During an interview on The Jeremy White Show, MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine reflected on the history of thrash metal and expressed feeling bashful when receiving praise for being the “godfather of metal.”
The topic arose when Dave was questioned about whether he had the opportunity to spend time with Eddie Van Halen, given that they are both now affiliated with Kramer guitars.
“Did I hang out with Eddie? No? Did I know him? No. Did I know of him? Yes, of course. And did he influence my playing? Probably, unbeknownst to myself, there are a couple of little tricks that we do,” Dave said. “But those tricks were invented by a lot of people a long time ago. I think Eddie would have been one of the first people to tell you that he didn’t invent playing overhand on the guitar. And I don’t know where he picked up the tapping.”
“But you know, it’s just like with me, when people say I’m the godfather of metal. I get shy,” he continued. “It’s just gonna sound lame, but I almost feel embarrassed. Because while I was a big part of it, and I was there, there were other people there. And I really love to give them credit too, you know? The guys in METALLICA and me, we’re not the only ones in the beginning.”
Furthermore, Mustaine reminisced about two bands that emerged in the 1980s and how they were not given the recognition they deserved: “There were guys in bands like LȦȦZ ROCKIT, which is an unknown band. HIRAX, which was a band… I think they’re still trying, but it was a band that never got the break that they needed.”
