Former Megadeth drummer Nick Menza says a reunion of the band’s classic 1990s lineup fell apart during recent negotiations and now he is sharing the details of a contract offer put on the table by his former band.
Menza has previously revealed that he and guitarist Marty Friedman were in talks to rejoin the group following last fall’s departure of Chris Broderick and Shawn Drover.
"I went and jammed with them for a 3-day weekend and then on the 3rd day we started to write new songs, and it was cool, they even told me that I was back in the band and to send a press release about it,” Menza tells New Zealand’s Heavy Metal Thrash, The Sick Room podcast (audio below). “I didn't want to say anything until I had an agreement, a contract in writing on what is going to happen and they send this ridiculous proposal which pretty much said 'You're not going to get paid until the touring', so basically I was going to be working on the new record for free, but then I had intended on leaning towards that anyway and then I thought to myself I'm not going to break, I'm not going to sell myself short for something that is going to be huge you know.
“They gotta realize the longevity it, and then the whole thing just became silly, I didn't even get a chance to negotiate about anything, they just cut it off and said 'that's it' and afterwards I couldn't get hold of Dave [Mustaine] or anybody, he blocked my emails.”
“We had a meeting at NAMM,” Menza continues, “the four of us got together with our old manager Ron Laffitte and started talking about touring plans and another record, Marty didn't say whether he was in the band or not, but I certainly was up for it and yeah, it all just took a turn for the worse. I was ready to be apart of it, I guess it just wasn't meant to be. I know Chris Adler will do a great job in the studio, but who will do these songs live?”
“The reason why I refused to join Megadeth is because Dave didn't show me any kind of 'love' at all, I wish I was doing it, but they didn't want to show me any contract in writing or anything, I guess it was just not meant to be.”
Mustaine brought in former Angra guitarist Kiko Loureiro to the band, with Lamb Of God drummer Chris Adler joining the group in the studio as a guest player on their next studio album.
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Search Megadeth at hennemusic
