One of the most revered lead guitarists in metal, Chris Poland seared his way through the first two Megadeth albums, 'Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!' [1985], and 'Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?' [1986]. Leaving the band in an explosion of acrimony - "man, yeah, he [Dave Mustaine] was really upset with me", he confesses as we sit down for a chat. We joined Chris over Zoom to talk about new project Nuclear Messiah, his on / off time with Megadeth, and plans for his autobiography, OHM, and the rerelease of his 1990 solo album 'Return to Metalopolis'.
Photo; Cleopatra Records
Hi Chris, how are you doing?
I'm doing great, thanks.
You're back in action with Nuclear Messiah.
Oh, man, I'm really busy with that, and the new OHM record, and they're releasing New Yorkers on vinyl, and there's just all kinds of stuff, and a book. We're writing a book, me and Matt Bearing so there's a lot going on. I'm blessed, man. I truly am, from the first two Megadeth records to this moment right now.
You mentioned the New Yorkers, which was a band you were in pre-Megadeth with Gar Samuelson; how do go from that kind of swing jazz to 'Killing as my Business'?
Well, when Gar joined the band [Megadeth], the way he explained it to me was; "it's super intricate. it's really fun to play. It's just like what we're doing, just super heavy and distorted and fast", and it didn't matter; wherever Gar went, I was going to follow, because I had been playing with Gar my whole life, and I just wanted to be in the band with him. And I really liked playing with Dave [Mustaine] and [David] Ellefson.
With the New Yorkers a world away from what Megadeth was, would you said Megadeth was your introduction to metal?
I considered Led Zeppelin kind of metal, and Jethro Tull. I didn't listen to a lot of British Invasion metal, so when I joined Megadeth, that was like my first introduction to that music. But that was the first introduction anybody had to that music, because Dave had invented a new thing with those records and I just tried to keep up, man!
When you were recording those two Megadeth records, how did it work? Did you also do the rhythm, or did Dave just do all the rhythms? Or were you just doing leads?
You know what? I almost didn't do any leads on the first record. Oh god. I can't remember his name right now, but somebody got in Dave's ear from the label and said; "you've got to let Poland do more solos", and so Dave did. But I had just joined the band two weeks before we went in the studio for the first record, so it was kind of like, really, just a tornado, man; we were in, we were out, and then we were on the road. It was the second record that I got to do all the rhythms on.
Those rhythms on 'Peace Sells' are super tight; I'm thinking of that spider cord in the middle of 'Wake Up Dead', for example.
Yeah. man, Dave is really creative, and he has a way of, like, even on the first record, I noticed that when I was going out with Ellefson doing the Kings of Thrash. When I had to relearn the music, I was like, there's certain things he does here and there and that's what makes the song. And it doesn't amount to anything but one or two notes for a second, and he does that a lot. It's genius, man.
I think part of the genius on 'Peace Sells' is the way your solos bounce off each other; he's very abrasive, and you've got this real smooth, fluid style.
It's kind of like that thing the Allman Brothers had, and a lot of two guitar bands, that's the thing; they're two entirely different styles of playing and it just adds to the music.
I'm doing great, thanks.
You're back in action with Nuclear Messiah.
Oh, man, I'm really busy with that, and the new OHM record, and they're releasing New Yorkers on vinyl, and there's just all kinds of stuff, and a book. We're writing a book, me and Matt Bearing so there's a lot going on. I'm blessed, man. I truly am, from the first two Megadeth records to this moment right now.
You mentioned the New Yorkers, which was a band you were in pre-Megadeth with Gar Samuelson; how do go from that kind of swing jazz to 'Killing as my Business'?
Well, when Gar joined the band [Megadeth], the way he explained it to me was; "it's super intricate. it's really fun to play. It's just like what we're doing, just super heavy and distorted and fast", and it didn't matter; wherever Gar went, I was going to follow, because I had been playing with Gar my whole life, and I just wanted to be in the band with him. And I really liked playing with Dave [Mustaine] and [David] Ellefson.
With the New Yorkers a world away from what Megadeth was, would you said Megadeth was your introduction to metal?
I considered Led Zeppelin kind of metal, and Jethro Tull. I didn't listen to a lot of British Invasion metal, so when I joined Megadeth, that was like my first introduction to that music. But that was the first introduction anybody had to that music, because Dave had invented a new thing with those records and I just tried to keep up, man!
When you were recording those two Megadeth records, how did it work? Did you also do the rhythm, or did Dave just do all the rhythms? Or were you just doing leads?
