Chris Poland
Recently, legendary former Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland, never a man of few words, was kind enough to speak with us regarding, among many other things, his much-celebrated work with the Speed Metal pioneers...
Todd: How did you initially become involved with Megadeth?
Chris Poland: “At the time, we were both sharing the same manager…he was quite a character…it was all about the almighty dollar and trying to get his band to the forefront of whatever was happening. It was strange…Megadeth was a Speed Metal band and the band (late Megadeth drummer) Gar (Samuelson) were in was a Fusion band called The New Yorkers. But, he had also managed (legendary Punk group) The Circle Jerks for a minute or two, so he had his hands in a lot of different stuff. Basically, Gar played me a tape of Megadeth…I think it was from a live gig at The Waters Club…I don’t even think it’s there anymore. I thought the music was pretty challenging even though it was pretty hard to hear it. It was obvious that they needed a second guitar player because every time Dave would go to do a lead, the whole bottom end of their sound would drop out. …Megadeth were rehearsing at a place called Mars…Gar suggested that I come down and rent a room next to them and just start playing along with them…just to see what they would think. …Dave walked in and said ‘…hey…come join our band…’”
Todd: How did you become involved with the recording of The System Has Failed? I had always been under the impression that, all things considered, you and Dave would never work together again.
Chris: “…Even after all of the shit that happened, I still don’t hate Dave because Dave is…a troubled person and that’s why he writes and plays the way he does…the way he writes his lyrics. That’s why he is who he is…he’s got problems, man…but that’s what make him who he is. Even after what happened, I still don’t hate him. Shit happens, attorneys get involved and that’s what it’s all about.”
Todd: In hindsight, what was it that finally forced you from the group?
Chris: “…The finals straw…(laughs)…was…and this is really terrible… At the time, we all had drug problems and I needed Dave to lend me some money so I could take care of my problem…my addiction at the time. For some reason, he wouldn’t lend me any money, but he gave everyone else in the band two hundred dollars to take care of their problems. So I said ‘…fuck you Dave… why don’t you just fire me…I don’t even want to do this anymore…’ I basically told him to fire me because I had said there wouldn’t be anyone else that could take my place. Of course, two days later, I get a letter in the mail…and I was fired.”
Todd: Well, he did seem to have a hard time finding someone truly capable of replacing you…
Chris: “…To tell the truth, I’m sure I wasn’t exactly a joy to work with either…I’m not pointing any fingers here…it was just a rough time for everybody. The three of us are lucky we are still alive.”
Todd: I have to admit I was very shocked when I learned of Gar’s passing. I had a lot of respect for his abilities.
Chris: “…Yeah…so did I…as a musician and as a person. A lot of people didn’t know Gar all that well, but he was a really funny guy and a real hands-on artist…sculpting, painting. When I went to his studio…I was like ‘…you know what… you are the real creative one out of all of us…’ He is definitely missed.”
Todd: Looking back, did the groups collective addictions ever hinder the creative process?
Chris: “…Dave wrote the bulk of the material. All we really did was make suggestions for harmonies and arrangements. Gar made many large suggestions for arrangements. “Peace Sells” was originally over six minuets long when Dave first showed it to us. Gar suggested that we cut the song down and make it shorter. I’m not gonna say that we actually wrote anything, but we did give our ideas and our sounds…as Dave wrote the songs.”
Todd: It’s amazing that the quintessential Megadeth single started out as such a lengthy piece.
Chris: “…I know…I think it might have even been seven minuets long…I don’t remember exactly…it’s all kind of a daze…but I do remember Gar saying that we should cut it down. …The weird thing is, when we were making that record, we had no idea…we were just trying to get through it, ya know? Tryin’ to make it sound good. It wasn’t until years later, after it had become a hit, that I realized that it was always going to have its place. I’m proud of that.”
Todd: In all honesty, I wasn’t that much of and early Megadeth fan when I was growing up. All the line-up changes were a real turn off for me.
Chris: “…For me, there was just so much going on…everything seemed like a bunch of gobbly gook when we first started playing it. But after I walked away from it…ten years later when I went back and looked at it…I realized that it was some pretty serious business.”
Todd: Did you initially find it hard to incorporate your influences into the Speed Metal format?
