Serendipitous timing, a new book, and a plethora of back catalogue music has led to a remarkable creative outpouring by one of the most influential bassists in heavy metal history
Megadeth co-founder David Ellefson has recently released a second book, chronicling the ups and downs and all-arounds of his life at the heart of the music business, as a member of one of the pioneer bands of the entire heavy metal genre. More Life With Deth came out in July, and is a follow up to his 2013 tome, My Life With Deth, and already racing up the best-seller charts and generating interest from both Megadeth fans, as well as general music aficionados seeking an honest and authentic accounting of life as a touring musician, and all the wonderfully rich vein of stories that entails.
But, as an added treat to fans, Ellefson has also released what amounts to a non-Megadeth career retrospective of sorts, with the musical collection Sleeping Giants. The album features three brand new songs, highlighted by epic vocal performances by Ellefson’s friend, and co-owner, his book’s co-author and veteran A&R man for their label EMP, Thom Hazaert.
Released through Combat Records, the title track for Sleeping Giants not only features Hazaert, but also a scintillating vocal turn by legendary hip hip/rap artist, MC Darryl ‘DMC’ McDaniels of Run DMC, as well as musical performances by Steve Conley of Flotsam and Jetsam, guitar whiz Ethan Brosh, ex-Guns ‘N Roses axe man Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal, and Ilias Papadakis of Memoriam.
“We picked the release date of the book because Megadeth was going to be on the Ozzy Osbourne tour for the summer, so we picked mid-July. I was on a Basstory tour back in December, and we were in Florida and went in and wrote and recorded the song Vultures as a brand new piece of music. And that started this sort of tandem process around the book. Initially we thought we would have maybe one free digital download to go along with the book. But then I asked Thom to put lyrics and melodies to another song, Hammer Comes Down and also Sleeping Giants – songs that I had already written and recorded music for. Suddenly it’s like, ‘well, now we’ve got three songs, it’s kind of a shame to just give them all away, maybe we should do an EP or an LP,” said Ellefson from his home in Arizona.
“I went back into my vault and pulled out songs that John Bush [Armored Saint/Anthrax] had worked on, and the David Glen Eisley [House of Lords/Giuffria vocalist] songs that I had from 1993. And that process included some of the demos from my band F5 that I really liked, and all of a sudden, we had more than enough for an album. So now we’ve got this companion album that, interestingly, really fits chronologically with the book. This album became a bit of a musical backdrop to the story of the book.
“And it was kind of fortuitous timing. The Ozzy tour got cancelled and of course Dave Mustaine [Megadeth co-founder/leader] is going through cancer treatment, so the schedule opened up in a way that wasn’t going to conflict with anything Megadeth related. This little window popped up and I figured, okay, put the pedal to the metal and let’s go. And it’s turned into, quite honestly, a nice year of work and opportunities and a way to take this thing out now around the world.”
Ellefson said he enjoyed the process of rediscovering and revamping the older material, finding not only that it captured moments in time creatively, but that it held up well to more modern sounds and sensibilities.
“The F5 songs largely got released on albums we did with that band, but the stuff from 1993 did not. And it was never really written with the intention of being in a band or forming any kind of a solo venture. They were just from a season of songwriting that I went through. When I pulled this stuff out and started listening to it, I realized that, yeah, it’s still really good. With modern mastering you can sort of bolster the production a bit, so it gets in the modern realm and it all sounds evened out,” he said.
“Ultimately, you’re capturing the spirit of the performance too, and I think there’s a pretty wide palate style wise and performance wise. Again, there is the stuff from the early 1990s which was an era that I had some of my biggest successes in with Megadeth of course. And then there was the 2000s which was really an age of reinvention for me because that was a period when Megadeth was actually not working, it was essentially disbanded. And that’s what the F5 material was. And that was a really freeing moment, because technically Megadeth was on the sidelines, so it wasn’t like I had to be careful about, ‘well, I am also in Megadeth.’ At that point none of us were in Megadeth.
