In a new interview with Waste Some Time With Jason Green, Canadian guitarist Glen Drover, who joined MEGADETH in 2004 with his drummer brother Shawn, spoke about why he ended up leaving the Dave Mustaine-fronted outfit more than eight years ago. Asked if the explanation that was given in January 2008, that he wanted to focus on his family life, was the sole reason for his exit from MEGADETH, Glen said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, some of it was personal beyond that, which I won’t talk about because it’s very personal. But there was another situation where I had to step down. There was a lot of stuff going on at one point, which I got through. But at the time it was kind of heavy. And I had to leave. And they knew it as well. They knew that I was having some issues with a couple of things.
Asked by host Jason Green if he was having issues “musically or personally” with how everything was going with MEGADETH, Glen said: “Personally — and not musically. Musically, I was fine. It was a lot to do with my family and just personal issues that I had, which we’ll leave that at that.”
Regarding whether his stint with MEGDETH ended on good terms, Glen said: “Yeah, I think for the most part. I think Dave was upset. But I think he also understood as well, to a point, because he didn’t really know a hundred percent. But he had a good idea what was going on… And it also wasn’t a situation where I’d stepped down and then they were touring the following week. I wasn’t gonna do something stupid like that. So what I did was — it was about three months. We did the Pacific Ram, and then there was about a break for about three or four months before doing a [European] tour… So, basically, it was about maybe — I don’t know — a couple of weeks after we finished the Pacific Rim where I [went], ‘Okay, I have to do this.’ So when I left, I recommended three guitar players [as my possible replacement], which were Jeff Loomis [NEVERMORE, ARCH ENEMY], Jeff Waters [ANNIHILATOR] and Chris Broderick [JAG PANZER, NEVERMORE, IN FLAMES]. And for whatever reasons, Jeff had declined — both Jeffs — and Chris said ‘yes’. So that’s how and why [Chris] got in the band.”
Back in July 2023, Glen told “The Signals Of Intuition” about how he ended up hooking up with MEGADETH more than two decades ago: “I was referred by someone who I’d met years prior who was in contact with their webmaster, and I was referred for the gig, basically. And then he said, ‘Hey, I put your name in.’ “Cause Dave was wanting to put a version of the band back together to do a farewell tour. And he said, ‘I put your name in. Wouldn’t it be cool if you joined the band?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, okay.’ And I was thinking, ‘That’s not gonna happen.’ And within a few days, I was in the band — literally, it was that fast. That was it. We brought Shawn in because we started rehearsals. We did about two and a half weeks because it was a new band and the tour was following that two-and-a-half-week period immediately after. And Nick [Menza, who was in talks to rejoin MEGADETH] wasn’t working out. Shawn came in. And he had to learn 18 songs, I think, in six days and fit in with the band. We played our first show in Reno, and it went great. The power of determination and being inspired and motivated from that whole situation. Looking back, it’s kind of crazy that he was able to accomplish that in six days, but he did, with the help of everybody.”
Elaborating on how Shawn managed to learn the parts so quickly, Glen said: “He hadn’t really been playing [drums]. Well, he had a little bit of warming up when he did the drum tracks for our [EIDOLON] album, but primarily he was [working in] construction. So I pulled him out of that. He came into the band. But he quickly got into shape real, real fast. When he came in, he was nervous, as I was, but I did my homework times ten, so I was ready. So when he came out [I said], ‘Ah, it’s okay. Don’t worry. It’s gonna be fine.’ ‘Cause Shawn’s like a sponge. Once he gets something, you don’t have to worry about him. I didn’t even have to look at him. And we’ve had that chemistry since we were kids. So that tightness that me and Shawn had formed as brothers was brought into the band, which helped a lot. We had a good lineup there.”
When the interviewer noted that MEGADETH’s then-lineup, with bassist James LoMenzo, was particularly strong, Glen said: “It started off with Jimmy [James] MacDonough [on bass]. And that was short lived. He did a decent job. James [LoMenzo], he fit the band better in all ways, with all due respect to Jimmy. But it was great. That was a great lineup. And we had a lot of fun. Everybody got along real well; everybody was chill. So it was just a really good atmosphere. And we had a lot of fun — seeing the world multiple times with my brother.”
In a 2015 interview with Metal Wani, Glen was asked if Dave was as difficult to work with as his reputation suggests. He responded: “Well, I mean, there’s been a lot of personnel changes in the band throughout the years. There’s [been] a lot of changes, period, with just anybody that’s in the organization. What I can say is that I think that speaks for itself, and he’ll probably tell you the same thing. But, for me, up until the time I left, we actually had a lot of good times. We never had any big falling out or anything like that. I have a lot of good memories, especially, probably, from the first two years. Maybe the last six months or so, things started to change and it wasn’t as… A lot of people thought I left because I just wanted to stay home and look at the walls, which is quite ridiculous, but whatever… This is an old story, but I just didn’t like it. I didn’t like being in that atmosphere anymore, because it wasn’t as fun and positive as it once was, and I was getting a little bit disillusioned and a little bit irritated with certain things, and it just got to a point where I was, like, ‘Okay, I’m not happy. I’ve gotta leave.’ And that was pretty much the story. There was really nothing more to it than that.”
As for how he looked back on his time with MEGADETH, Glen told Metal Wani: “One thing I’m really happy and proud about is when we were in the band, it wasn’t supposed to be a MEGADETH reformation; it was supposed to be a farewell tour. There wasn’t supposed to be this thing that was supposed to carry on for the last ten years. When I joined, it was [Dave Mustaine saying], ‘We’re just gonna do this farewell tour. I wanna end it properly.’ And that was it. But the reaction we were getting… Dave decided, ‘No. I’m not gonna kill the band. I’m gonna keep this thing going.’ So I’m really happy and proud to have put all that hard work in in really bringing the band back and making it powerful — just going out there and just playing really hard and doing the best we could.
“A lot of people don’t know that [MEGADETH’s first tour with me in the band was initially supposed to be a farewell tour]. A lot of people though it was a reformation, period. Purely all it was… Apparently [Mustaine] hurt his arm at some point. And, basically, he put this album out, ‘The System Has Failed’ [in 2004], and it was getting good reviews, and he decided that he wanted to do a farewell tour. I think, initially, he was gonna be looking at [reuniting] that ‘Rust In Peace’ lineup. He had recruited Nick Menza, then me, and then we got Jim MacDonough [bass] in the band. And then we went to rehearsals, and Nick wasn’t working out, and was let go, and then Shawn was brought in [to play drums]. That’s how it went. It’s very simple. And then after the farewell tour, he was gonna continue, with calling the band DAVE MUSTAINE, and he wanted us to be involved with that. And for me, it didn’t make any sense, because one minute we’re called MEGADETH, then the next minute we’re called DAVE MUSTAINE. It just wasn’t a good idea. And we all had said, ‘Hey, we’re all interested if you wanna carry on the MEGADETH thing. We’re not really as interested in the DAVE MUSTAINE thing.’ ‘Cause that just creates confusion, and I didn’t wanna have anything to do with that. And then he ended up keeing the name and then the band just kept going. And it hasn’t stopped ever since.”
Glen is currently involved with the WITHERING SCORN project, also featuring Shawn, former FATES WARNING bassist Joe DiBiase and German singer Henning Basse, who has previously played with FIREWIND, METALIUM and MAYAN.
WITHERING SCORN’s debut album, “Prophets Of Demise”, was released in July 2023 via Frontiers Music Srl. A follow-up effort, “Sanctum Of The Depraved”, was recently completed and will arrive later this year.
Glen’s debut solo album, “Metalusion”, came out in April 2011 via Magna Carta Records.