Grammy Flashback Interview: Megadeth

With the 59th annual Grammy Awards set to air on CBS on Sunday, Feb. 12, we’re looking back at some of the nominated artists who’ve performed for Yahoo Music. Today, we go back to the day that Megadeth’ Dave Mustaine sat down to chat with us. came to our studio. Megadeth’s “Dystopia” is up this year for Best Metal Performance.

I recently found myself in a compound of nondescript bungalows in Burbank, Calif. I was there to talk to heavy metal band Megadeth and actor/director Blair Underwood about their collaboration on a series of five virtual reality music videos tied into release of the band’s new album. As I walked in, I spied the parking spots reserved for Carly Rae Jepsen and other members of the cast of Fox’s forthcoming Grease: Live musical, which was rehearsing in one of the neighboring studios.

It was all a bit incongruous. But once I sat down with Megadeth founder/frontman Dave Mustaine, Underwood, and Mary Spio, founder/CEO of virtual reality production company Next Galaxy, at least the music video part made a lot more sense.

In January of last year, Universal Music Enterprises/Tradecraft/T-Boy Records released a special CD edition of Megadeth’s new album Dystopia. The disc comes with a pair of cardboard goggles that, when properly folded and paired with your iPhone or Android phone, create a virtual reality viewer.

Once fans have assembled the viewer, they can use Next Galaxy’s CEEK app and a code provided in the packaging to unlock a VR video of the band performing five songs. The Megadeth limited-edition VR package is priced between $15 and $25.

You might not expect Megadeth, a thrash band that’s been recording for three decades, to be at the forefront of technology, but you’d be wrong. Mustaine happily points out that Megadeth launched the first-ever band website ever back in 1994. “There wasn’t any band site prior to that,” he enthuses.

Then, in 2014, he was treated to a demo of an Oculus Rift VR headset. There were discussions at the time about filming his collaborative concert with the San Diego Symphony, but that never came to fruition. “Now that we got this opportunity to do it, it’s a dream realized,” Mustaine says.

As Mustaine sees it, coming up with a new, modern twist is a necessity for recording artists in 2016. “You almost have to reinvent yourself every CD, every DVD. Every offering of product that you give to the audience, you have to do something new — quicker, better, faster, grander, more. And this is about as new, quicker, better, faster, grander as you can get right now. I don’t know anyone else doing this exact thing right now.”

In a brief demo provided to Yahoo Music, in which a smart phone was inserted into a high-quality VR headset — not the cardboard version that comes with the Megadeth CD — I was blown away by the results. It really did feel like I was onstage with Mustaine, guitarist Kiko Loureiro, and drummer Chris Adler. But where, I wondered, was longtime bassist Dave Ellefson? It wasn’t until I turned my head about 45 degrees to the right that he finally appeared.

Underwood, who is primarily known as an actor on L.A. Law but has more recently appeared on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., was tapped to direct the project by Spio, who he’s known for years.

“I love metal, I love all types of music,” says Spio. “So selfishly, I went after projects I would love to see. I love Megadeth and I love 3D, so anything 3D I’m there. Virtual reality to me is the extension of 3D, it’s really the holy grail of what 3D was trying to accomplish, so for the two of them to come together is really extraordinary.”

Underwood, too, is a fan, especially after working with the band. “I watched them the last three or four days, and when I see the amount of talent on that stage — between Dave Mustaine and David Ellefson and Chris on drums and Kiko — just to watch them together, it’s insane,” he says. “The beauty of what we’re doing here with the technology is actually putting you in the middle of the action. You’re completely immersed in it.”

To achieve that effect, Underwood says the virtual reality footage was filmed with a buggy-cam. “The camera is about at eye level, so it’s as if you’re walking onstage right next to Dave and the band and you’re right next to the drum set, so you feel all of that.”