New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ RoadRunner Records) Megadeth bassist
David Ellefson was recently interviewed by the Denver alt-weekly Westword, and it's a really interesting discussion well worth your attention.
Ellefson offers his opinions on corporate sponsorship of shows, saying, "There is a way to do sponsorship where it is part of the experience, and it doesn't take away from it. With that said, ultimately fans go because they want to see the bands. The one exclusion from that would be the summer festivals. Because of the sponsorship, it allows bands to become part of a big summer festival. Sometimes on that level, the sponsorship helps bring it together."
He also discusses the omnipresence of video and still cameras at shows, saying, "It used to be you would not take a photo without someone's permission, because that is the kind thoughtful thing to do, especially if you are going to plaster it all over the internet. But, in this day and age, people take a picture of whomever, whenever and however. To some degree, it's a bit of a breach of people's privacy when it comes to copyright material, just posting things on the internet.
"I don't know if it's the artists getting weird about it. It's probably the people who own the copyright, like the record companies and the music publishers. They are essentially losing out on money. I'll say from an artist's point of view, I think it's cool. I walk around the world with my video camera and post them up on YouTube and Megadeth.com. For me, it's a great way to take the fans on tour with us. From a fan point of view, I like it when I can see a clip of something like that."
Ellefson is a smart, down-to-earth dude, and this is a very interesting interview that's well worth reading in its entirety. So go check it out.
Megadeth is performing all summer on the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival tour, and they're signing at the Roadrunner Tent, too. Text MGDETH to 67463 on the day of the show to receive signing times and be automatically entered to win an autographed guitar from Megadeth!