You know what? I almost didn't do any leads on the first record. Oh god. I can't remember his name right now, but somebody got in Dave's ear from the label and said; "you've got to let Poland do more solos", and so Dave did. But I had just joined the band two weeks before we went in the studio for the first record, so it was kind of like, really, just a tornado, man; we were in, we were out, and then we were on the road. It was the second record that I got to do all the rhythms on.
Those rhythms on 'Peace Sells' are super tight; I'm thinking of that spider cord in the middle of 'Wake Up Dead', for example.
Yeah. man, Dave is really creative, and he has a way of, like, even on the first record, I noticed that when I was going out with Ellefson doing the Kings of Thrash. When I had to relearn the music, I was like, there's certain things he does here and there and that's what makes the song. And it doesn't amount to anything but one or two notes for a second, and he does that a lot. It's genius, man.
I think part of the genius on 'Peace Sells' is the way your solos bounce off each other; he's very abrasive, and you've got this real smooth, fluid style.
It's kind of like that thing the Allman Brothers had, and a lot of two guitar bands, that's the thing; they're two entirely different styles of playing and it just adds to the music.
Bringing things up to date, you're bouncing off a lot of guitar players on the Nuclear Messiah album. Talk to me a little bit about how this project came about?
I had worked with Brian Perera [Cleopatra Records] in the past, and I loved working with him. I loved that guy, loved that label, so he ran it by me and I agreed to do it. I mean, I thought it would work, but it seemed impossible, and then it just started happening. He would call up and go; "yeah, we've got all these different people", and he'd say somebody like Bumblefoot, and I'd be like; "you've got to be kidding me, man!', and to got to the point where I was like; "wow, this is really turning into song", and every time a song would be finished and I'd hear it, it was just taking on a life of its own.
It's almost like playing with a load of different bands, because there's so many different people on it.
Well, Derek Hughes and Jurgen Engler [producers] somehow recorded everything so that it sounded like a cohesive record. And there's other producers involved that I found out later, but everybody involved in the production end of it really did an amazing job making it a record you can listen from the beginning to the end and not ever scratch your head. It just goes right through.
Was it recorded using the Pro Tools, Logic type approach?
Yeah, it was all done remotely, and the thing is that everybody involved has decades of record-making experience. and they just knew what to do and what not to do. And it comes across in the songs. Like when we did 'For Mad Men Only', I thought it sounded really good, but when I heard the final mix, it's just something. I love the snare sound on that song, and I heard this keyboard part that you know, none of that was on there when I did my tracks. Every one would become my new favourite song. The first one was 'Ride the Sky'. I fell in love with that vocal. Arthur Brown's vocal on that just kills me every time I hear it. But then I heard like, Sebastian Bach's 'Look at Yourself' performance, and I was like; "this is crazy!". This was fated to be a great record. It was destined to come out.
Speaking of 'Look at Yourself', you even have Uriah Heep's Mick Box on that one.
Man, his solo on that song is just crushing. I mean, come on, Rick Wakeman? When he told me Rick Wakeman was going to be on the record, I was like; "you've got to be kidding me, man!" That's when I was like, I almost started to get nervous.
The album features Glen Drover, David Ellefson, and Marty Friedman; it's like a feast of Megadeth, isn't it?
You know what? It was the right thing to do. Those guys added to it. Everything they played was fucking really good, and they made the record that much better.
Have you and Marty ever appeared on the same track before?
I think we've been on on other stuff together, but Chris Adler's drumming on that song ['Electric Burn'], come on man! The whole record is filled with moments like that where it's just like, impossibly good,
In a weird way, Marty Friedman did actually replace you in Megadeth as you recorded the demos for 'Rust in Peace'; did you hear after it came out, or had you no interest?
I heard bits and pieces of it, but my mind was in a totally different place when those records came out. The most recent record that I listened to by Dave was 'Dystopia', and I love that record. I haven't heard the latest one though.
Back to Nuclear Messiah, and Alan Davey of Pre-Med features heavily; he's got quite a unique style, where he plays lead bass, doesn't he?
Yeah, and during the solo of 'Ride the Sky' it sounds like we're all in the same room jamming. There's so many great moments on the record, I can't say enough about it. It has nothing to do with me, being honest. It's just a really good record, and everybody gave their best, and that's why it's so good.
Jonathan Kane from Journey is another name who features.
