I
think the band is much more focused right now. It’s on fire right now, so it’s a
lot of fun. It’s really exciting.”
As for the changes beyond the band line-up, Pitrelli says that while he was not
with the band long before they transition from Capitol Records to Sanctuary, he
has been a fan of the band long enough to see how their career had evolved.
“Obviously, I didn’t know all of the little subtleties in the relationship
watching from the wings what had been going on, but I’d crossed paths with the
band over the years, you know, being with Savatage or whomever – with Alice
Cooper,” he explained.
While he says that Capitol had done “a great job with a band they probably
didn’t know what to do with,” though, from the band’s perspective, the timing
seemed right for a change, and with Sanctuary being strictly a heavy metal
label, they found themselves a outlet where they can fulfill their vision to
refocus.
On The Road
While some may of thought that the mix of Megadeth and Motley Crue on the
Maximum Rock Tour last summer was a bit of a stretch, Pitrelli jokingly points
out that while they may have p!ssed off some fans, they also gained a few in the
process.
“That was easy compared to some of the festivals we had just throughout Europe
and the Pacific Rim. We were on a festival, I think it was Finland, where three
nights of the show, three different bands were headlining, Megadeth was
headlining one night, there was a Euro-Techno band headlining the second night,
and Ray Charles was headlining the third night.”
While many countries have accepted Megadeth, the band has also encountered
resistance abroad, especially in Malaysia where the government banned the band
based on accusations of Satanism.
Pitrelli says “I guess that their government wanted to save their young from the
evils of rock (laughs). I don’t know, they saw the album cover and they figured
we were a bunch of Satanists and they were going to make an example out of us.
They banned us from coming to play their, they said we’d be arrested, Dave (Mustaine)
in particular I think was labeled public enemy #1, which was kind of a bummer
for the kids over there. I don’t mean to use the term kids – fans – kind of
missed out on a great show, and at the same time we just got a ton of press out
of it. It’s kind of nice being bad boys again.”
And that wasn’t the only trouble the band encountered. Pitrelli also explained
that while tearing things up overseas there have been several roadblocks “Well
let’s see, we got banned from Malaysia, their was a government overthrow in
Indonesia, we went through an earthquake in Tokyo, a typhoon in China…” But, he
is still anxious to continue and head to the states for a few more months of
touring.
“The band is on fire right now…and you want to kind of come home and kind of
show off to your family and friends. At least we won’t have to deal with
currency changes and border crossings, and there are not too many time zone
changes, you know. So it should be a blast. I can’t wait.”
To make things even more of a blast, the band has chosen to pack fans into large
clubs and theaters instead of playing the larger venues, so the shows will sell
fast, and as Pitrelli points out, “clubs are cool because it get’s up close,
personal, and real hot and sweaty.” And they’re playing two solid hours every
night.
“I think it’s great, it reminds me of when I was playing with Cooper back in
’89, when we were touring with the Trash album, and ‘Poison’ was a huge hit,
instead of doing the arenas they said, ‘let’s just put him into 2,000 seat rooms
and make it like the event of the year’, which is kind of like what we’re doing
now….It’s going to be packed. It’s going to be insane.”
The Writing Process
“I had joined the band late into the Risk tour, and the way the band works,
soundcheck is where a lot of the writing goes on. So, most of the writing for
this record occurred before my involvement, before joining, and then when I did
get in there, Dave saw that I could bring certain things to the table.”
But prior to making contributions to the band’s sound, he admits that there was
a learning process and now that he and Mustaine have had the opportunity to work
together on the road. He says that they are becoming the best of friends and
bandmates, and will collaborate on songwriting for their next when it works for
the band.
“He sees what I can bring to the table and he’ll use what he things will work in
Megadeth. There’s not going to be any gratuitous writing on this record just so
I can have my name on it, ‘cause I don’t want to write anything that’s not going
to make the song better, I don’t care.”
Dueling Guitars
While it is a band and a Democracy, at the end of the day, everyone knows that
Dave Mustaine is the boss of Megadeth. As Pitrelli points out, he has been
steering the ship for more than two decades and lead the band to multi-platinum
success.
Pitrelli says, “I’ve never worked with a more intense individual in my life.
I’ve always been able to get up and play something and say ‘hey that was pretty
good’ and everybody goes ‘yeah, that was pretty good’… Dave will look at me and
go, ‘Well, It didn’t suck that much, why don’t you work a little harder’...I was
pretty lazy I could sit back on my abilities and get plugged into any situation
and do it…He pushes me, I’ve probably become a better player and a better
person, and developed a better work ethic since then.”
Being a fan of the old school guitarists, who have played with their Les Paul’s
low-strung, Pitrelli’s artillery naturally includes a bunch of Les Paul’s,
though he has also picked up a Strat and a couple Explorers for the road.
“I’ve always been a Les Paul player over the years, yet you know you have to
play different instruments to conform to whatever you’re playing, different
styles of music. But, ever since I was a kid there was nothing cooler than a Les
Paul.”
No Room on the Side
Having made his living based on his schooled capabilities, Pitrelli has jumped
from ship to ship over the years performing with the likes of Alice Cooper,
Widowmaker, Savatage and others, in fact, he says two of the musicians that he
admires most are Jon Oliva (Savatage) and Dee Snider (Twisted Sister, Widowmaker).
“Dee was a real big influence on me musically and personally, because he’s got
the same kind of dedication to his art that Dave Mustaine has, just the passion
and dedication – work ethic, just this striving for perfection and it’s
contagious. And we spent a lot of hours together…And Jon Oliva is probably one
of the most talented people I’ve ever, ever met and he knows nothing technically
about what he’s doing. He has no education musically whatsoever, yet he can sit
down at the piano and write a brilliant piece of music.”
But, now that he has found a band to call his own, there is no time for side
projects like his collaboration with Tommy Farese or his participation in the
Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas tours. Between press and promotions, touring,
and writing, he says, Megadeth is a full-time thing.
Pitrelli explains, “Being in Megadeth is nonstop work, and I also don’t want to
confuse anybody as to the depth of my involvement with the band. Megadeth isn’t
a session or just a gig for me, it’s my band now, and these guys make a point of
doing Megadeth and that’s it, which is kind of cool, because I’ve never been
able to do anything like that.”
Currently, the band is on a world tour in support of The World Needs a Hero,
fans in the United States can catch them this fall. For more information visit
the band’s Web site at
www.megadeth.com
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