Chris: “The stuff Gar and I were playing was all Jeff Beck, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Tony Williams stuff…Weather Report…stuff like that. We weren’t Bop players…it’s not like we were sittin’ down playing standards…readin’ charts. We came from all of that. Gar tried to play like Tony Williams and (Mahavishnu Orchestra drummer) Billy Cobham…all these guys that he listened to when we were growing up…that’s what we listened to. It’s funny…the first time I heard Mahavishnu, it was on a record called Guitars That Destroyed The World. Every time it would come on…it was like ‘…wow…that is the worst track I have ever heard in my entire life…’. But I kept going back to it…it was like train wreck…you had to watch it happen again. All of a sudden…one day…I got it. That was it…I never looked back. That’s why it was so hard for me to be in Megadeth…it was challenging musically, but I was coming from a whole different place, ya know? And my ideas were from that area…and so were Gar’s. When we were in Megadeth, the band had a little different sound…”
Todd: There is definitely a noticeable difference…
Chris: “…Gar adapted a lot of the flow from our influences into the sound…the stuff we grew up listening to…the stuff we worshipped. When we hooked up with Dave, it was all about Diamond Head…and all that type of shit. He was like ‘…if anyone asks, tell ‘em your into (acclaimed former Scorpions guitarist) Michael Schenker…’ Dave wouldn’t have known…if I had played him something by Miles Davis…that is was Miles Davis (laughs). But, then again, Dave did start a whole genre by himself, so what can I really say?”
Todd: It’s ironic that his dismissal from Metallica served as the catalyst for the creation of something so huge.
Chris: “…Yeah…Metallica and Megadeth are two totally different bands. Metallica is very straight forward…whereas with Megadeth, it was like you were always about to go around a corner at a hundred miles an hour… That’s what I liked about us. Whether our production was as good as Metallica…that wasn’t the issue. But if you listen to the music, it’s whole different world.”
Todd: It makes me wonder what would have happened if Dave had been able to conquer his addictions and stay in the group.
Chris: “…You can’t have someone that is that intense of a writer in a band with another person who writes with that same intensity because they are always going to clash. …I think on some unconscious level Dave and James Hetfield knew that they couldn’t work together. …There was no way there could have been two leaders like that in that band.”
Todd: Everyone is definitely set in their own ways…
Chris: “And I’ve said this before…even with (former Megadeth bassist) David Ellefson…he liked to play his music in a certain way… All of us in Megadeth were like that…we all had our place…Gar and I came from a Fusion background, Dave came an incredibly heavy background and David Ellefson came from a Pop Rock background. We all came from very different places and we all tried to get our own ides in there so we could all have our say. …It’s the way that we all played our own parts that…made the band happen.”
Todd: It’s a shame Dave has gotten such a bad reputation as being a control freak.
Chris: “…When you all of sudden find yourself making a lot of money with your fourth record…headlining shows…you start to listen to your record company. It makes sense to me, but if you look at the bands from that era that didn’t do that like Slayer…they didn’t go there…ever. …That’s the thing I think Dave should have done…I don’t think he should have caved in to the pressure. It’s there money, ya know? They’re trying to make money by planting that Pop music seed… There were a lot of rumors that (former Megadeth guitarist) Marty Friedman wanted to play Pop music…and if you listen to what he’s doing now…he’s playing with a Pop artist from Japan…it’s totally Pop. But at the same time, it’s not easy to write a Pop song, either. I’m not saying that what he does is any less of a challenge…that’s just where he finds himself the most comfortable.”
Todd: Do you consider your playing on Return To Metalopolis to be an extension of your work with Megadeth?
Chris: “…Absolutely…with that record, it was like ‘…this is what I’ve got…’ It was this whole scene…this underground thing. It was more of a way of life that a style…I don’t really know how to describe it. It was like a subculture…it was so heavy and so evil. …I played a gig with Megadeth and I was behind two full stacks of Marshall amps. We were playing “Am I Evil” by Diamond Head and the two thousand people we were playing to were all singing along. When I looked at that…as a Fusion player…that was the first time I realized how fucking insane it all was. I basically took all the heaviness of me playing on stage with Megadeth…and decided to meld it with all of the Fusion that Gar and I grew up listening to. That’s how that record came about.”
Todd: I’ve always been disappointed by the fact the there was never a second Damn The Machine album.