I thought he did great man, and it as kind of out of his comfort zone. We've put some videos out, and I think people know what it sounds like. I think they want to have the record and hold it in their hand and play the vinyl. Randy Burns is producing as well, and he actually finished mixing the latest OHM record, but he brought a turntable into his studio, and he said he hadn't played a record in like, three decades. And he said, as soon as he put it on and listened to it, he forgot how good vinyl sounds, so I'm starting to understand why this big vinyl resurgence has happened.
With a project like this, it's clearly studio based, but is there a part of you or the label that thinks maybe you could put together a core band do a couple of dates?
Oh, of course they're thinking that, and I'm sure there'll be some kind of shows at some time. I mean, ideally - and it would probably never happen - if we could get everybody at a NAMM on a Friday and Saturday at the House of Blues in Anaheim and play the whole record and record and video at the whole thing, yeah, that would be awesome. But logistically, that's probably never going to happen.
I had worked with Brian Perera [Cleopatra Records] in the past, and I loved working with him. I loved that guy, loved that label, so he ran it by me and I agreed to do it. I mean, I thought it would work, but it seemed impossible, and then it just started happening. He would call up and go; "yeah, we've got all these different people", and he'd say somebody like Bumblefoot, and I'd be like; "you've got to be kidding me, man!', and to got to the point where I was like; "wow, this is really turning into song", and every time a song would be finished and I'd hear it, it was just taking on a life of its own.
It's almost like playing with a load of different bands, because there's so many different people on it.
Well, Derek Hughes and Jurgen Engler [producers] somehow recorded everything so that it sounded like a cohesive record. And there's other producers involved that I found out later, but everybody involved in the production end of it really did an amazing job making it a record you can listen from the beginning to the end and not ever scratch your head. It just goes right through.
Was it recorded using the Pro Tools, Logic type approach?
Yeah, it was all done remotely, and the thing is that everybody involved has decades of record-making experience. and they just knew what to do and what not to do. And it comes across in the songs. Like when we did 'For Mad Men Only', I thought it sounded really good, but when I heard the final mix, it's just something. I love the snare sound on that song, and I heard this keyboard part that you know, none of that was on there when I did my tracks. Every one would become my new favourite song. The first one was 'Ride the Sky'. I fell in love with that vocal. Arthur Brown's vocal on that just kills me every time I hear it. But then I heard like, Sebastian Bach's 'Look at Yourself' performance, and I was like; "this is crazy!". This was fated to be a great record. It was destined to come out.
Speaking of 'Look at Yourself', you even have Uriah Heep's Mick Box on that one.
Man, his solo on that song is just crushing. I mean, come on, Rick Wakeman? When he told me Rick Wakeman was going to be on the record, I was like; "you've got to be kidding me, man!" That's when I was like, I almost started to get nervous.
The album features Glen Drover, David Ellefson, and Marty Friedman; it's like a feast of Megadeth, isn't it?
You know what? It was the right thing to do. Those guys added to it. Everything they played was fucking really good, and they made the record that much better.
Have you and Marty ever appeared on the same track before?
I think we've been on on other stuff together, but Chris Adler's drumming on that song ['Electric Burn'], come on man! The whole record is filled with moments like that where it's just like, impossibly good,
In a weird way, Marty Friedman did actually replace you in Megadeth as you recorded the demos for 'Rust in Peace'; did you hear after it came out, or had you no interest?
I heard bits and pieces of it, but my mind was in a totally different place when those records came out. The most recent record that I listened to by Dave was 'Dystopia', and I love that record. I haven't heard the latest one though.
Back to Nuclear Messiah, and Alan Davey of Pre-Med features heavily; he's got quite a unique style, where he plays lead bass, doesn't he?
Yeah, and during the solo of 'Ride the Sky' it sounds like we're all in the same room jamming. There's so many great moments on the record, I can't say enough about it. It has nothing to do with me, being honest. It's just a really good record, and everybody gave their best, and that's why it's so good.
Jonathan Kane from Journey is another name who features.
I thought he did great man, and it as kind of out of his comfort zone. We've put some videos out, and I think people know what it sounds like. I think they want to have the record and hold it in their hand and play the vinyl. Randy Burns is producing as well, and he actually finished mixing the latest OHM record, but he brought a turntable into his studio, and he said he hadn't played a record in like, three decades. And he said, as soon as he put it on and listened to it, he forgot how good vinyl sounds, so I'm starting to understand why this big vinyl resurgence has happened.
