David Ellefson:  We recorded here in Phoenix where the whole band is from.  The studio is in Scottsdale Arizona and it is actually a private studio that the executive producer Steve Smith owned. It has now become a public studio called "Crush Recording". Ryan Green produced the record and Steve Smith was the executive producer and some people think it's the same Steve Smith from Journey, but its not [laughter]!  Steve was a business associate of mine and has been in radio for a number of years so it was really a good team between all of us for the production. F5 is really a band where the songs are always written in a verse-chorus-verse-chorus type of fashion, so it was nice to work with Ryan and Steve in a way that they understood that F5 is a heavy band with chunky heavy riffs, but there is always a strong melody over it.  We were very conscious of that throughout the recording process because we did not want to forsake the heaviness for the melody, but we did not want to undermine the melody of the songs to be heavy.

Alexi: You worked with Brian in the past on the Countdown To Extinction demos, now those are also written in the same verse-chorus-verse-chorus fashion…

Dave: Well when I worked with Ryan back in 1991, he was mostly the house engineer of the EMI publishing studios out in Hollywood. He didn't work so much as a producer. However, over the years: you know its funny because Max Norman who produced several records that I was on, Ryan Green bought most of his studio equipment from Max Norman, and a lot of that gear was the same gear that Max bought during the Youthenasia recordings [Laughter], so its funny to hear the whole story.  Ryan ended up getting Max's gear and taking it up to San Francisco where he went into business with Fat Mike from the punk band NOFX.  But they had a studio up there where they were churning out their punk albums and that is where Ryan made a name for himself. He did it working on that side of music with NOFX and punk rock. Then Ryan came down to Arizona and was working with Steve Smith on the Authority Zero record, and that was when I met Ryan again.

I walked into the studio and said, "Goddamn, it’s good to see you again!"  He said, "We should work on something together." I told him about F5 and the next thing you know Ryan was flying down to Scottsdale every few weeks to help with the record.  The whole thing ended up taking up about three months to do the whole record.  As it turns out Ryan lives across the street from me [laughs].  He also has a house up in San Francisco.  I really love that synergy and good will and how relationships work like that.  I am a big advocate of that.  It seems as though the last few years of my life have worked like that which has been a really positive and exciting experience.  It is much better than to be the other way, which is of course negativity and no one wants to be around that.

Alexi: Lyrically I read that you and Dale worked on the lyrics.  Shed some light on the writing process.

Alexi: What were some of your expectations going into the recording?  Did it end up the way you wanted it to?

Dave: Well, initially our goal was to do a demo.  We had some rough stuff from before that we did at Steve Conley’s house, which all sounded really good.  One thing about this band is that from the beginning we have been super tight and great sounding.  People were blown away by how tight we are and how well we played together.  Also, when we first started playing, we sounded nothing like Linkin Park and nothing like Metallica or anything else that was going on around us.  It sounded fresh and modern, but had the traditional metal elements in it, yet it was really melodic.  So, it was something that caught people’s ears, which is always a good sign.  When we went in to do these demos with Ryan, we did "Fall To Me, "What I am," and "X-Out". When we finished them up, we said to ourselves, "Holy Cow", because we had our sound really defined at that point!  From there, that is when Ryan and Steve said we should make an album and figure everything else out later.  It took awhile for it to get out because we finished an album that the public knew about and people were anxious to see what I was going to do next and what kind of music I was going to play.  So, everyone was excited, but it took a whole year to get it recorded, shopped, signed and then get it into the system and out, which it finally is out.  It is a long process and I appreciate everyone who hung tight with us through the process. 

Alexi: You also managed to keep yourself busy with other material with bands such as Soulfly, War Machine, and Temple of Brutality…

Dave: Well the thing about War Machine, was that I have wanted to produce them since early 2001. That really led to the formation of the Ellefson Music Production Company. In 2002, I spent that whole year doing a lot of co-writing and artist development, which is were I found most of F5, because I was working with groups that they were in. Once their groups began to split up and decided to do other thing, that is what led us to get into a room and play music together.  But War Machine is a band I began to help develop in terms of their songs with their producer Murray Dagel from the group Emerald Rain. It has been three or four years since I worked on that. 

At some point I was I was so busy with F5 stuff that I handed over some of the production stuff to Lance to take care of.  So that record is going to be coming out on Nightmare Records, the same label War Machine’s new record is coming out on.  So, those are the things that I have been working on two or three years ago that are finally starting to come around.  It is interesting because I was off the radar screen for a few years there, but I was working my ass off the whole time, but it is funny that in 2005 several records that I had my hands in are coming out [laughter]!  I hope there is not too much of a traffic jam out there, but that is how it went [laughter]. 

