Former Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson has shared his advice for dealing with online trolls.
In a new interview with ‘The Chuck Shute Podcast’, Ellefson was asked how he deals with negativity online.
"First of all, I never read any of that stuff,” he said. “[NFL quarterback] Tom Brady had a good thing. Somebody asked him, they said, 'Do you ever read the 'Monday Morning Quarterback', what they say about you?' He goes, 'God no. I would never be able to play the game next week, 'cause someone would be in my head.'
“[Former Megadeth guitarist] Jeff Young told me that, that [actress] Meg Ryan had [the same attitude]. She goes, 'I never read the interviews. I never read the press. I never read anything about it, 'cause I don't want some fan or some critic being in my head about what I should or shouldn't do in my next role.' And I thought that was great. At some point, you've gotta be a little detached from that stuff. It's just, like, hey, man, I pick up my bass, I write a song, I call my buddies, we make an album. That's what it is. We put it out.”
"When you're making the album, it's your album, but once you put it out, it now becomes [the people's] album. And of course there's gonna be critics; there's gonna be those who love or hate."
You can listen to the full interview below.
Ellefson recently joined up with fellow ex-Megadeth member and guitarist Jeff Young for new band Kings Of Thrash. Earlier this month, Kings Of Thrash did a four-day tour in the US, playing the classic Megadeth albums 1985's Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! and 1988's So Far, So Good... So What! in full. Another former Megadeth guitarist, Chris Poland, also joined them for several songs on this tour.
Ellefson co-founded Megadeth with Dave Mustaine in 1983. He was let go from the band in 2021 due to a sex scandal involving a fan, and was shortly after replaced by James LoMenzo. Testament's Steve Di Giorgio played bass on Megadeth's most recent album, The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead!, which was released in September.