“So, it was this kind of off the chain, off the leash approach where I could just go and explore the world and go wherever my heart lead, and that’s what the F5 music was. The three new songs are really a culmination of being in the moment, writing stuff that is very current and very today. It certainly is heavy, borderline thrash, but also melodic. Thom’s vocals bring a harder edge. I don’t come from a death metal background; I don’t come from a screamo background. I come from a very clean, precise world. My bass playing is clean, my productions are clean, the vocals are clean. But Thom brought this very aggressive, in-your-face type of lyric and vocal performance that I was a little uncomfortable with at first. But we talked about it and he said, ‘listen man, I know you come from a different era, but trust me, I am in A&R in record labels including our own, and kids listen to this. This is very modern; this is very current. You don’t have to worry about sounding like an old guy or a dated guy. This really rounds out the album well.’ And it turns out he was absolutely right.”
A few years back, Ellefson became a record company owner, starting the EMP Label Group (Ellefson Music Productions) as a way to offer both up-and-coming hard rock and metal acts, as well as some veterans of the industry, a place to ply their wares and release their original music to the masses.
“I had discovered this female group called Doll Skin. I saw their first show and I stayed in touch with them and eventually took them into the studio. I produced an EP and they started to get some traction. I saw that the train was on the track for them, and they just needed to keep laying some more track to keep the train rolling, and that’s really why I started the label,” he said.
“And as I did, I was like, ‘wow, I have created this opportunity now through the portal of a label to finally have an outlet for other things that I produce and work on, or to try and put out records and help other artists. We all know the model of the business had greatly changed because of the internet and digital platforms and streaming and just the way people listen to music. The end consumer experience is very different and that has impacted everything back to the beginning, which is the artist. And we can sit around and complain about that all day long or we can just get on board and accept what is and try to work within those confines and maybe even try to change those confines a little bit.
“We are very clear with artists that what EMP is, is an on-ramp onto a highway. But you have to be behind the wheel driving your own car. We can’t do that for you, so the dynamics of how an artist drives their own career, that has never really changed. I had a manager years ago who said, ‘I am not willing to work any harder than my band is.’ Meaning if you’re not willing to do it, I’m not willing to do it either. We want to work with artists who are committed to the support of their own music and their own album, and we can be the wind in their sails. That’s largely the role of a record company in this day and age.”
Alongside great newer acts such as Dead by Wednesday, Heaven Below, Semblant and The Letter Black are veterans of the 1980s rock scene, including Mark Slaughter (Vinnie Vincent’s Invasion/Slaughter), Autograph, Kik Tracee, Ron Keel and Canada’s Killer Dwarfs.
“With the veterans, they realize they’re not going to get another shot at a major label: those days are over because major labels sign young artists. They want people who are willing to just put it all on the line, they’ve got nothing to lose and you have to give everything you’ve got. And, quite honestly, when you’re 20, what you have to give is a lot more than when you hit 40 or 50. You’re just not willing to make those sacrifices,” he said.
“And I am like that too. Ever since I hit my 30s me and many of my friends in the business realized that we are too old to mortgage house and forgo our marriages and families. I am not going to do that I am past that. I have survived that I am not going to pit that on the line again. I got outta Vegas once, and I am not going to go back.”
One of the other good things that has happened because of the extended break from Megadeth is that Ellefson is able to expand his series of Basstory concerts, which have morphed into more of an interactive concert experience, as well as intimate storytelling opportunities for fans. He recently completed a short stint through California and Arizona, with more to come later this fall.
“Basstory started out as a clinic and a masterclass in a night club, where we could sell beer and t-shirts and bring up other performers and backing bands and turn it into a bit of a clinic turned concert. Basstory itself has gone through a lot of transitions. The beauty of it is we can turn it any way we need to depending on the territory of the world we’re in. One of the cool things is that the Sleeping Giants album has provided a really cool opportunity to put a full band together that we tour with, not just a pick-up band on the night of the show. It’s a really full-on, locked and loaded touring rock group that now has an album to tour and an album to promote,” he said.
“Yet I can also dig into my other catalogue too, and we can have different guests come up still. We had John Bush in California recently, and former Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland as well. I basically get to be the host of the party wherever the tour goes. And every night it’s a different thing and a different look and sometimes a different cast of characters. To me, that really just creates this cool travelling rock and roll party. And it’s very current, because we’ve got the album out and are able to take the party anywhere we want to go with it around the world.”
This band features Ellefson and Hazaert along with Dave Sharpe and Opus Lawrence of Dead By Wednesday, as well as the aforementioned Steve Conley.
For more information on Sleeping Giants other Dave Ellefson news, including more Basstory dates, visit http://davidellefson.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
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