With a project like this, it's clearly studio based, but is there a part of you or the label that thinks maybe you could put together a core band do a couple of dates?
Oh, of course they're thinking that, and I'm sure there'll be some kind of shows at some time. I mean, ideally - and it would probably never happen - if we could get everybody at a NAMM on a Friday and Saturday at the House of Blues in Anaheim and play the whole record and record and video at the whole thing, yeah, that would be awesome. But logistically, that's probably never going to happen.
You mentioned that you're working with on a new OHM record.
Steve Lukather's got a great studio. I don't think he owns it anymore, but it's called the Steakhouse in North Hollywood, and Carlos Cruz had done a lot of drum tracks in there and he just raved about it, and out of nowhere, he said; "I'm booking the studio. I'm paying for it. I don't care. Not another word about it". So yeah, when we went in there, I wasn't sure what to expect, but the board was made in 1970 for EMI London, and it's a magic console, man. As soon as we played through it, I was just like; "wow!" I mean, I've played through a lot of neat boards, and I never played through one that sounded like this one. We were there for four days, and we made ten songs. Randy [Burns, producer] actually just sent both sides this morning. I just downloaded them into the studio here, and I started playing it, and I'm like; "this is such a great record". Randy Burns is such a good producer.
How would you describe the sound for people who aren't familiar with what OHM is about?
I guess you could call it experimental, but it's basically just bare bones; bass, drums and guitar, with a little bit of doubling here and there, and some clean overdubs. It's my core thing, my labour of love, I guess. I don't make any money doing it, but it's what I love doing.
I suppose it's difficult to talk about this, but Nick Menza's passing onstage with OHM; as well as being tragic, there was something beautiful about that too.
Well, I'll tell you a story. A couple months before we did that show, when Nick passed that night, we were rehearsing - we rehearsed a lot - and out of nowhere, something came up about death, and Nick said; "I had a friend that told me, when he dies, he wants to die having sex with his wife" and Nick goes; "I was so pissed off. I said; "so you're going to traumatize your wife for the rest of her life?! That you're just you flopped on top of her dead, right in the middle of that moment?!", and Nick goes; "I'm not going like that. I'm dying on stage playing my drums". He said it twenty feet away from where I'm sitting and he meant it. He was a one of a kind. What a great human being.
How did you end up working with Nick in the first place?
Well, we were going to start a heavier band, and we had James LoMenzo [bassist] come in, and James just didn't feel like there was any money in it so he bowed out. Then our drummer in OHM had passed away, and after a while we asked Nick if he wanted to do it, and at first he was like; "I don't know if I can do it", and we were like; "dude, you can do this all night long!" So we came in and we started rehearsing, and he brought muscle to the band, and he just made us sound less eclectic and more intense, and just better, all the way around.
It sounds like it all came to a great place.
Yeah, I mean, you know, it's been hard. I don't do well with death, and I don't think anybody does, but you know what, I'm just thankful I had that time to play with Nick, and Gar, all of them,
I wanted to talk a little bit about 'Peace Sells'; what was it like the first time you saw that album cover?
Oh, I liked it. I liked it compared to the first cover. I was like; "yeah, we got it right this time!" But the photo session was very bizarre because they put makeup on all of us.
Yeah, you've got eyeliner on, right!?
Yeah, and we had an interview, like, an hour after that photo shoot at Capitol Records [presumably, the clip below!], and I forgot to go wash my face. I just forgot, and so they're interviewing, and I saw the interview somewhere, and first of all, I cringe [shakes head] Anyway, back in those days, I was a young and dumb, but anyway, I'm looking, oh, my god, I've got eyeliner on! Man! But, I mean, we didn't know what, you know, they're telling us what we're going to do, and we were like; "okay, we'll do it!" The gas flames in front of us, we were all kind of like; "really, you're going to have that?!", because that's real; that's real flames for the photos.
Really?! I thought it was superimposed.
Man, they lit that shit! A very strange day.
Steve Lukather's got a great studio. I don't think he owns it anymore, but it's called the Steakhouse in North Hollywood, and Carlos Cruz had done a lot of drum tracks in there and he just raved about it, and out of nowhere, he said; "I'm booking the studio. I'm paying for it. I don't care. Not another word about it". So yeah, when we went in there, I wasn't sure what to expect, but the board was made in 1970 for EMI London, and it's a magic console, man. As soon as we played through it, I was just like; "wow!" I mean, I've played through a lot of neat boards, and I never played through one that sounded like this one. We were there for four days, and we made ten songs. Randy [Burns, producer] actually just sent both sides this morning. I just downloaded them into the studio here, and I started playing it, and I'm like; "this is such a great record". Randy Burns is such a good producer.