Chris: “It disappointed us, too. The then president of A&M Records took us into this secret little room that they would take Sting to dinner in and told us …we know you’re a three record band…we’ll be behind you the whole way…’ We ate it all hook line and sinker. Six months later, we were dropped. It was a struggle to do that record anyway…everyone was pushing so hard for their parts…it was more of a struggle than anything I had done in a real long time. Even though it was a great band…because they lied, I had to let it all go.”
Todd: I can imagine how such a situation could leave a bad taste in your mouth…
Chris: “…For a year straight…every single day I would say ‘…you know what? I should hunt that guy down…’ It was so bad…I felt so betrayed that every day I would think about how anybody can kill anybody. I was like ‘…who would know? The guy is going to work at ten o’clock in the morning and stops at a stop sign… I pull up along side him and bam! It would have been over…’ I remember one day when I woke up, it was just gone…all of my hatred for that whole experience was gone.”
Todd: Are there any official recordings from those sessions that have yet to be released?
Chris: “…Have you ever heard the B-sides for that record?
Todd: No…I haven’t.
Chris: “Oh. Man…they’re killer. We did “I’d Love To Change The World” by Ten Years After…we did “Red House” by Jimi Hendrix…we did “Mr. Soul” by Neil Young…we did “Cat Food” by King Crimson…we did one more tune, but I can’t remember what it was…they are just all amazing. We did them live, but in a different sort of way…”
Todd: Is there any chance you’ll ever be able to release them?
Chris: “No…A&M paid for the sessions, so they own the rights to them. I don’t even have a copy of the thing anymore.”
Todd: That’s a shame. In my opinion, the recordings still hold up very well even by today’s standards.
Chris: “…There’s just something about it… Lyrically (Damn The Machine vocalist) Dave Clemmons…out of all the different singers I’ve worked with…you can get anything you want out the lyrics he wrote, ya know what I mean? It doesn’t matter if he had something else in mind. It’s almost like a (legendary Cream vocalist/bassist) Jack Bruce lyric…where they are so open to anybody’s interpretation… That’s what I love about Dave’s lyrics…what you get out of them is what he’s all about. It’s what ever you think it’s about. It’s odd…I also got the same impression from Dave Mustaine’s lyrics from this last record. Lyrically, he’s getting very mature.”
Todd: To me, it seems as if the entire Megadeth sound changed after Dave returned from being injured. In retrospect, that entire situation seem a little odd…
Chris: “…Yeah…suddenly there was this perfect time to fire everyone (laughs).”
Todd: There were so many rumors about the exact nature of his injury. I think a lot of people thought he had a relapse with his drug addictions.
Chris: “…That may be what happened. I remember reading somewhere that he had gotten injured and had to take some kind of opiate-based pain medication and had a relapse.”
Todd: When he came back from being injured, I personally felt there was a new emotional depth to the overall Megadeth sound.
Chris: “I have to tell ya…having worked with him on the last record…he’s still the same person. He hasn’t changed a bit. …He’s just way more business savvy and he’s very aware of where every penny is going…that kind of thing. He tries to keep people on…to keep the people around him in check, but it’s not about keeping the people around you in check, it ’s about keeping yourself in check. But, I guess he does what he has to do to…”
Todd: Overall, how would you rate your latest experiences with Megadeth?
Chris: “It was very challenging. They wanted some very specific stuff…there was no doubt about what they wanted. I would try to do something on my own, and they would tell me ‘…oh…no…that’s too far outside of what were looking for…’ …It was very hard.”
Todd: There wasn’t a lot of room for outside creativity?
Chris: “Sometimes there was. If Dave left, it would be just me and the engineer Ralph…honestly, out of all the engineers I’ve worked with…he’s probably the most creative and nurturing guy…he’s all about…seeing what you can experiment with. He had a box of guitar effects pedals that most people wouldn’t understand. The box might be worth a hundred thousand dollars if you tried to sell of the pedals…but that’s where I got the “wah wah” sound on track twelve from the last record. And that happened all the way through the record. …I had brought my whole rig down there, but I ended up saying …I need to listen to Ralph…’ because he’s like the caddy of modern Rock guitar players…(laughs)… I would be like ‘…hey, Ralph…what should we do next…’”
Todd: Once the record was completed, were you surprised that you didn’t end up touring with the group?