Alexi: Tell me a bit about The David Ellefson company and what role it plays in bands lives?

Dave: Well, it really started as an artist development project.  People were sending me demos of things and once I started showing interest in producing, I started getting flooded with demos from all over the world.  I did the best I could to take a band into the studio, develop their sound and help them with the writing and eventually get some decent sounding demos that would be presentable to record companies.  With that, I tried to help groom them in every possible way I could.  With that said, it is still a crapshoot because you don't know what the record label is looking for, what sound they want, what look they desire, there is a whole lot to getting into a record label.  It isn’t just the tunes sounding good and looking good; there is a whole world to it.  I tried to do it the best I could and with the best spirit, I had of helping people.  I wanted to be helpful to young musicians who wanted to have their turn up to bat.  Now that I have some great graphics artists, good mastering people and some other producers and studios and all kinds of things. I have a pretty solid little network going on here, which is really great.

Alexi: I was going to say, the industry needs more people like you who care about other artists, not just themselves.

Dave: I can't do it totally for free, but it wasn't like I wanted this to be my next way of gauging people for money, you know? [laughter]  The reality is that the same money that used to be in the industry is not there anymore.  So even for me, I really have to approach it cautiously.  I really have to like the music and I really have to like the people I am working with.  If all those things fall in order, any financial reward comes down the road.  It is like when I got the call from Soulfly to play on the Prophecy record and was asked to do a video with them. The Soulfly camp has been very good to me.  They were right here in town with me, in fact I went out a few weekends ago and did my first shows with them, which was great.  We did one in Phoenix, went over to Long Beach, and did one over there on Friday and Saturday nights.  I spent a lot of time learning the songs because I had not heard a lot of the material before, so it forced me to learn how they play and how Max works and how Marc and Joe work and really dig into the history of Sepultura which is a good education for me.  Playing with all these kinds of people is a lot of fun for me because it forces me to not just plant my feet in the sand and say, “My name is David Ellefson, this is who I am and what I play: it’s my way or the highway.”  I find that to be a very self-defeating attitude to have. [laughter]  For me, I am having a lot of creative fun!

Alexi: Let’s go back to F5 for a minute here.  How has the response been to the new F5 material?  How has the live response been from the shows you did last year?

Dave: It has been really good!  We did some shows last year before the record came out so people were blindly going out to see us. They only really knew something about the band because of me. The only thing they could really prejudge the music on was my past, and F5 sounds nothing like my past projects.  It is not a radical departure from the record, because live the band is heavier than they are on record because it is raw. We are two guitar players, a bassist, a drummer, and singer and it is all-raw, in your face, and it rips. The response and the reviews we got were phenomenal.  I was really happy about that.  So far, as far as the record goes, the e-mails I have gotten from fans have been very positive.  People kind of say they didn't expect what they got, but they liked what they got and said it was really cool!  I think if we had delivered what they thought they would get, it would not have been so favorable.  Yet at the same time and conceive this whole thing, it was a natural progression of what happens when these five guys get together in a room and make music.

Alexi: How are things with Mascot Records?

Dave: With Mascot, things are great!  They have really worked hard, I know they worked the Marty Friedman record and he was really happy with them.  Some other associates that I know that have worked with Marty during his record said nothing but great things about Mascot.  It is funny Brian from Vicious Rumors called me one day and we were talking about something and I started talking about F5, and he told me to call up Ed at Mascot records.  So he is the one who introduced us.  Which is funny because today I got the new Vicious Rumors DVD in the mail from Mascot records.  It is interesting because Mascot also has a Chris Poland record and coincidentally they are releasing the Marc Rizzo record who was in the Soulfly.  It is like these six degrees of separation that I seem to have from everyone, which really makes it seem like a small world. 

Alexi: Tell me about the artwork, where do the music and the lyrics coincide with the artwork?

Dave: In my former group, I dedicated my whole life to it.  That was what we did, we built it from the beginning, and that's what we did.  But in 2002 one day it ended and it was over.  At that point, quite honestly, I didn't know what the hell I was going to do with my life.  I kind of figured we would be the Lynrd Skynrd of metal and always be playing [laughter].  But the reality was that it was done and it was over.  I think that is why I did so much artist development that year: because I wanted to stay musically active.  Yet, it was also fun to hook up with these young musicians and see how they are approaching guitar, song writing, and lyric writing.  And now it is interesting because I am involved in Temple of Brutality as well as the Killing Machine record that I did and stuff like that, some of that is getting back to a traditional type of metal, which is also fun. 