How would you describe the sound for people who aren't familiar with what OHM is about?
I guess you could call it experimental, but it's basically just bare bones; bass, drums and guitar, with a little bit of doubling here and there, and some clean overdubs. It's my core thing, my labour of love, I guess. I don't make any money doing it, but it's what I love doing.
I suppose it's difficult to talk about this, but Nick Menza's passing onstage with OHM; as well as being tragic, there was something beautiful about that too.
Well, I'll tell you a story. A couple months before we did that show, when Nick passed that night, we were rehearsing - we rehearsed a lot - and out of nowhere, something came up about death, and Nick said; "I had a friend that told me, when he dies, he wants to die having sex with his wife" and Nick goes; "I was so pissed off. I said; "so you're going to traumatize your wife for the rest of her life?! That you're just you flopped on top of her dead, right in the middle of that moment?!", and Nick goes; "I'm not going like that. I'm dying on stage playing my drums". He said it twenty feet away from where I'm sitting and he meant it. He was a one of a kind. What a great human being.
How did you end up working with Nick in the first place?
Well, we were going to start a heavier band, and we had James LoMenzo [bassist] come in, and James just didn't feel like there was any money in it so he bowed out. Then our drummer in OHM had passed away, and after a while we asked Nick if he wanted to do it, and at first he was like; "I don't know if I can do it", and we were like; "dude, you can do this all night long!" So we came in and we started rehearsing, and he brought muscle to the band, and he just made us sound less eclectic and more intense, and just better, all the way around.
It sounds like it all came to a great place.
Yeah, I mean, you know, it's been hard. I don't do well with death, and I don't think anybody does, but you know what, I'm just thankful I had that time to play with Nick, and Gar, all of them,
I wanted to talk a little bit about 'Peace Sells'; what was it like the first time you saw that album cover?
Oh, I liked it. I liked it compared to the first cover. I was like; "yeah, we got it right this time!" But the photo session was very bizarre because they put makeup on all of us.
Yeah, you've got eyeliner on, right!?
Yeah, and we had an interview, like, an hour after that photo shoot at Capitol Records [presumably, the clip below!], and I forgot to go wash my face. I just forgot, and so they're interviewing, and I saw the interview somewhere, and first of all, I cringe [shakes head] Anyway, back in those days, I was a young and dumb, but anyway, I'm looking, oh, my god, I've got eyeliner on! Man! But, I mean, we didn't know what, you know, they're telling us what we're going to do, and we were like; "okay, we'll do it!" The gas flames in front of us, we were all kind of like; "really, you're going to have that?!", because that's real; that's real flames for the photos.
Really?! I thought it was superimposed.
Man, they lit that shit! A very strange day.
What did you think when you first heard the album? It sounds so good, and it's a leap from 'Killing is My Business'.
You know what? I made the mistake of listening to 'Master of Puppets' before I listened to 'Peace Sells', and when I heard that production, I was just [crestfallen]. I didn't listen to the record again for probably ten years, but then when I did finally revisit the record, I realised it doesn't matter what it sounded like; it's something entirely unto itself, and there's never going to be another record like that second record, man. That's a moment in time, and when you have two guys steeped in metal and two other guys who want to be famous fusion artists; that's what happens. I don't think any of us knew that that was happening. I think we were just trying to do our thing, but it was different, and I think why it caught everybody's ears, is because it was like nothing else that was happening.
What are your favourite songs on 'Peace Sells'?
Oh my god, I really like 'Good Morning / Black Friday. I like 'The Conjuring'. I mean, I like all the songs probably. There's not a song I don't like on the record, but my favourite songs are probably 'Good Morning / Black Friday', 'Devil's Island', and 'Peace Sells'.
There isn't a bad track on it. I mean, even, the 'I Ain't Superstitious' cover.
Yeah, that was Jay Jones, our manager we had at the time, that was his idea for the first and second record to do 'These Boots' and the other cover.
There's a real swing to it, and you're soloing all over that; it's nearly back to free form, isn't it?
Yeah. It was a great song to play live, too, because we would extend it a little bit, and I would have fun. And it was fun, man, fun.
What gear did you use on 'Peace Sells'? On the liner notes its says you used a B.C. Rich Warlock.
