Joe Rogan Experience #1861 - Dave Mustaine

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast,…

   1. NANarrator0:00

      (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience.

   2. JRJoe Rogan0:06

      Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night. All day. (rock music) Open up, come on. Dave, what's happening? How are you?

   3. DMDave Mustaine0:15

      Here we are finally, yeah.

   4. JRJoe Rogan0:16

      I'm excited to talk to you, man. You've had a wild ride for a life.

   5. DMDave Mustaine0:20

      I have. (laughs)

   6. JRJoe Rogan0:20

      (laughs) You really have. I love people like you.

   7. DMDave Mustaine0:22

      But always kept my hands on the wheel.

   8. JRJoe Rogan0:24

      Yeah. No, you, well, you, obviously, you're here, right?

   9. DMDave Mustaine0:27

      Yes, sir.

   10. JRJoe Rogan0:28

       Yeah. And, what a fucking wi- wild ride though. I mean, everything. Your religious background, the, the, the, being in the first Metallica. I mean, it's pretty wild. What is it like, like looking back, does it seem, I, I mean, be- being a part of Megadeth and being a part of Metallica, like you're rock royalty.

   11. DMDave Mustaine0:52

       Thanks, thanks. I, uh, I, you know, uh, first off, thanks for having me on, to all your listeners.

   12. JRJoe Rogan0:56

       My pleasure.

   13. DMDave Mustaine0:57

       And it's, uh, it's, uh, uh, I'm stoked to be here. And, uh, um, yeah, what was, what was it like? Uh, there's, there's so much to explain. Of course, you, you know, being in showbiz, that there's different degrees of, of, you know, how excited you can get. And then, if you have one of those days and it's like, "Ah, shit, it'll never be better than this." And then, you know, keep working hard, you keep applying yourself, associating with the right people, and, uh, there's always gonna be another level. My sensei, uh, out in California, used to train with Sensei Benny "The Jet" Urquidez. And he would say-

   14. JRJoe Rogan1:28

       One of the all-time greats.

   15. DMDave Mustaine1:30

       Yeah, yeah. That's my first-

   16. JRJoe Rogan1:31

       I love that guy.

   17. DMDave Mustaine1:31

       ... my first black belt came from Sensei Benny. Yeah, and-

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:33

       That's amazing.

   19. DMDave Mustaine1:34

       ... yeah.

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:34

       Were you at the Jet Center?

   21. DMDave Mustaine1:35

       Yeah, I was in ... I, I'm number 17, so-

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:37

       When I went to California, that was one of the first places I went to. I wanted to go to The Comedy Store-

   23. DMDave Mustaine1:41

       Mm-hmm.

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:41

       ... and I wanted to go to the Jet Center.

   25. DMDave Mustaine1:43

       That got ruined in the earthquake in-

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:45

       Yeah, I was there right afterwards.

   27. DMDave Mustaine1:47

       ... at Northridge. Oh, that's right.

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:47

       And when the rains came-

   29. DMDave Mustaine1:48

       Yeah.

   30. JRJoe Rogan1:48

       ... the, the roof was all fucked up, and they wound up having to close the place down.
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   (laughs) …

   1. JRJoe Rogan15:00

      of the most preposterous guy, and he was like a very, very... There he is. Look at that. (laughs)

   2. DMDave Mustaine15:04

      (laughs)

   3. JRJoe Rogan15:04

      I mean, it doesn't even look like a human.

   4. DMDave Mustaine15:06

      So, so let me tell you this thing.

   5. JRJoe Rogan15:07

      (laughs)

   6. DMDave Mustaine15:07

      Mark... See that picture on the right? Let's look at that one right there, where he's screaming.

   7. JRJoe Rogan15:10

      He's so jacked.

   8. DMDave Mustaine15:11

      He- my wife came out one night, it was around Halloween, he was staying with us, and she heard this noise in our kitchen. And there was this pantry that had a bunch of shelves and all of the Halloween candy had been stuck up on the top shelf so our kids wouldn't eat it. So she goes in the kitchen and she sees that guy inside the pantry on the top shelf pulling down the candy, 'cause they... (laughs)

   9. JRJoe Rogan15:31

      (laughs) 'Cause he wanted candy. That's hilarious.

   10. DMDave Mustaine15:33

       Yeah. I don't know that I wouldn't have... Looked at him.

   11. JRJoe Rogan15:35

       Look at the size of him.

   12. DMDave Mustaine15:36

       Candy!

   13. JRJoe Rogan15:36

       He was so fucking big and so fast, too.

   14. DMDave Mustaine15:39

       Yeah. He was a good guy.

   15. JRJoe Rogan15:40

       He w- he was a specimen.

   16. DMDave Mustaine15:40

       I, I hope he's still alive.