When you are in one band for a long time you get fans that band and man that band can't really deviate from what they want you to do, which is okay, there is nothing wrong with that.  Obviously the biggest obstacle I face is that, as that former band of mine has reformed, the one thing about it is that none of the past members are in it, they have all moved on.  I tried really hard to make sure that my fans know that I did not turn my back on them.  As we go down new roads that they are more than welcome to come with me and that I want them to check out new stuff.  I think that because I was such a longtime member in that group, I would like to think that they will hang around with me and see what I am doing, provided that it is something I am doing.  I am respectful of the fans because if it weren’t for them, you and I would not be having this conversation.  In the beginning, you start because you are making music you like but after awhile you start to make music the fans like and without fans, you can't have a band that lasts long. 

Alexi: Tell me a bit about your musical history as well as what kind of training you had, as well as who you tried to emulate as a player when you were younger.

Dave: Well, when I first started out, we did not have a piano in our house, we had an organ, because my mom sang in a choir, so I learned how to play organ.  So learned how to play with my left hand and right hand as well as use the bass pedals.  So, that taught me how to play music.  I took up tenor saxophone and played in the grade school band and through high school, so I was in the marching band and all that stuff.  So, I really understood music.  I took up bass when I was eleven and once I saw Kiss I thought, "Holy shit, I am doing that!" So, that is when I started getting into rock music. [laughter]  Playing bass, I learned by ear, getting in, and jamming with musicians.  Still I think the best things I have done in my life are the ones that I jumped into and learned first hand with experience.

Alexi: When was that Kiss concert?  Did you ever think of being like Gene Simmons on stage?

Dave: Well he is certainly the "God Of Thunder" on some level [laughter].  The thing was that I saw Kiss after I had been playing bass for about a year or so.  When I was growing up in rural Minnesota, I would take the school bus to school every morning.  I remember the bus drivers would always have on the WLF from Chicago, that was like the AM station.  They would be playing stuff like Styx in the morning and I thought it was so rad.  The guitars were heavy, there were tons of guitar solos, and the singing was awesome. It was cool stuff.  So, I was really into that kind of music.  So by the time Kiss came along, they became the voice of my generation.  I had already started to play bass before I saw Kiss, but when I saw the gig, I was just memorized.  It is like one of those things were I look at an airplane and I know that on paper, the mathematics work so that the thing can fly, but I look at and think it is an amazing piece of machinery.  That was like watching Kiss.  I would watch it and think, "How the fuck did they get to that level?"  They were bigger than I could understand.  That was when it became my lifelong quest to do that. 

Alexi: What did you parents think of the heavy music you were playing?

Dave: They were not always into the heavy music, especially when I started getting into the stuff like Judas Priest and Motörhead.  I was raised in a pretty wholesome environment.  We were not squares by any means, but it was a wholesome Midwest environment.  You go to church on Sundays and do all the sort of quintessential stuff that is how it was.  My parents were very supportive of me.  My dad and my family had a big farming operation and my dad say that I was getting into music and he really got into it.  He really got into the business side of it and he’d read Billboard Magazine.  In fact, I hooked him up with a few tickets and passes to see Metallica and he hung out and chilled with the band after the show. [laughter]  He studied it and he really got into.  The man didn't have a musical bone in his body, but he understood the passion of it.  My parents are really into it and that is why when I was 18 and graduated from High School I set off to California to do my deal in Hollywood and eventually get everything rolling in 1983, they were really supportive and I am sure as any parent can be from watching their kid go to Hollywood to pursue a dream in rock.  I was really lucky because I didn't have to rebel and go against my parents and go down those roads, because I see a lot of kids do it and it really looks like a hard struggle.

Alexi: How did you feel when metal sort of “died” in the mid nineties?  Is there some sort of cyclical pattern to things like that?

Dave: I think it is a cyclical pattern.  Everyone hates Nirvana because they think that Nirvana did it.  Nirvana didn't do it; in fact, I think Nirvana was a great band!  I think Kurt Cobain wrote some great songs. The thing that killed it was the music industry.  The music industry saw bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam and went, "Okay, we want to do that now, no more Headbangers Ball".  They just pulled the plug on all of us.  But those of us that had a fan base and continued to tour did well.  MTV didn't make us, so MTV couldn’t break us.  That was the good news for us.  That came as bad news for the hair metal bands generations.  A lot of those bands weren't shit until they got on MTV and then on radio.  Once MTV and radio decided they wanted to be into grunge, hair bands were done.  Of course, any of the good bands from any genre will survive.  But you gotta stick with it and stay in the game.  Part of being successful is not quitting. 

Alexi: Do you feel metal is on the rise again?  If so, are there any similarities or differences as to HOW metal rose now and how it rose back then?

Alexi: For some reason or another you decide to leave the music industry in the next five years, what would you see your legacy to be?