I played that and an NJ series Bich. Those guitars, they have a preamp that Neil Moser had invented, and that's the sound. It's that preamp hitting a little Rockman X100 into any amp. I would hit that and then go into any amp. So, like, I could put it through a Marshall half stack. You couldn't even turn it up past two, it was so loud! But that was the tone. And then there was a Twin Reverb at the Grinder when it was still there - that's a studio we worked out of - so I plugged it into that, and I sat right next to it with headphones on, and that's how I got the solo to 'Good Morning', and the first solo I did was so good, and I said; "Randy, play that back for me", and he goes; "oh, we didn't record that". I was like; "oh my god!", so ever since that moment, I always record everything. I don't care what anybody's doing, we record; if you're playing, I'm recording it. It's like; "shit, man!" But yeah, that was the sound, man, those preamps and those guitars were awesome, man.
So do you still have those guitars?
No, you know, when I left the band, they didn't give me anything. To be perfectly honest, they settled with me later, but I never got any gear.
Did you work on anything for what became 'So Far, So Good... So What!
Yeah, I think like, at sound check we would go through some of the songs because Dave, he writes songs all the time. He wrote the songs for that record probably right after 'Peace Sells' was made. I remember having to go through a couple songs during sound check; 'Mary Jane', maybe, and something else I can't remember. My favourite on that record is 'Hook in Mouth'. I really love that song. What a great song. I wish it wasn't about that subject [the PMRC}, because that's the only thing that kind of puts it in a timeline, you know? But musically, and arrangement-wise, it's freaking genius, man.
Chris and I discussed his time with Megadeth on 1990's 'Rust in Peace', here.
Dave Mustaine clearly had a lot of respect for your playing, because he asked you back for 2004's 'The System Has Failed'.
That record, now, that's a great record. It was a lot of fun, man. I brought my whole rig with me, and Ralph Patlin was the first engineer, and he let me set it up, you know, have my moment. I played through it, and he goes; "you know, Chris, maybe you should try this amp over here?", and he's got a late '60s Plexi head Marshall with a matching, same circuit cabinet, and as soon as I played through it, I was like; "yeah, we're using that!" So it was so much fun working with him, and even with Dave at the time. It was great.
Shortly after that there was when the lawsuit over the use of your parts on the Megadeth reissues, specifically the bonus tracks on 'Rust in Peace' which featured your playing,
You know, I swear to God, I called at least twelve times trying to get the manager to get on the phone with me. And then when he told me that he thought I would do it for the fans, and I said; "well, is everybody else doing it for the fans? I just want to get paid for my tracks, man", and here's what he said, he goes; "Chris, that's not the point". Okay, all right. The manager was so rude to me that that I just called Owen Sloan, my attorney, and I said; "you know what, Owen?", and even he told me; "dude, you sure you want to do this?" I'm like; "I just want to do it out of principle".
You know what? I made the mistake of listening to 'Master of Puppets' before I listened to 'Peace Sells', and when I heard that production, I was just [crestfallen]. I didn't listen to the record again for probably ten years, but then when I did finally revisit the record, I realised it doesn't matter what it sounded like; it's something entirely unto itself, and there's never going to be another record like that second record, man. That's a moment in time, and when you have two guys steeped in metal and two other guys who want to be famous fusion artists; that's what happens. I don't think any of us knew that that was happening. I think we were just trying to do our thing, but it was different, and I think why it caught everybody's ears, is because it was like nothing else that was happening.
What are your favourite songs on 'Peace Sells'?
Oh my god, I really like 'Good Morning / Black Friday. I like 'The Conjuring'. I mean, I like all the songs probably. There's not a song I don't like on the record, but my favourite songs are probably 'Good Morning / Black Friday', 'Devil's Island', and 'Peace Sells'.
There isn't a bad track on it. I mean, even, the 'I Ain't Superstitious' cover.
Yeah, that was Jay Jones, our manager we had at the time, that was his idea for the first and second record to do 'These Boots' and the other cover.
There's a real swing to it, and you're soloing all over that; it's nearly back to free form, isn't it?
Yeah. It was a great song to play live, too, because we would extend it a little bit, and I would have fun. And it was fun, man, fun.
What gear did you use on 'Peace Sells'? On the liner notes its says you used a B.C. Rich Warlock.
