DAVID ELLEFSON On Upcoming NICK MENZA Documentary: ‘It’s A Labor Of Love’

On Saturday (March 5), model, dancer and actress Diana Lynn conducted an interview with former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson at the PA Horror Con at the Delta Hotel by Marriott Allentown Lehigh Valley in Breinigsville, Pennsylvania. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about his involvement in the upcoming feature-length documentary “This Was My Life: The Story Of Nick Menza”, which is described as an “exploration of the late MEGADETH drummer’s life,” Ellefson said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Nick Menza, who many know [was] the drummer of MEGADETH for the decade of the ’90s — ’89 [to] ’98 — he left the group in ’98 and then he passed away onstage playing with another former MEGADETH guitar player, Chris Poland; they had a band together. And they were playing at the Baked Potato in Studio City [California], which is a jazz nightclub. Nick‘s dad, Don Menza, a very esteemed saxophone player — he played the theme of the ‘Pink Panther’, if you remember that movie — so it’s interesting, ’cause one of his friends, Don Randi, owns the Baked Potato. So the two Dons kind of grew up together in the business. Don‘s son Dave Randi and Nick Menza and I used to go mountain biking together. So it’s kind of fun little North Hollywood/Studio City consortium of kind of the who’s who in the jazz world.

“So, yeah, Nick passed away,” David continued. “So we’re doing a documentary film that I’m co-producing. And what’s fun is… When we stated making the soundtrack, Nick‘s got all these drum tracks that he had recorded… I didn’t realize how prolific Nick was after MEGADETH. I knew a few things that he had done. But now that I have the key to the vault and I’m listening to the stuff, I’m, like, going, ‘Wow.’ There was a lot of stuff that he did. So I grabbed a bunch of friends. I thought, ‘We should just write some new stuff over these drum tracks.’ So that’s what we’re doing. And it’s really fun to write songs with Nick. Even though Nick‘s no longer with us here on the earthy plane, he left behind some great tracks. So we’re writing songs to them. So this will be this new kind of soundtrack to go along with the movie, as a companion. And so Nick is the co-writer. And the whole purpose of doing it is not only to honor Nick‘s life, because he has so many fans that it’s kind of nice to tell the whole story of his life, but also the proceeds from it will go to his family. He’s got two boys, so that’ll go to kind of help them out and just kind of keep money in the pipeline for Nick. So it’s a labor of love.”

“This Was My Life” will be the first-ever film to memorialize Menza‘s legacy and celebrate his life exactly how it was. It is described in a press release as “an unflinching exploration into the life of one of the most successful thrash-metal drummers of all time, authorized by the Menza family. From his childhood all the way through to the end of his life Including a true blow-by-blow account of the repeated failed attempts of the classic ‘Rust In Peace’ lineup.”

“This Was My Life” will feature rare and never-before-seen photos and video footage from Nick‘s archived VHS tape collection, personally filmed by Menza himself from 1988 through 1991. Included will be exclusive content showcasing Nick working at the studio, personal home movies, casual time and party time with his fellow bandmembers, as well as other well-known artists of the era that Nick toured with.

The cover photo for the film was shot by Los Angeles music photographer Alex Solca and designed by Brazilian artwork designer Alcides Burn of Burn Artworks.

Late in the evening on May 21, 2016, Nick collapsed after suffering a heart attack during a concert with Chris Poland and Robertino “Pag” Pagliari in their band OHM: at the Baked Potato in Studio City, California and was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital. The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner said Menza died of hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

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