Rory Ahearn from Vice recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine. In the interview Mustaine talks about his new autobiography: Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir and the topics that didn’t make it into the book. Read excerpts from the interview below:

Vice: I just finished your book and there were a couple of things that were glossed over that I would have expected to find more of and a few things that weren’t mentioned at all that I wanted to ask you about - like your appearance on Rock’N’Roll Jeopardy.

Dave Mustaine: “Well, the reason that wasn’t included was because that’s sort of a self-aggrandizing type of thing, and I’ve had a pretty successful career as it is. I didn’t need to have every single thing I did great put in there. That really didn’t express who I was, it was more about 'hey look at me!' I could have put that in there but it really didn’t serve any purpose.”

Vice: Yeah you’re right, but those are like number one and two, for me at least. When you started Megadeth you claimed to have a distinct vision of what a heavy metal band should look like - long hair, leather, studs, muscles - and through 23 lineup changes you’ve more or less stuck with that vision, but do you still feel the same way? Specifically about the long hair thing.

Dave Mustaine: “I think if you’re honest with your fans then whatever the initial ideas you had when you set out will have room to grow. If you’re not and you try to do a SPINAL TAP MARK II kind of thing it doesn’t work it backfires. There’s been a lot of bands that have done that. We came close to making a serious career-ending mistake with Risk. I like that record, and a lot of other people do too, but our hardcore fans don’t. They prefer more the heavier, faster stuff. Because the album said Megadeth they expected a certain type of thing and it wasn’t what they expected."

Vice: The book also barely touched on the evolution of Vic Rattlehead. Old Vic has seen a lot of changes over the years…

Dave Mustaine: “Vic was something that was germinated from an idea for a tattoo. As a kid I had seen those junkstore three monkeys with their hands over their ears and face and mouth; the whole 'see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil' thing. That was one of the things I thought was really funny when I was getting ready to do the first album cover. I wanted to have that on the album cover, but I got the record back and it was totally not that.”

To read the entire interview go here.

As previously reported Mustaine’s Autobiography has landed at position #2 on Canada's The Globe and Mail Hardcover Nonfiction bestsellers list. The book, co-written by award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author Joe Layden, was released in the US on August 3 via HarperCollins' It Books imprint. The UK edition, Mustaine: A Life In Metal, will hit book stores in the UK on September 30. Dave Mustaine has scheduled 21-book-signing sessions across the US to promote the book.

For more information and to order the book online, click here.