   17. JRJoe Rogan15:42

       I don't know, uh, what's going on with him, but I had heard he cleaned himself up and-

   18. DMDave Mustaine15:46

       That's good.

   19. JRJoe Rogan15:47

       ... I, I think he was selling cars for a while.

   20. DMDave Mustaine15:49

       That's good.

   21. JRJoe Rogan15:50

       But, uh-

   22. DMDave Mustaine15:50

       Buy this or else.

   23. JRJoe Rogan15:52

       Yeah. (laughs)

   24. DMDave Mustaine15:53

       (laughs)

   25. JRJoe Rogan15:53

       He was, he looks different. You know, he lost all that muscle mass. He's a much more normal looking big guy now.

   26. DMDave Mustaine15:59

       He was a big guy.

   27. JRJoe Rogan16:00

       Yeah.

   28. DMDave Mustaine16:00

       That's for sure.

   29. JRJoe Rogan16:02

       Um, so how did we get on the subject of Mark Kerr?

   30. DMDave Mustaine16:05

       Just talking.
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   (laughs) …

   1. DMDave Mustaine30:00

      played, and I drank when my team was in the off season."

   2. JRJoe Rogan30:02

      (laughs)

   3. DMDave Mustaine30:02

      And I thought, "All right. Well, that's, that's about me. Uh, what team were we not rooting for anymore?" So...

   4. JRJoe Rogan30:07

      (laughs)

   5. DMDave Mustaine30:07

      But, you know, there's, there's so many reasons why people, um, make it or don't make it in the music business. And I think, much like yourself, uh, you know, and I... Getting to know each other earlier this afternoon, um, you know, you, you have to take care of yourself. You really, really do. And, and there's so many things in, in the music industry that, that, um, you know, the, the history, the, uh, the, the people that you're working with. You know, a lot of people don't wanna say anything bad about somebody but, I mean, imagine how much better things would be if somebody really said, "You know what? Th- uh, he's a nice guy, but he stole from us." Or, "You know, this guy is... He- he's good at this, but he's terrible at that." You know? Everybody's so afraid to offend anybody with, with, uh, stuff like that. But yet, you know, in other areas of life, offending people doesn't mean shit. You know? So we, we've had some times when we've had some people on our, on our, uh, crew and, um-... uh, tours that we've been on. The last tour we were on, not my band, but another band, their bus drove right up to the Canadian border and the driver got out and left them all sitting there.

   6. JRJoe Rogan31:11

      (laughs) Why?

   7. DMDave Mustaine31:13

      So yeah, it's the music business.

   8. JRJoe Rogan31:14

      Why did he do that?

   9. DMDave Mustaine31:14

      Because he had a DUI or something like that, and you can't get up into Canada, so...

   10. JRJoe Rogan31:17

       Oh my God, that's hilarious. (laughs)

   11. DMDave Mustaine31:18

       You know, it's so convoluted, all this stuff. But see, like, back in the day, you know, uh, back in the '60s or '70s when I was talking about, you know, different eras, different messes, different managers, you know, managers used to manage the mess. They don't manage the mess anymore. They don't wanna tolerate that shit, 'cause there's always somebody around the corner that's ready to work harder than you.

   12. JRJoe Rogan31:36

       Mm-hmm.

   13. DMDave Mustaine31:36

       It's like that motivational thing that Arnold said, long time, "Somebody's out there getting stronger, running farther," you know, all that stuff. I love those motivational tapes.

   14. JRJoe Rogan31:46

       Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well, someone is out there doing it. And if you do fuck up and you wanna just take Xanax all day and, and, and do coke and you don't write new music, someone's gonna come along.

   15. DMDave Mustaine31:56

       They are.

   16. JRJoe Rogan31:56

       And unfortunately, everybody... But that, but that's... Isn't that a part of, like, the whole rock and roll mystique? A part of the whole mystique was the guy who did crazy drugs and was kinda half out of it, but would go on stage and be brilliant.

   17. DMDave Mustaine32:09

       Sometimes. You know, that's-

   18. JRJoe Rogan32:10

       Yeah.

   19. DMDave Mustaine32:10

       And Keith Moon, you know, yeah, that's, that worked for Keith. But I think that's... You know, a player like Keith is so all over the place, you know, he doesn't have a song with a pattern.

   20. JRJoe Rogan32:19

       Right.

   21. DMDave Mustaine32:19

       So it's just go out there and, and just hit everything. Um, there, I, I know of a lot of musicians that, that, um, will drink when they play. I, I know a lot that don't. Um, I don't know very many anymore that do drugs. Um, that's just something that's been kinda, kinda-

   22. JRJoe Rogan32:36

       Phased out?

   23. DMDave Mustaine32:38

       Yeah. Yeah.

   24. JRJoe Rogan32:38

       Just because the impact it has on your body?