Chris: “…Not at all. Dave knew I wasn’t gonna tour. He kinda hinted around about it here and there during the sessions. He’d be like ‘…come on, I know you miss me…’ …But I’ve got way too much going on right now. I’ve got my own band that for the last four years I’ve sweated blood for. I didn’t go back and re-join the band because if I had, it would only have been for the money. Granted, the money would have been good…but…I don’t know. Plus, working with Dave…we’ve both gone through the throes of the worst times of our lives together. I could see us looking at each other and saying …oh…fuck it…let’s go down to Alphabet City and score some junk…’ Know what I mean? It would happen just because that’s how it works.”
Todd: Is it possible that you and Dave are co-dependent of each other?
Chris: “Yes…that is what I was trying to say. I would never want to have him or myself go through ever again.”
Todd: What can you tell us about Ohm?
Chris: “Robby Pagliari is a fretless six string bass player hat I have been working with on and off since 1977.”
Todd: Really?
Chris: Yeah…he’s been playing with me on and off for forever. …He knows what I’m going for when I come in with a song idea and I know what he’s going for when he brings in an idea. …I had this group that I was playing in with my brother and Jizzy Pearl from Love/Hate and Ratt…it was a freaky band, man. I had my head shaved, I was dressed in all black…it was really creepy. I did it basically because my brother Mark challenged me try something different and it was fun. But again, there was no creative control happening. I was like ‘…you know what? fuck this…’ Out of the blue, Robby calls me and asks me to start a band and I said ‘…you know what? this is what I moved out here for…I met you, we did this band for five years. we only broke up because we couldn’t handle the rejection people were giving Fusion back then…’ It was so not happening then, ya know? …I just ended up saying ‘…fuck everything else…let’s just do what we want to do… don’t even care if we make any money…’ That’s what we did and that’s what we’re still doing. Basically, it’s everything we’ve all accumulated as influences.”
Todd: What is it like working with Kofi Baker? Does his style remind you of his Father’s (legendary Cream drummer Ginger Baker) playing?
Chris: “He plays nothing like his Dad. His Dad couldn’t figure out the stuff Kofi’s forgot let alone the stuff he’s playing. Kofi and his Dad are two totally different drummers. Ginger Baker is a legend, but Kofi’s…just one of the best drummers that I’ve ever played with…ever.”
Todd: What are your current touring plans?
Chris: “(Manager) Steve (Bauer) called me today and said he was setting up some stuff for September. We’re thinking about trying to get going again in the Fall. We just want to make the record and make it right…we can’t take a month off and just go record a record like most bands do. We have to record in little three hour blocks here and there…everyone has commitments…we all have families. That’s one thing that everyone is trying to do…keep time for the real life things. It’s not like we’re all twenty and have illusions of being The Rolling Stones or something, ya know? We have bills to pay…so we do the best we can with it.”
Todd: What size venues have you been playing?
Chris: “We played to six hundred people at The Coach House…that was our last gig. We did that gig with (veteran guitarist) Gary Hoey…it was a Christmas gig. Granted, he did bring the people in, but honestly…we did a really good job that night. If you get a chance to her our live radio disc, all you have to do is remember that we were all holding back ten percent.”
Todd: Really? Why?
Chris: “Because it was live over the radio and we didn’t want to drop the ball anywhere. If you ever see us playing live, it’s going to be ten percent more intense than that recording. Another thing was that were also trying to make a record out of it…and we pulled it off. Everyone was thinking about the songs…the solos were the least important element of it. We just tried to get through each song and get the idea down on tape. There was a lot of pressure, but it worked out pretty good.”
Todd: When performing live, are you focusing primarily on the Ohm catalog or are you branching off into other areas?
Chris: “Sometimes we’ll do a Cream cover. We’ll do “Sitting On Top Of The World” or “Spoonful”, or we’ll do “Red House” by Hendrix…or whatever. We’ve actually been doing “Third Degree”…I’m not exactly sure who did that one originally, but we trying to do it in a sort of West Bruce And Lang sort of way. We all like heavy Blues…all of our basic instincts come from The Blues anyway.”
Select Discography
The System Has Failed (2004) *
Live On KPFK 90.7 FM (2004) *****
OHM (2003) *****
Rare Trax (2000) **
Chasing The Sun (2000) **
Excerpts From The Book Of Mumbo (1995) ****
Damn The Machine (1993) ***
Return To Metalopolis (1990) **
Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying (1986) *
Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good (1985) *
***** as a member of Ohm
**** as a member of Mumbo’s Brain
*** as a member of Damn The Machine
** as a solo artist
* as a member of Megadeth