David Ellefson (ex-Megadeth, Kings of Thrash, Dieth) and Burton C. Bell (ex-Fear Factory, ex-Ministry, ex-G/Z/R, Ascension of the Watchers) made their first-ever co-panelist appearances together on the latest Support Life And Music SLAM Summit episode, hosted by Jack Mangan (S.LA.M., Metal Hall of Fame, MetalAsylum.net). The topic was musician infighting, a subject familiar to both of them, on the heels of highly public, contentious departures from their star-making marquee bands.
Overview:
Burton and David both refrain from gossiping or calling out their ex-bandmates during the discussion. David Ellefson speaks respectfully when he discusses his time in Megadeth with Dave Mustaine. At the end of the panel, they each talk about their own upcoming projects, which includes David Ellefson’s first public announcement of a new Montrose project, involving him, Keith St. John, Jimmy DeGrasso, and Jon Levin.
Highlights:
Comparing Dave Mustaine to strict old school bandleaders, James Brown and Buddy Rich, David Ellefson says: “I was in a band like that, you know. When I met Dave he made it very clear. He’s it. He’s going to run the band, and you could challenge that, but you know, there’s the door. And so to the degree that I was Minnesota Nice. And maybe bass players by nature tend to be this kind of middle ground person. I think it’s a personality type as well. I am the longest surviving member of that group other than him. And yet at the same time I got the vision, I got on board with it, and we had a mission statement and we followed the mission. And that’s how we did it. And we tried a lot of different things, but you know you do it for as long as you can. And when it ends, you move on, and you don’t fight your way out the door. You just move on and get on to the next thing.”
Later on, Burton says: “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever had problems with drugs or alcohol. Had problems with relationships that’s for sure, and being the type of person who I wanted to be. But stepping away helped me realize what I was doing wrong and how I could help myself, because I always tend to blame myself for everything. And I realized that, you know, it’s not entirely my fault. So, mental health, like Dave said, it’s a huge, broad spectrum of multiple categories, but it’s mostly it all boils down to how you feel right here (holds hands over heart), and how it affects your mind, and stepping away, meditating, and again communication, talking to someone who you trust. I’ve always been a person who’s been too trusting, and I trust the people that will always wrong me, and I still have that issue. But I’m learning. I’m learning like David later in life. For myself. I’m seeing red flags. Finally, it’s like, Oh, that! Oh, what that person’s doing right now. That’s not really that cool. So yeah, stepping away, for your mental health is also something that has to be done. You have to step away just to reassess.”
David Ellefson discusses his projects for 2025:
David Ellefson Bass Warrior: “I just did the David Ellefson Bass warrior tour, which is kind of an annual thing I do in Europe.
Kings Of Thrash: “And then I’ve got Kings of Thrash, which checks my Thrash Metal box.”
Soto/Ellefson: “Me and Jeff Scott Soto have a new record coming out here this year, and that’s just, I think, just kind of a great Rock/ Hard Rock/Metal amalgamation.”
Montrose: “We have Montrose. We’re firing up again. Keith Saint John, who has been given basically the keys to that kingdom from the Montrose legacy. So it’s me, him, Jimmy Degrasso, who got me the gig, and Jon Levin from Dokken. This is kind of the 1st that’s ever been talked about. I say it because some shows are put on sale and being advertised right now, so I guess I’m sort of tipping my hand to that.”
Dieth: “We’re writing a new record. We’ve got shows, we’re having a festival in Poland. We’re on another festival in Toronto, August 1st.”
Rock n’ Roll Fantasy Camp: “I got invited into that, with Alice Cooper and Rob Halford, here in Phoenix.”
Burton C. Bell talks about his upcoming Australian tour, his first as a solo artist: “This Australian tour is gonna be a proving ground for me, and I have a feeling that people are waiting to see what happens before they are jumping on the Burton train, seeing what’s happening.”
New Burton C. Bell music: “My band and I are writing new music. You know, we’re looking to put an album out. We don’t have any label interest at this point, but right now we’ve just been dropping singles independently. So far it’s gonna be 4 singles by the end of June, and that’ll be okay.”
When asked what style of music the new Burton C. Bell releases will be: “It took a stepping back and reflecting on what I wanted to do after I left Fear Factory, and it took me a while to understand where I wanted to go, and I looked at every I’ve looked at every group I’ve been a part of, and every project I’ve been a part of, and like, I love this. I love this, I love this. I’m creating an amalgamation of everything I’ve ever done. So my mantra is heavy, groovy, dark and moody, and if it fits into those categories I’m doing it. My first single is ‘Antidroid.’ It was written by a producer named Alex Cristiani. And then the second single was called ‘Techno Exorcism,’ which is a song I wrote, and I did it with Big Paul Ferguson on drums from Killing Joke, and Norman Westberg on guitar from Swans. And that was really cool. But the next song is “Savages,” and it’s me and my band working together. Since we’ve all been working together for about a year now. So it’s coming together. We’re molding into a unit.”
The panel discussion can be found below, as well as at the Support Life And Music website here.
Did you know BraveWords has an active Facebook Group where you can start your own metal discussion or take part in many other discussions. The BraveWords Facebook Group is the evolution of the old BraveWords message board from years ago.
Bands… feel free to promote your shows and albums.
Podcasts… feel free to promote your new episodes.
Radio Shows… feel free to promote your latest show.