   25. DMDave Mustaine32:40

       Well, not only that, but the, the things that it makes the people do and, and the kinda people that are around that. I think that, you know-

   26. JRJoe Rogan32:47

       Mm-hmm.

   27. DMDave Mustaine32:48

       ... like, again, like I was saying, herb is less of a stigmatism, so people are a little bit more open with that.

   28. JRJoe Rogan32:52

       Mm-hmm.

   29. DMDave Mustaine32:53

       But, you know, as far as, uh, coming backstage and it smelling like, you know, somebody's back there burning chemicals or something like that, or, you know, people falling out in the hallway from heroin or, or, you know, tweaking around on meth or coke or something, you know, we, we try and, and, uh, associate with people that are like-minded with us, you know, the people that are, uh, about their careers and that really are, uh, into taking care of themselves. Um, two of the guys in Five Finger Death Punch do jujitsu. They have a, a sensei out with them. We all are doing jujitsu. Um, when we were out with Trivium, the singer for that band does jujitsu. So we try and hang out with bands that are really, uh, health-centric, you know-

   30. JRJoe Rogan33:31

       Right.
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   (sniffs) …

   1. DMDave Mustaine45:00

      anything in this world. And, and, um, you know, I, I, I love our fans. I, I have so many things in this life that I'm happy about. But man, it's, it's, it's my family, and, and-

   2. JRJoe Rogan45:12

      (sniffs)

   3. DMDave Mustaine45:13

      ... obviously my relationship with God. I, I, I take that very, very personal. And, you know, I don't talk to people about it. I, I don't, I don't push it on them at all. It's my thing. And, and, uh, I just look at it like, where I'm at right now, um, yeah, 20 in Metallica, and now look at me, I'm 60 in Megadeth. And, and-

   4. JRJoe Rogan45:32

      (laughs)

   5. DMDave Mustaine45:32

      ... and I'm a Grammy winner and I'm a New York Times bestselling author. All these things that if, if... You know, I was signing autographs the other day, Joe, and, and I, I, I had these boxes. There was 3,000 jackets I had to sign. And for a moment, I flashed back to elementary school when I was in front of the chalkboard, I swore to God, and I had to write. Did you ever have to do that?

   6. JRJoe Rogan45:52

      Yeah, sure.

   7. DMDave Mustaine45:53

      God. And I don't know what brought that up, but I thought, "Oh my God, I can't even believe that." And, and thinking about, you know, where I'm at now today, and, and, and you know, just how the slightest deviation from where I was going could have ended me up anywhere else in the world. 'Cause I wanted to do so many things. I wanted to be a, uh, professional athlete. I wanted to play baseball. You know, I, I, I thought about... I had a, uh, cousin who was a fighter pilot, and I thought that would be really great too. But, you know...

   8. JRJoe Rogan46:21

      You know, Dave, I think that's the case with a lot of people that wind up becoming successful at things. They could have gone in a bunch of different directions. They just chose to go in this one, but they still have other interests in things. Because I think the type of people that become really successful, like with you playing guitar, is, they are the type of people that can kinda be good at anything. They just have to love that thing.

   9. DMDave Mustaine46:42

      Mm-hmm.

   10. JRJoe Rogan46:42

       Like, I'm sure you love playing guitar, which is why you're so good at playing guitar.

   11. DMDave Mustaine46:46

       Mm-hmm.

   12. JRJoe Rogan46:46

       If you loved something else as much as you love that, you'd be just as good at that. I think it's an expression of who you are as a person.

   13. DMDave Mustaine46:53

       Mm-hmm.

   14. JRJoe Rogan46:53

       And I think that's one of the more unique things about guitar playing to me.

   15. DMDave Mustaine46:57

       Mm-hmm.

   16. JRJoe Rogan46:57

       It's like, we were talking, uh, outside earlier about Gary Clark Jr., about like, if I listen to Gary Clark Jr.'s riffs, I can tell it's him. Like, his sound is so distinctive. He's playing with the same instrument that other people play with, but his sound is so uniquely distinctive that I could pick it out.

   17. DMDave Mustaine47:13

       Mm-hmm.

   18. JRJoe Rogan47:14

       And that that was the case with Hendrix, and that's the case with you.

   19. DMDave Mustaine47:17

       Mm-hmm.

   20. JRJoe Rogan47:17

       It's, uh, the case with a lot of great guitarists. Like, you hear the sound, and you know who's playing it, which is really crazy.

   21. DMDave Mustaine47:25

       Mm-hmm.

   22. JRJoe Rogan47:25

       If you think about this instrument that basically anybody can buy-

   23. DMDave Mustaine47:29

       Mm-hmm.

   24. JRJoe Rogan47:29

       ... you can get them in so many different places, and so many people know how to play them.

