This week Focus on Metal hosts an exclusive interview with former MEGADETH stick wielder NICK MENZA, Nick has a new book coming out this year Nick Menza: Megalife and he choose FoM as the first place to talk about it as well as several other projects he has in the works some of which have not been talked about until this interview.

The episode is airing on some internet radio stations and on iTunes. The interview can also be streamed at this location.

Reclusive former Megadeth star Nick Menza has been writing, recording and producing constantly but only releasing sporadic singles for years, but now he’s opening the floodgates with the upcoming release of his memoir, Nick Menza: Megalife, by acclaimed writer J. Marshall Craig. The cover art is expected to be released sometime next week.

“Megadeth was a big part of my story,” Menza says, “but it was just one part. Jeff (Craig) has got me to talk about IT ALL!”

The book, which was written over the past 18 months, is in negotiations for release in late 2013. It features rare and never-before-seen photos of Menza with every band he’s ever been in, including, of course, the mega-selling Megadeth.

“It’s a memoir of music,” writer Craig says, “But a lot more. It’s a book about chasing the ultimate gig, the ultimate drum setup, the ultimate sound and, it will come as not surprise to Nick’s fans, the ultimate aliens, government conspiracies and anything else his muse sees fit to lay across his path."

His first performance was at the age of two on stage at the Montreux Jazz Festival when legendary jazz percussionist JACK DeJOHNETTE (MILES DAVIS, SONNY ROLLINS, JOE HENDERSON) placed Nick on his kit. Thirty years later he was stepping out on stage in front of hundreds of thousands of screaming fans every night.

Menza, son of legendary jazz saxophonist Don Menza, was at the top of his game when Megadeth started a world tour in support of its album Cryptic Writings, but began to suffer knee problems and escalating pain. Doctors diagnosed him with a tumor. Surgery waylaid the drummer briefly, but he was relieved to learn the tumor was benign and was eager to rejoin his band mates, who had continued their tour with a replacement drummer. But deteriorating relations within the band exploded and Menza was replaced permanently. What does Nick have to say about it all now?

“Buy the book it’s all in there!”

Nick Menza: Megalife, by J. Marshall Craig, is due in stores, in Kindle and eBook versions, in late 2013.

Updates to follow. More on Nick Menza at Facebook.