Record Labels… feel free to promote your latest releases
Click to join and start discussing: https://m.facebook.com/groups/bravewordsmetal/
The post DAVID ELLEFSON And BURTON C. BELL Appear Together On “Support Life And Music” Panel To Discuss Band Infighting; Video appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
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Overview:
Burton and David both refrain from gossiping or calling out their ex-bandmates during the discussion. David Ellefson speaks respectfully when he discusses his time in Megadeth with Dave Mustaine. At the end of the panel, they each talk about their own upcoming projects, which includes David Ellefson’s first public announcement of a new Montrose project, involving him, Keith St. John, Jimmy DeGrasso, and Jon Levin.
Highlights:
Comparing Dave Mustaine to strict old school bandleaders, James Brown and Buddy Rich, David Ellefson says: “I was in a band like that, you know. When I met Dave he made it very clear. He’s it. He’s going to run the band, and you could challenge that, but you know, there’s the door. And so to the degree that I was Minnesota Nice. And maybe bass players by nature tend to be this kind of middle ground person. I think it’s a personality type as well. I am the longest surviving member of that group other than him. And yet at the same time I got the vision, I got on board with it, and we had a mission statement and we followed the mission. And that’s how we did it. And we tried a lot of different things, but you know you do it for as long as you can. And when it ends, you move on, and you don’t fight your way out the door. You just move on and get on to the next thing.”
Later on, Burton says: “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever had problems with drugs or alcohol. Had problems with relationships that’s for sure, and being the type of person who I wanted to be. But stepping away helped me realize what I was doing wrong and how I could help myself, because I always tend to blame myself for everything. And I realized that, you know, it’s not entirely my fault. So, mental health, like Dave said, it’s a huge, broad spectrum of multiple categories, but it’s mostly it all boils down to how you feel right here (holds hands over heart), and how it affects your mind, and stepping away, meditating, and again communication, talking to someone who you trust. I’ve always been a person who’s been too trusting, and I trust the people that will always wrong me, and I still have that issue. But I’m learning. I’m learning like David later in life. For myself. I’m seeing red flags. Finally, it’s like, Oh, that! Oh, what that person’s doing right now. That’s not really that cool. So yeah, stepping away, for your mental health is also something that has to be done. You have to step away just to reassess.”
David Ellefson discusses his projects for 2025:
David Ellefson Bass Warrior: “I just did the David Ellefson Bass warrior tour, which is kind of an annual thing I do in Europe.
Kings Of Thrash: “And then I’ve got Kings of Thrash, which checks my Thrash Metal box.”
Soto/Ellefson: “Me and Jeff Scott Soto have a new record coming out here this year, and that’s just, I think, just kind of a great Rock/ Hard Rock/Metal amalgamation.”
Montrose: “We have Montrose. We’re firing up again. Keith Saint John, who has been given basically the keys to that kingdom from the Montrose legacy. So it’s me, him, Jimmy Degrasso, who got me the gig, and Jon Levin from Dokken. This is kind of the 1st that’s ever been talked about. I say it because some shows are put on sale and being advertised right now, so I guess I’m sort of tipping my hand to that.”
Dieth: “We’re writing a new record. We’ve got shows, we’re having a festival in Poland. We’re on another festival in Toronto, August 1st.”
Rock n’ Roll Fantasy Camp: “I got invited into that, with Alice Cooper and Rob Halford, here in Phoenix.”
Burton C. Bell talks about his upcoming Australian tour, his first as a solo artist: “This Australian tour is gonna be a proving ground for me, and I have a feeling that people are waiting to see what happens before they are jumping on the Burton train, seeing what’s happening.”
New Burton C. Bell music: “My band and I are writing new music. You know, we’re looking to put an album out. We don’t have any label interest at this point, but right now we’ve just been dropping singles independently. So far it’s gonna be 4 singles by the end of June, and that’ll be okay.”
When asked what style of music the new Burton C. Bell releases will be: “It took a stepping back and reflecting on what I wanted to do after I left Fear Factory, and it took me a while to understand where I wanted to go, and I looked at every I’ve looked at every group I’ve been a part of, and every project I’ve been a part of, and like, I love this. I love this, I love this. I’m creating an amalgamation of everything I’ve ever done. So my mantra is heavy, groovy, dark and moody, and if it fits into those categories I’m doing it. My first single is ‘Antidroid.’ It was written by a producer named Alex Cristiani. And then the second single was called ‘Techno Exorcism,’ which is a song I wrote, and I did it with Big Paul Ferguson on drums from Killing Joke, and Norman Westberg on guitar from Swans. And that was really cool. But the next song is “Savages,” and it’s me and my band working together. Since we’ve all been working together for about a year now. So it’s coming together. We’re molding into a unit.”
The panel discussion can be found below, as well as at the Support Life And Music website here.
Did you know BraveWords has an active Facebook Group where you can start your own metal discussion or take part in many other discussions. The BraveWords Facebook Group is the evolution of the old BraveWords message board from years ago.
Bands… feel free to promote your shows and albums.
Podcasts… feel free to promote your new episodes.
Radio Shows… feel free to promote your latest show.
Record Labels… feel free to promote your latest releases
Click to join and start discussing: https://m.facebook.com/groups/bravewordsmetal/
The post DAVID ELLEFSON And BURTON C. BELL Appear Together On “Support Life And Music” Panel To Discuss Band Infighting; Video appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
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