MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson is featured in a new interview with Todd Newton at BigMusicGeek.com discussing his new book, Unsung: Words And Images. An excerpt is available below:

Todd: What was the main inspiration behind Unsung: Words And Images? This isn't something I had expected...

David Ellefson: "It happened very quickly, actually. We came home from South America in early December and I just sat around. I usually take about a week to debrief from the road and go from about seven hundred miles an hour down to zero and glide back into civilian life after being on tour (laughs). During that process, right before Christmas, I started looking through my computer and I noticed this ever-growing folder of lyrics that I had. There was a lot of stuff that I had written pretty recently. I reached out to a friend of mine named Brett Nelson who had written a similar book of all poetry. He's a friend of mine and I sent over the manuscript so that he could help me finish it and co-write on it. I had the idea, but wasn't sure on how to close it up. He was already co-writing lyrics with me anyway, so I ran the idea past him. I said 'What do you think about compiling these into a book and putting photographs with them?' and he said 'Let's do it'. So we jumped on it quick and he helped me put the team together to get it finished and by mid-January, we had everything pretty much done. Before I went out on (the 2012 edition of) Gigantour, I had the lyrics completed and the fine details done. We basically spent the next month finalizing the layouts so that we would be able to release it in March."

Todd: What ultimately led to your decision to release Unsung: Words And Images via a self-published platform?

David: "With having published a book before with Making Music Your Business (1997), I understood the amount of time it takes to write a book, edit it, shop it to a publisher and then release it. That can take a couple of years. This was such a fun project and it came together so quickly that I didn't want to get bogged down and inundated with the whole business side of it. Today, more than ever, the option of self-publishing is available to everybody. I chose (the self-publishing service) Blurb because even though the print copy is way more expensive than I wished it had to be, they offer it as an e-reader version so it can be easily downloaded into iBooks. That's the part I do like. I have an iPad and I think more and more people around me have an iPad or an iPhone. I think it's the future of publishing moving forward, plus you get to save a few trees in the process. Plus, once you upload a book into Blurb, they take care of all the formatting for iBooks, so it's not like I had to do a separate version. Also, it didn't require me to do an extensive wrap-up. I was able to do it pretty quickly. I laid the book out in Blurb, which is what my editor Libby (Calaby) in the UK did. It was a team. It was me, Brett, Libby and Raffaella. It was like being in a little band. There was a great four-way partnership.”

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Unsung: Words And Images is available now via Blurb.com in deluxe hardcover and softcover editions, as well as a downloadable version through the iBooks app for iPad and iPhone.

Dark, light, inquisitive and inspirational, Unsung expresses a uniquely diverse side to David’s creativity. He enthuses that, “as a musician, my past lyrical work has always been set to music. But, with this new book I set out to explore a new medium using both words and images as the canvas for an exciting new mosaic of storytelling.”

Unsung captures the latest chapter in the life of one of metal music’s most iconic and influential artists, as he explores a new medium for his lyrical creativity. The book is also David’s first venture into the realm of self-publishing and as a result, he encourages the reader to utilize his new and original lyrics under license from him for their own songs. In this manner, song-writers of all levels can actually become a co-writer with David.

As bassist for the rock group Megadeth, David has been a regular contributor to one of metal music’s most enduring legacies. Followers of David’s work will be delighted that Unsung proves to be yet another unique narrative from a man who is known for creating fresh and innovative ways to inspire and connect with his fans.