   25. DMDave Mustaine47:32

       Right.

   26. JRJoe Rogan47:32

       But some people specifically, who they are comes out in their music.

   27. DMDave Mustaine47:36

       Mm-hmm.

   28. JRJoe Rogan47:36

       And as a fan of music, that's one of the cooler things about guitar playing to me, or any kind of music playing, is that like, it, th- there's like an expression of who the person is who creates it that comes out when you listen to it.

   29. DMDave Mustaine47:48

       Mm-hmm. You're a big Hendrix fan.

   30. JRJoe Rogan47:50

       I love Hendrix.
5. 1:00:00 – 1:09:16

   But if he turned…

   1. DMDave Mustaine1:00:00

      you know? Uh, do I believe that if I prayed for your shirt to be white right now that it would happen? Well, if, if, if, you know, the powers that be, you know, uh, the spirits of the universe want things to change, I could be struck blind right now by a white light and-

   2. JRJoe Rogan1:00:14

      But if he turned my shirt white, I think that'd be a waste of a curse.

   3. DMDave Mustaine1:00:18

      Right.

   4. JRJoe Rogan1:00:18

      It's really not a bad curse.

   5. DMDave Mustaine1:00:19

      Well, so the curses I did-

   6. JRJoe Rogan1:00:20

      (laughs)

   7. DMDave Mustaine1:00:20

      ... I did one on one guy that I was at school, and my nephew had told him that I was, uh, practicing Kung Fu Sun Tzu at the time. And, and, um, so he was like the t- uh, the school tough guy. And I, I, it was my first day at school, so he walked past me and sucker punched me in the stomach and I buckled over and I thought, "Oh, all right, here we go. This is gonna suck, this school." So we're going home and the buses are two-bus ride, big bus to a small drop-off, a little bus out to where we lived out in, in the, the rural, uh, area. And, uh, we get off the first bus and everybody circles around, and he's gonna beat me up, and nothing happens. And so I get on the bus and he gets in the bus and he walks out and elbows me in the back of the head when he's getting out, and I had some chewing tobacco in my mouth, so I swallowed it. And I got so sick and I knew I had to do something or it was gonna keep happening. So I put a hex on him that he would get physically injured, and he did. And, and the other hex that I did was a girl in night school we went to in Marina.

   8. JRJoe Rogan1:01:20

      How did he get physically injured?

   9. DMDave Mustaine1:01:22

      I, I, it, it was just something that had to do with...

   10. JRJoe Rogan1:01:25

       But do you think, but he sounds like an asshole. Is, guys like that get hurt all the time.

   11. DMDave Mustaine1:01:29

       He did get hurt.

   12. JRJoe Rogan1:01:30

       Yeah, but did, do you think that it, he got hurt because you put a hex on him, or do you think he got hurt because he's an asshole and he's probably doing stupid shit every day? Guys like that always get hurt.

   13. DMDave Mustaine1:01:40

       I think he got hurt because he's an asshole and I put a hex on him.

   14. JRJoe Rogan1:01:43

       Both?... both those things.

   15. DMDave Mustaine1:01:44

       Yeah.

   16. JRJoe Rogan1:01:45

       What's that? Like, how do you do a hex?

   17. DMDave Mustaine1:01:48

       The whole reason I wouldn't play conjuring anymore was because-

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:01:51

       Right.

   19. DMDave Mustaine1:01:51

       ... it has the instructions on how to do it. So, uh, I don't want anybody to learn how to do this. But I will tell you this much, the, uh, it involved, uh, um, using some food sources and, and making an effigy of sorts-

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:02:04

       Jesus.

   21. DMDave Mustaine1:02:05

       ... and then, and then, um, you have to, um, you do certain things to identify the doll, you know? And then, um, you, uh, break off a leg or an arm of the doll and, uh, it's basically what he did. I broke the leg off and the guy got in a car crash and his leg got mauled and, and, um-

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:02:28

       Wow.

   23. DMDave Mustaine1:02:28

       ... you know, this was 45 years ago, so the statute of limitations have expired. But even still-

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:02:32

       I don't think you can get in trouble for hexes.

   25. DMDave Mustaine1:02:35

       Maybe. In the spiritual world, you do. Um-

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:02:37

       Yeah, but I don't think there's a statute of limitations in the spiritual world.

   27. DMDave Mustaine1:02:40

       No, there's not. I think eternity means eternity. But, um, the other one was much more fun. I think you probably would've liked that more. It was a sex hex I did on this girl named-

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:02:47

       You did a sex hex?

   29. DMDave Mustaine1:02:48

       ... on this girl named Susanna. And, uh, I went to night school-

   30. JRJoe Rogan1:02:50

       That's got to be a good band too.

Episode duration: 2:56:31