Dave: Well, my biggest impact will be the twenty years I had in my former band.  I know that, it is sort of like Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Robert Plant.  Right, wrong, or indifferent, we will always remember them as Led Zeppelin.  I am aware of that as I move on and do new things, that to some degree, whatever I do now may or may not pale to the legacy and success of my previous stuff.  A lot of that is because we did not quit.  We stayed in the game for so long.  That legacy will live on forever, and there is nothing you can to do change that.  I am part of that legacy.  There is no way you can erase the history books and the names.  Marty Friedman, Nick Menza, Jimmy Degrasso, Chris Poland, and myself: we are all part of that legacy.  But at the same time, we are all creative musicians.  I think that the fact that all of us have moved on and started new creative endeavors shows that it wasn't a one-time fluke thing either. [laughter]  It shows that there was some real depth and passion for the music.

Alexi: So there is also a legacy and history that has yet to be written for you?

Dave: Yeah, absolutely!  I like to think that these are the good old days that we are living in right now.  It isn’t because one day in March 2005 and said I better start playing bass.  I have been working my ass off for the last four years and finally all my stuff is coming around all at once.  To me, I am keeping my eye on the prize and also having fun playing the music, I love with the people I like. 

Alexi: What is your take on what is going on right now and were do you see our country heading down the road as heavy metal rises?

Dave: Well, fortunately presidents have to be changed every four or eight years at the maximum, so we have a natural stop gate here. [laughter]  We have stop gate that allows some muck to be stopped in some way and corrected.  With that said it seems to be popular to bash America, bash President Bush, and bash our country.  I am an American citizen and this is the country I have my life in.  At the same time, I am a traveling musician who has seen the whole world.  When you travel, you start to see things through other people's eyes.  That is an educational experience and you sometimes learn to button your lip.  But it is interesting to step into other people’s shoes and look at events and things from their perspectives. 

Alexi: Where do you see F5 fitting into the heavy metal arena today?

Dave: The F5 record fits a little outside what is going on right now, because it doesn't fit a radio format anymore.  Maybe the radio format that would have once embraced it has now gone away, yet at the same time, it is not as heavy as Lamb of God or Slipknot, so it won’t fit there either.  So, it fits in its own little region.  Conversely, Temple of Brutality is very brutal with its music and intensely political with its lyrics.  It is cool to have two totally different groups that I am a part of.  One is a bit more conscious of melody and song writing in that sense, whereas the other is about full on aggression and really lyrically putting it on the line.

Alexi: So it is two different creative releases?

Dave: Yeah it is!  If you look at my past, that was a pretty wide paintbrush stroke across the canvas [laughter].  It started off with thrash metal and then it got melodic and turned into arena rock almost.  So there is quite a bit of variety to my abilities as a player, a writer, an artist, and everything.  That is what I really like about working with someone like Max Cavalera.  Max is a very genuine and honest artist.  He doesn't sit around say, "My third record sold well, so I'd better does more of that." I have learned a lot from working with Max, he really beats to his own drum.  He doesn't give a shit about record sales or anything like that.  When you walk into Max's world, you really walk into this insularly world where it is kind of Max being creative in his own way and at his own pace.  He is very pleasant about it also.  He is not a fucking psychotic mad scientist about it or anything.  He is a pleasure to work with.  It has been cool working with him on that level and I have learned a lot about working honestly with your music. 

Alexi: Is the music industry as brutal as people make it out to be?

Dave: It can be.  It really depends on what wave you are on.  If you are on a good wave you better stay on it and ride it.  Of course there is an evil side of that.  If you are on a wave, you are hopefully on wave you want to be on.  Because if you are on a wave you don't want to be on it sucks.  All of a sudden, you are doing it for the wrong reasons.  You end up working for prestige and honor and not for yourself.  At the same time, if you want to say you are an artist and you don't care about money you better be prepared for that side of it also.  It is a double edge sword.  I consider myself lucky.  I think of myself as living the lucky American dream in a sense that I was a kid that was born and raised on a farm in Minnesota and moved to Hollywood to pursue a dream and ended up hitting the jackpot.  It wasn't like living the lifestyle of the rich and famous either.  It hasn't been that at all, it has been a lot of hard work and shit that wasn't pleasant.  I had to put up with some people and some situations that were not favorable and that most people would have folded their hands and said fuck it. 

All my friends I moved out to California with ended up folding their hands and moving back to Minnesota.  I walked the razor's edge for many years, and looking back on it in hindsight, I really did it!  For that, I am very thankful for everyone in my former band for all the work that we did together and all the contributions we made.  Dave Mustaine is an incredibly talented guy, and I don't ever make any bones about his talent and his vision or any things he was on the pulse with when I met him.  He has an incredible instinctive gut to know what to do at the right time.  That is a admirable quality.