In a new interview with Colombia’s Alejandrosis, MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine spoke about the recent departure of the band’s longtime guitarist Kiko Loureiro and addition of his replacement, Teemu Mäntysaari. He said: “Well, I can tell you that Kiko leaving was bittersweet. Kiko is a really good dad, and he loves his family, and he also loves his craft. He’s a wonderful guitar player, and he’s been a good friend to me and to MEGADETH fans and the band. And we found out that Kiko was having stress and strain on his family, being away so much, and we knew that it wasn’t gonna get any better; it was just gonna be more shows and more time away from home right now. And he’s got three little ones at home. So, in the formidable years, he needs to be there. We all agreed and said that we’re gonna bring in an understudy. Teemu came in and helped us for a little while, and then we realized that this is probably the best thing, is for us to stick with Teemu and for Kiko to step aside and go back and take care of his little ones until everything’s okay.”

Elaborating on Teemu‘s technical ability, Dave said: “Teemu is a monster. He is the guy I’ve been looking for for a very long time. I ask him to learn a song, he learns it. I ask him to learn a solo, he learns it. I ask him to learn a vocal part, he learns it. And he has a really great right hand. It’s very intelligent. It’s a lot like mine. And I love watching him play and I love watching him learn, because he learns as fast as anybody else could, and it’s made me really interested in my craft again. I can tell you I was not really looking at guitar like something that I needed to make part of my day every single day. Sometimes I would set the guitar down and I wouldn’t touch it for a couple of days. Ever since Teemu came in, I’m ready — I’m ready to warm up, I’m ready to practice, I’m ready to go over the solos, and I’m ready to fucking rip.”

He added: “I talk to Teemu and I say, ‘Hey, Teemu, we need to add a new song to the set.’ ‘Okay. What song?’ ‘What? Okay. What song? Are you fucking kidding me? You know how much I had to beg for the last 30 fucking years to get any of the other guitar players to learn somebody else’s solo. And here you come in and you just flail this stuff out like you’re eating Rice Krispies. Come on, man.'”

Mustaine concluded: “I’m so excited, and I can’t wait for you to see this dude.”