MEGADETH INTERVIEW with James Lomenzo

Judith sits down with the band’s bassist on April 29th 2008 @ the Montreal Bell Center

CONFONT: Hi James.

JAMES: Hi Judith.

CONFRONT: I just wanted to start by briefing you on what we are exactly. We are an online music magazine called CONFRONT Magazine. Our motto is Dare, Defy, Provoke. Dare to Listen, Defy Stereotypes and Provoke Change.

JAMES: Excellent.

CONFRONT: So basically we’re working as a team to let the world know, our generation and others, that there is more to music than the mainstream or what plays on the radio.

JAMES: That’s very noble. I love it.

CONFRONT: Ok, so I’m going to start with a couple of what I call happy go lucky questions; questions that don’t have any direct link to the reason why we’re doing this interview…

JAMES: Ok, this is going to be fun…

CONFRONT: And then, of course, I have a couple questions for you about the band and your involvement in it but I also have a couple of general metal questions. In our magazine we have a section called Exhibit A, where we focus on specific subjects and go deeper, analyze them if you’d like to the best of our capacities and one of my colleagues at the magazine, Steve is doing a piece on the evolution of metal. So let’s get started. What would be the first and the last CD you remember buying?

JAMES: Wow! That’s a great and interesting question… One of my old Who albums was one of the first ones I got, because of course I had to have it on CD. The most recent one would be a song I downloaded, from a band called The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, the title is “Fire”. It’s a great 60′s song; it was just so quirky, I had to have it. I listen to music to entertain myself, you know.

CONFRONT: I understand that. Talking about quirky what would be your guilty pleasure… something you might not want other people to know you love?

JAMES: I actually got two and I’m actually not ashamed at all…

CONFRONT: Well, that’s great.

JAMES: Of all things, a band called The Turtles; they played with Frank Zappa later on but they started there. I just love it. Tommy James and The Shondells, once again these great evolutionary 60′s bands for some reasons you get them early when they are banging their guitars and then later on, when they’re psychedelic again, you rediscover them.

CONFRONT: Those are good guilty pleasures. We also have in our magazine a section called Daily Urges. Every day one of us at the magazine proposes a different artist, whether it’s a new comer or a band we feel needs to be rediscovered. What would be one of your daily urges? Anything your fans should be listening to? Anything the younger generation should rediscover or focus on?

JAMES: If you’re asking me what younger generations should focus on, they got to go back; they have to go to bands like Led Zeppelin… guys like Jimi Hendrix. Understand where we all come from, listen to everything, even if you don’t get it at first, you’ll get it eventually. Give it time. Listen and learn.

CONFRONT: Exactly, I agree, be open minded.

JAMES: That’s it.

CONFRONT: The band has existed for 25 years now…

JAMES: From what I can tell, yeah… I’ve been in for 2 of them…

CONFRONT: I was actually going get to that, how did you get to play with this band?

JAMES: Three points of reference. First there was this club I used to hang out at in Brooklyn… that was late 70′s, early 80′s. They played heavy music and there I got to play and see a lot of great metal bands. Later, I played in rock bands but didn’t know a lot about Megadeth. In 1995 I was in Japan on tour with another band and I got to see them play, that’s when I realized that these were amazing musicians. Finally, I was asked to put together a CD for Megadeth, they were looking for a new bass player, and here I am…

CONFRONT: That’s a cool story, have you enjoyed the past two years?

JAMES: This has been a blast. I started thinking I was just going to do an album with them, now I’ve been touring with them and it’s great. We put the new album together and the fans have been super supportive, it’s been great. It’s like a rebirth for Megadeth, it’s been awesome.

CONFRONT: Yeah, talking about rebirth, just a few years ago the metal scene had become fairly unpopular; it seemed that for a while, everyone in the business end of music were talking about it as being a dead trend in music. Metal disappeared from the mainstream popular consciousness for a while. But lately, there’s really been a resurgence of its popularity in general, and it’s starting to enjoy much more mass appeal. What do you attribute to this change in public opinion on metal?

JAMES: My heart of hearts wants to think that it’s more guitar oriented; there is a more traditionalist vibe that the younger bands have. I still don’t quite get the vocal side of it, which might be due to my age… I feel that the musicality is there. It gives me a feeling that it’s the outcast coming into the mainstream… the tattoo parlor people, the motorcyclists, the outsider hip hop gangster guys, they were all on the outside of society and now all are looking in and asking themselves “you know that, metal was pretty cool!”. It brought itself back, there is also most probably a lot of nostalgia from the older generation, now they can afford to come and see their favorite bands play you know…

CONFRONT: Oh yeah, that’s for sure. There are so many genres and subgenres of metal music; thrash metal, death metal, extreme metal, groove metal, death core… and in some cases, a lot of hostility between fans of the different groups. Why is it so important for people to create these labels and then judge bands based on the label instead of the content of their music?

JAMES: Everybody wants to join their own club house, ok? All have something they find dear, something they hold close. I respect it. Can I tell you exactly what it is? No. I think people gain ownership and find something that they can relate to; they find something significant about it. It’s just like finding something that is yours.

CONFRONT: For sure. It’s been part of your own world.

JAMES: Exactly.

CONFRONT: What drew you to metal? Because you didn’t start with metal music, right?

JAMES: To be frank with you I’m still working on my metal side. I love rock and roll and I was around when Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and the Beatles were around and to me this is a spinoff of the stuff that I love and I’m enjoying it very much. I learned more about the metal bands by playing covers with other bands. This is an addition to my musical career.

CONFRONT: That’s great. You guys have an official website and a MySpace page; how important has the new media been in your success? Of course you weren’t around then but Megadeth was popular before the new media was big. How do you feel it affects your careers?

JAMES: It’s essential; this is now the common speak of the world. It’s advertising in the modern age. There is no way we could still be doing this if we were not up to date with the new media. We get to talk to the fans, get their opinions and take them into consideration. Of course, the word to mouth is always going to be the best but the new media is great.

CONFRONT: Do you actually take the time to go on the MySpace page or on the Megadeth official website to read the fans comments and questions?

JAMES: I’ll be honest. My wife is way better at this than me, so she is the one giving me the updates and comments. I do chats with people, which is amazing. Could you imagine me chatting with Jimi Hendrix… wow, it would have been the best. It’s a great opportunity for sure.

CONFRONT: You’ve been in the band for two years now… being a newcomer also coming from a different background, how did the fans react to your arrival?

JAMES: Actually, Megadeth fans are the best. They love this band; this is something I found out right away. They’ve been great.

CONFRONT: Well, that’s great. There is one last general metal question. There are a lot of people who turn to music for solace, comfort, and a lot of metal heads say they got into the music because they felt alienated from everyone and everything else and metal was a way for them to cope and a type of music they could relate to. How do you feel about the personal importance music had for people?

JAMES: Teenage years and becoming into one’s own is a very emotional rollercoaster and I feel that music can make you express those hard to understand new and old feelings and it’s a great way to express yourself. Most do it through being a fan of a certain genre of music that touches them more. Music can also even be seen as a rite of passage, when the band does it right, of course.

CONFRONT: Of course. Finally, what would you want your legacy to be, as big as this word is, what influence do you want to be on people?

JAMES: I want to be the guy who carried the torch just like the guy in the race; I want to be a guy who influences a young boy… I want to be the one that gives 110% all the time.

CONFRONT: Well, thank you for your time James.

JAMES: Thank you, this was actually painless.

CONFRONT: Well, thank you, the pleasure was mine.

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