Darryl Sterdan at The Toronto Sun recently caught up with MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson. An excerpt from the interview is available below, with Ellefson discussing his studies to become an ordained Lutheran pastor:

Q: Isn’t studying to become a pastor kind of at odds with playing the devil’s music?

Ellefson: "Well, the thing of it is, we don’t play the devil’s music. On (1986’s) Peace Sells ... But Who’s Buying? there were some songs about seances and things like that. But they weren’t written because we did them. Certainly I didn’t do them. You can write a song about anything ...and those songs weren’t about Satan. They were about questioning things. People that thought it was just about Satan just didn’t want to do any homework and went, ‘If it’s different then it must be wrong and therefore it’s the devil’s work.’ That’s about as closed-minded as you could be."

Q: Do you feel an obligation to intervene when you see other musicians and young people on the wrong path?

Ellefson: "My attitude is that you suit up, you show up and you behave accordingly. And you let, for lack of a better term, God’s spirit pass through you. People will see that. If they want to inquire, they know where to go. If someone ain’t asking, you don’t need to be telling. But if they start asking, that’s an opportunity to share what your life was like. The testimony-based approach comes from a place where it’s genuine. And I think most ears will hear that a lot better than if you’re just standing at the airport beating them over the head with a Bible as they come through the door."

Click here for the complete interview.

As previously reported, Megadeth's Gigantour - featuring metal heavyweights MOTÖRHEAD, VOLBEAT and LACUNA COIL, all personally picked by Dave Mustaine – rolled into the theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY on January 28th. Ellefson has posted an update from the third day of the tour below:

The 2012 version of Dave Mustaine's resurrected Gigantour traveling cavalcade kicked off January 26th at the Susquahana Bank Arena, in Camden, NJ. Check out two reports fromBraveWords.com here and here.

Upcoming dates include:

February

1 - Glens Falls Civic Center - Glens Falls, NY
2 - Colisee Pepsi - Quebec City, QC
3 - Bell Centre - Montreal, QC
5 - K-Rock Centre - Kingston, ON
7 - General Motors Centre - Oshawa, ON
8 - Copps Coliseum - Hamilton, ON
9 - Palace of Auburn Hills - Auburn Hills, MI
10 - Aragon Ballroom - Chicago, IL
12 - Eagles Ballroom - Milwaukee, WI
14 - Myth - St. Paul, MN
16 - Prairieland - Saskatoon, SK
17 - Shaw Conference Centre - Edmonton, AB
18 - Big 4 Building - Calgary, AB
20 - Abbotsford Ent & Sports Centre - Abbotsford, BC
21 - Showare Center - Kent, WA
23 - Event Center at San Jose State University - San Jose, CA
24 - Gibson Amphitheatre - Universal City, CA
25 - Comerica Theatre - Phoenix, AZ
26 - Tingley Coliseum - Albuquerque, NM
28 - The Fillmore Auditorium - Denver, CO

March

1 - The Palladium - Dallas, TX
2 - Verizon Wireless Theater - Houston, TX
3 - ACL Live - Austin, TX

More dates to be announced soon.