David Ellefson Discusses Kings of Thrash, Back to the Beginning

On Thursday (Aug. 6), David Ellefson joined Loudwire Nights and opened up about the band Kings of Thrash and their love for the legacy of Megadeth, playing with Metal Church and what it was like being part of Back to the Beginning.

Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.

“K.K. [Downing] is the one who reached out to me about it and he told me about the event and that Tom Morello was involved,” Ellefson recalled about getting the call to be part of Back to the Beginning.

“So I said, ‘Dude, totally, I’m in.’ The details were not revealed yet, really what it was. I’ve learned that the phone rings, here’s a thing, it could be this, it might be that, are you interested? Absolutely. My answer is always yes, 100-percent, I’m in.”

As Ellefson reflected on Back to the Beginning with Loudwire Nights host Chuck Armstrong, he said it was great to be reunited with artists he had worked with in the past like Lzzy Hale and David Draiman.

“I love the Disturbed guys, they’re cool dudes, good friends,” he said.

“Lzzy Hale, same thing. I jammed with her on ShipRocked…there’s certain people, when they get on the stage, the room changes. Lzzy, Draiman, Corey Taylor, John Bush…it’s a different room because [of them].”

Another thing Ellefson shared was catching up with Mike Inez, who performed with Alice In Chains as well as played bass in the band for Ozzy’s final solo performance.

“He had just finished rehearsing with Ozzy and we sat down and had a little bit of tea and I said, ‘So how was it,'” Ellefson shared.

“He goes, ‘Dude, it’s great. Oz is in a great mood. He’s super pumped.’ I was asking him some questions just because I wanted to know and I hadn’t seen Ozzy since we toured together in 2013 in South America. We got to know each other pretty well and got pretty close during that tour. So it was great to hear that. And it was good to see that everybody was excited.”

What Else Did David Ellefson Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

Watching Ozzy’s final solo set at Back to the Beginning: “I was with Whitfield Crane. I went out in front of house with him and then I was standing there with Robert Trujillo and his family…I [forgot that] Whit, he lived with the Osbournes. I remember when we did Ozzfest, he told me that he was living with them or had been living with them. It was great, he’s like this vagabond. His whole life is in that backpack, that backpack that you see onstage, that’s his entire life … I spent a lot of time hanging with him there.”
One reason he wanted to start Kings of Thrash with Jeff Young: “My last years in Megadeth, I tried really hard to add these songs into the setlist, just some deep cuts [and] things that hadn’t been heard in a long time…but it just never happened, you know? I’ve been pretty in touch with the fanbase because I go to shows, I try to stay part of the scene, not just sort of be too far above it. I started as a fan. Music called to me and it became a vocation for me. But I always like to still remain a fan of it.”
How it’s been playing in Metal Church: “I play these songs as a fan. I can’t believe I’m in this band. This band is so awesome. These guys have been friends, you know Kurdt Vanderhoof, he knew Lars [Ulrich] before he even started Metallica.”