I played that and an NJ series Bich. Those guitars, they have a preamp that Neil Moser had invented, and that's the sound. It's that preamp hitting a little Rockman X100 into any amp. I would hit that and then go into any amp. So, like, I could put it through a Marshall half stack. You couldn't even turn it up past two, it was so loud! But that was the tone. And then there was a Twin Reverb at the Grinder when it was still there - that's a studio we worked out of - so I plugged it into that, and I sat right next to it with headphones on, and that's how I got the solo to 'Good Morning', and the first solo I did was so good, and I said; "Randy, play that back for me", and he goes; "oh, we didn't record that". I was like; "oh my god!", so ever since that moment, I always record everything. I don't care what anybody's doing, we record; if you're playing, I'm recording it. It's like; "shit, man!" But yeah, that was the sound, man, those preamps and those guitars were awesome, man.
So do you still have those guitars?
No, you know, when I left the band, they didn't give me anything. To be perfectly honest, they settled with me later, but I never got any gear.
Did you work on anything for what became 'So Far, So Good... So What!
Yeah, I think like, at sound check we would go through some of the songs because Dave, he writes songs all the time. He wrote the songs for that record probably right after 'Peace Sells' was made. I remember having to go through a couple songs during sound check; 'Mary Jane', maybe, and something else I can't remember. My favourite on that record is 'Hook in Mouth'. I really love that song. What a great song. I wish it wasn't about that subject [the PMRC}, because that's the only thing that kind of puts it in a timeline, you know? But musically, and arrangement-wise, it's freaking genius, man.
Chris and I discussed his time with Megadeth on 1990's 'Rust in Peace', here.
Dave Mustaine clearly had a lot of respect for your playing, because he asked you back for 2004's 'The System Has Failed'.
That record, now, that's a great record. It was a lot of fun, man. I brought my whole rig with me, and Ralph Patlin was the first engineer, and he let me set it up, you know, have my moment. I played through it, and he goes; "you know, Chris, maybe you should try this amp over here?", and he's got a late '60s Plexi head Marshall with a matching, same circuit cabinet, and as soon as I played through it, I was like; "yeah, we're using that!" So it was so much fun working with him, and even with Dave at the time. It was great.
Shortly after that there was when the lawsuit over the use of your parts on the Megadeth reissues, specifically the bonus tracks on 'Rust in Peace' which featured your playing,
You know, I swear to God, I called at least twelve times trying to get the manager to get on the phone with me. And then when he told me that he thought I would do it for the fans, and I said; "well, is everybody else doing it for the fans? I just want to get paid for my tracks, man", and here's what he said, he goes; "Chris, that's not the point". Okay, all right. The manager was so rude to me that that I just called Owen Sloan, my attorney, and I said; "you know what, Owen?", and even he told me; "dude, you sure you want to do this?" I'm like; "I just want to do it out of principle".
Another record I wanted to touch on is your 1990 solo release 'Return to Metalopolis'.
Oh, talking about that record, a year and a half ago, Randy Burns calls me up, and he goes; "hey, do you have the two inch tapes from the 'Metalopolis' sessions?", and I said; "yeah, I kept it in a good environment this whole time". He goes; "here's some money. Go to this address, have them take the tapes. They're going to bake the tapes. They're going to send it to me digitally, and I'm going remix and remaster it", and wait till you hear it, man! It's kind of on hold because we made this OHM record, but I forgot all about that when I mentioned all these other records. That record is going to be so killer, man. I told Randy; "I don't want it to sound like the first time it came out. I want to do stuff to it. I want to make it something entirely cool and different; same songs, but better".
Everything about that album is cool; the cover, the typeface, the long hair.
We did a photo shoot and we couldn't find anything we liked, and so somebody at Capitol put it on a computer screen and just totally tweaked it out, and we looked at him, and we're like; "that's cool", and he goes, "well, the only way we can get it off the screen is to take a photo of it", and that's the way they did it.
Your brother Mark Poland plays drums on the album.
My brother is an amazing drummer. I knew I wanted him. When I wanted to do it, I approached him, and I said; "dude, I can't make this record without you", and so we started making demos and got a deal and then got Randy Burns to produce it.
After you left Megadeth, did anyone else approach you about joining their band?
