David Ellefson masturbating<\/a> appeared on Twitter. The videos resulted from an online interaction with a nineteen-year-old Megadeth fan with whom Ellefson had engaged in some sort of relationship. When more details were revealed, the story quickly went viral.<\/p>\n\n\tIt was impossible to separate fact from fiction, truth from fantasy, as the internet exploded in typically histrionic fashion. But this much was clear: that was definitely David Ellefson, Megadeth bass player, in the videos.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe next day, we released an official statement saying, \u201cThe situation is being watched closely.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThat was true. It was also true that I was reevaluating my nearly 40-year relationship with David and the turbulence it had so often caused in my life. As original members of Megadeth (David likes to say he was a \u201cfounding\u201d member. I don\u2019t view it that way. I started Megadeth and invited him to join), we had been friends and creative partners; we had fought like enemies. We had played a lot of great music together. We were codependent junkies, feeding and fueling each other\u2019s addictions. Ultimately, we had grown apart, trust shattered (at least for me) by David\u2019s 2004 lawsuit after the band\u2019s breakup. We fought in court. The outcome was not nearly what he hoped for \u2014 let\u2019s leave it at that.<\/p>\n
\n\tTo the surprise of the vast majority of the Megadeth universe, we patched things up in 2010 and David returned to the band, albeit as a salaried player and not a creative partner. But things were never great between us; there was too much history, too much anger, too much behavior that I found distasteful.<\/p>\n
\n\tPart of the problem was that our initial friendship was based primarily on two things: music and drugs. David and I were never on equal footing when it came to Megadeth; it was my band and mostly my songs, and that was always a source of friction. When we both got sober, the distance increased, in part because we had lost the awful, unhealthy thing that had bonded us, but also because we approached sobriety and recovery from different places, with different points of view. I tried not only to be substance-free, but also to live a more honest and spiritual life. There are plenty of people in the fellowships who want to be better human beings and to provide support for their fellow travelers, people who are committed to genuine transformation. And there are others who mostly just talk the talk.<\/p>\n
\n\tI try to stay away from these folks. Sometimes unsuccessfully. All of this is by way of saying that by the time those embarrassing videos turned up on the internet, my relationship with David \u2014 and David\u2019s relationship with Megadeth \u2014 had already begun to deteriorate.<\/p>\n
\n\tAgain.<\/p>\n
\n\tSome of it was probably borne of professional jealousy \u2014 long a friction point between David and me \u2014 and some of it was probably frustration stemming from financial pressure. I\u2019m speculating, of course, and I\u2019ve never asked David about this \u2014 we haven\u2019t talked in several years \u2014 but I heard that David was upset that we canceled the tour when I was first diagnosed with cancer. And he was sometimes short-tempered and impatient with me when I was going through treatment and trying to work on the album. Some days I had a lot to offer in those sessions; sometimes I was too tired and sick to contribute much of anything. While everyone else seemed to be compassionate and understanding, David sometimes was not.<\/p>\n
\n\tHey, on some level I get it. My illness cost everyone involved with Megadeth a lot of money. It was a scary, uncertain time. But it\u2019s during the darkest times that a person\u2019s character is revealed.<\/p>\n
\n\tWould David have remained a member of Megadeth if that video had not surfaced? Who\u2019s to say? I\u2019ve seen enough guys come and go with Megadeth, and I\u2019ve experienced enough upheaval with David to know that the end was likely near. But, certainly, the scandal hastened the process.<\/p>\n
\n\tWithin a few days, we informed David that he would be separating from the band. Then, on May 24, I released an official statement through the band\u2019s Facebook account. I tried to keep it as simple and straightforward as possible, as enough damage already had been done:<\/p>\n
\n\tWe are informing our fans that David Ellefson is no longer playing with Megadeth and that we are officially parting ways with him. We do not take this decision lightly. While we do not know every detail of what occurred, with an already strained relationship, what has already been revealed now is enough to make working together impossible moving forward. We look forward to seeing our fans on the road this summer, and we cannot wait to share our brand new music with the world. It is almost complete.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\tThe last part of that statement was both true . . . and not true. Yes, the new album was basically finished. But Ellefson\u2019s dismissal complicated matters. As Megadeth\u2019s bass player, David was all over the new album, and his participation would almost surely become a distraction, if not worse, when the album was released. There would be financial entanglements as well. In the end, we made a decision: David\u2019s bass parts would be scrubbed completely from the album and re-recorded with a new musician.<\/p>\n
\n\tIf this sounds tedious and time-consuming, well . . . it was definitely the former, but not really the latter, thanks to the fact that we found absolutely the right guy for the job: Testament bassist Steve DiGiorgio. I\u2019m not sure anyone else could have done what Steve did, given the same set of circumstances. For one thing, he\u2019s totally metal. He\u2019s also an absolutely ferocious bass player, as well as a sweetheart of a guy. And I\u2019m not sure that anyone who didn\u2019t possess those traits, in more or less equal measure, could have survived this gig. We asked Steve to come in and learn more than a dozen tracks that he had never heard before, and to do it virtually overnight, while taking over for someone whose departure had been quickened by scandal.<\/p>\n
\n\tIt was one hell of an assignment.<\/p>\n
\n\tActually, it wasn\u2019t an assignment at all. Chris and I put together a list of candidates, then I reviewed their files to determine which of them seemed to be a good fit for what Megadeth was trying to do on this album. And Steve was the clear winner. I reached out \u2014 told him we had a fire to put out and needed his help. But I made it clear up front that this was a short-term gig. No touring, no permanent spot in the Megadeth lineup. I didn\u2019t want anyone to think that I was trying to poach him from Testament. While I didn\u2019t know Steve personally, I was friends with other people in the band, and I would never do anything to hurt those guys. The whole arrangement was completely transparent.<\/p>\n
\n\tFortunately, Steve had a small gap in his schedule and agreed to take on the gig. Astoundingly, he learned and re-recorded all the bass tracks in roughly two weeks.<\/p>\n
\n\tTwo weeks with a lot of long days, but nevertheless . . . two weeks.<\/p>\n