No, not at all. Man, you know, and like, I don't have grudges, I don't hold grudges, but, Mustaine, the whole 'Liar' thing, the whole thing; "Chris stole our equipment", that whole thing was talked about so much that nobody ever called me. Not only that, one time I walked into Carvin [amps] and I was like; "hey, man, can you guys endorse me? I need a couple of two by twelve cabs", and this guy looked me right in the face and he goes; "we don't work with people like you". I just walked out the door. So, I mean, there was a lot of shit that was said that actually, kind of was not okay. But it was BS, anyway; I never pawned anything but my own gear, then once me and Gar would pawn - he'd pawn his cymbals, I'd pawn a head, and maybe a guitar - then Scott Menzies [Megadeth crew member] would go to the pawn shop before a tour would start, before rehearsals, and get it out of pawn, and then we'd play blah, blah, blah. And, yeah, that was all it was. He [Dave Mustaine] was just upset, man. Yeah, he was really upset with me.
Back to the present, and what's in your immediate future?
We've got to get on top of the book [forthcoming autobiography 'Now Leaving Metalopolis']. Me and Matt Herring, we've got to wrap the book up after we turn in the new OHM record, which I think is going to be called 'Cosmic Wind'. That title, Carlos came up with that. But I want to work on 'Metalopolis', I want to get that dialled in, and then I want to try and talk to Brian Perera [Cleopatra Records] about my catalogue and see if we can work something out where we can get all these records available,
Yeah, you've got Damn the Machine as well.
Yeah, that one's owned by Madonna, the publishing, and I don't know who [which record label] owns it now. A&M, I don't even think it's a label anymore. But I'd like to, down the road, maybe it would be great to buy it or whatever I don't own of my my stuff, but I don't have any money, so...
Nuclear Messiah's 'Black Flame' is available now. Order here.
Oh, talking about that record, a year and a half ago, Randy Burns calls me up, and he goes; "hey, do you have the two inch tapes from the 'Metalopolis' sessions?", and I said; "yeah, I kept it in a good environment this whole time". He goes; "here's some money. Go to this address, have them take the tapes. They're going to bake the tapes. They're going to send it to me digitally, and I'm going remix and remaster it", and wait till you hear it, man! It's kind of on hold because we made this OHM record, but I forgot all about that when I mentioned all these other records. That record is going to be so killer, man. I told Randy; "I don't want it to sound like the first time it came out. I want to do stuff to it. I want to make it something entirely cool and different; same songs, but better".
Everything about that album is cool; the cover, the typeface, the long hair.
We did a photo shoot and we couldn't find anything we liked, and so somebody at Capitol put it on a computer screen and just totally tweaked it out, and we looked at him, and we're like; "that's cool", and he goes, "well, the only way we can get it off the screen is to take a photo of it", and that's the way they did it.
Your brother Mark Poland plays drums on the album.
My brother is an amazing drummer. I knew I wanted him. When I wanted to do it, I approached him, and I said; "dude, I can't make this record without you", and so we started making demos and got a deal and then got Randy Burns to produce it.
After you left Megadeth, did anyone else approach you about joining their band?
No, not at all. Man, you know, and like, I don't have grudges, I don't hold grudges, but, Mustaine, the whole 'Liar' thing, the whole thing; "Chris stole our equipment", that whole thing was talked about so much that nobody ever called me. Not only that, one time I walked into Carvin [amps] and I was like; "hey, man, can you guys endorse me? I need a couple of two by twelve cabs", and this guy looked me right in the face and he goes; "we don't work with people like you". I just walked out the door. So, I mean, there was a lot of shit that was said that actually, kind of was not okay. But it was BS, anyway; I never pawned anything but my own gear, then once me and Gar would pawn - he'd pawn his cymbals, I'd pawn a head, and maybe a guitar - then Scott Menzies [Megadeth crew member] would go to the pawn shop before a tour would start, before rehearsals, and get it out of pawn, and then we'd play blah, blah, blah. And, yeah, that was all it was. He [Dave Mustaine] was just upset, man. Yeah, he was really upset with me.
Back to the present, and what's in your immediate future?
We've got to get on top of the book [forthcoming autobiography 'Now Leaving Metalopolis']. Me and Matt Herring, we've got to wrap the book up after we turn in the new OHM record, which I think is going to be called 'Cosmic Wind'. That title, Carlos came up with that. But I want to work on 'Metalopolis', I want to get that dialled in, and then I want to try and talk to Brian Perera [Cleopatra Records] about my catalogue and see if we can work something out where we can get all these records available,
Yeah, you've got Damn the Machine as well.
Yeah, that one's owned by Madonna, the publishing, and I don't know who [which record label] owns it now. A&M, I don't even think it's a label anymore. But I'd like to, down the road, maybe it would be great to buy it or whatever I don't own of my my stuff, but I don't have any money, so...
Nuclear Messiah's 'Black Flame' is available now. Order here.
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