Teemu Mäntysaari, the Finnish guitarist known for his work with Wintersun and Smackbound, earned the opportunity of a dream—joining a band that you have long admired. Stepping into the role came naturally, which, after learning about how he conceptualizes, studies and appreciates music, comes as no surprise. Megadeth’s future will see Teemu’s creative hand in its new music and his chemistry with frontman Dave Mustaine means fans are in for a treat.
It was almost impossible not to be inspired as Teemu shared his creative influences and inspirations, what touring was like in Latin America and the U.S., how he and Dave dissect the band’s music together and how his past life experiences have shaped the musician he is today.
mxdwn: Hi, my name is Eve Pierpont and I’m the editor for mxdwn’s music features section. I’m here today with Teemu from Megadeth. Hi Teemu!
Teemu Mäntysaari: Hey, Eve. Nice to meet you. How are you?
mxdwn: Good. I’m good. How are you?
TM: Doing great. Doing great.
mxdwn: Awesome. So, as a longtime fan of Megadeth, what were your thoughts and feelings when asked to join as the new guitarist, especially since they have been around for over 40 years and are amongst the top metal bands?
TM: Yeah, I mean, felt kind of like a dream come true and kind of like a circle closing in a way, because Megadeth was one of the first bands that I started playing guitar with back in the day, and then to be asked to play actually in the band, that’s a pretty amazing feeling.
mxdwn: Yeah. I’m sure. I can only imagine. Had you ever attended a Megadeth concert prior to joining the band? And if so, how does it feel to be on the opposite side of the stage now?
TM: I actually did not see Megadeth live. I, of course, listened to all the albums and watched a lot of the live videos, but never had a chance to actually see them live in Finland where I grew up in.
mxdwn: Gotcha. So, out of all the past guitarists, whose style do you think you match the most and whose have you learned the most from?
TM: I really appreciate all the guys who have played in the band, and I think everybody has kind of brought in a little bit of their own style and trademark. But I would have to say Marty Friedman, who was in the band for 10 years from like early ’90s until late nineties. He’s probably like my favorite Megadeth guitarist.
mxdwn: Gotcha. Yeah, I can totally see that. How would you describe your own style and who are some of your own sonic influences outside of Megadeth?
TM: I think I have pretty diverse influences. I kind of come from a bit of a blues background. Some of the first band experiences that I had were like blues jam bands, and I played in like a little punk rock band for a little bit. And then I studied a lot of like fusion jazz guitarists styles. Some of my favorites are like Guthrie Govan and Greg Howe and, of course, like a lot of metal stuff as well, and a lot of the kind of shred guitar virtuosos like Steve Vai and Joe Satriani and Paul Gilbert and John Petrucci, they were big influences for me growing up. But also the more like jazzier stuff like Wayne Krantz is one of my favorites. So, I try to kind of keep my ears and eyes open and be kind of open-minded about everything that sounds good to me. And then that, of course, naturally influences you whether you like it or not. So, I often get asked like, how do you describe your style? But that’s kind of hard to put into words, like how my style is. But of course, I’m maybe more known for like technical playing, so I spend a lot of time like honing my technical skills. I still always try to pay attention to like getting the feeling in the notes in a way, the phrasing and, you know, what you’re trying to say, what you’re playing, actually that’s important for me.
mxdwn: Yeah, no, definitely. I can tell. That’s awesome because you’re so good at what you do, so the fact that you have all those influences and just your approach and the way that you talk about it even, I can tell it’s very important to you and something that you can definitely hear in your style. And I love bluesy jam bands. Has studying all the different guitarists from Megadeth influenced your own style or approach to playing at all in terms of when you’re not playing that specific person’s music?
TM: Yeah, for sure. I’d say Marty Friedman probably the most, because he was the guy who was on those albums that I first discovered from Megadeth, so that’s probably like, you know, bit of a nostalgic factor as well because that’s what I first heard. So that kind of caught my ear and, I mean, I’ve always loved Marty’s style, the exotic stuff that he does. So even in some of the solos that I’ve played for other projects I’ve done, like a lot of guest solos and things like that, and then with my other band Smackbound, I did a lot of solos where I sometimes felt like, okay, this might be like a Marty-ish thing to do. But also definitely learning bits and pieces from the other guys, lately more maybe Kiko. Kiko’s technical stuff has been really inspiring for me as well.
mxdwn: That’s awesome. Yeah, I mean, Marty’s not a bad influence to have. Is there a song that you’ve been itching to play from Megadeth’s catalog that you haven’t had a chance to yet?
TM: I mean, we’re constantly working on adding new songs to the set list, which is really cool. So we have a jam room set up always here and backstage where we have like a little electronic kit for Dirk and bass amps and guitar amps and we’re always jamming a little bit every day and try to get a new song to the point where we can play it live. And usually we get to do like a couple new songs per tour, which is really, really nice, so it’s not the same set list over and over. It keeps it fresh for us as well. Right now there’s a couple songs that we’re working on. Again, I don’t wanna spoil it, keep it a bit of a surprise, but yeah, I’ve told Dave as well, he’s asked me like, what if you got to choose, what would you like to play? And I told him that because, you know, when I first got into the band then, Cryptic Writings was like the first album that really hit me hard. So, probably some of those songs like “Vortex” or “Mastermind.” Some of those tracks would be cool to add, like that they haven’t played in a while.
mxdwn: Gotcha. That’s so exciting. I can’t even imagine like, you know, when an album really hits you hard and then being able to play that music with that band, I can’t even imagine the excitement and just how awesome that is. So, Dave is an acclaimed guitarist. What is it like to play with him?
TM: Feels really great. I think we get along really well, musically as well. I’m constantly listening and watching what he’s doing and try to pick little things and kind of, in a way, adapt my style a little bit to his playing. Especially like the rhythm stuff that he does, that’s some amazing stuff there for sure. And like we talked about learning the songs, the back catalog, that has been really helpful for like dissecting the old songs, in a way, kind of in preparation for understanding how the songs are then structured once we go into the writing mode as well, which I’m really looking forward to writing together with Dave as well. But yeah it’s like with all the guys, I try to, you know, learn all the time and for me, it has always been kind of cool to be able to play with guys who are in some ways better than you are, so you can always learn from them, right? So, every player probably has something that they specialize in, and I always try to kind of look into that and learn from them, which is cool. And I think it goes both ways. I think we all, in the band, we kind of do the same thing and kind of influence each other, which is cool.
mxdwn: Yeah. That is cool. And I have a question that touches on it later, but I have to bring it up, just the way that you talk about it. No wonder you give guitar lessons. I saw online that you do that. I’m sure you’re such an amazing teacher, just the way that you dissect the music from what you’re saying. I just can’t even, you probably have the best students. How did the Latin America leg of the tour go for you, given the huge following you all have there? Were there any memorable moments?
TM: Yeah, that was a really amazing tour. First of all, my first time in South America, so I was not really sure what to expect. Of course, everybody was telling me that it’s gonna be amazing and the fans are really fanatic there, but it was maybe even more than I had expected. We had really, really great sold out shows and the fans there were really super into it. You could really see that the fan culture is there, kind of on a different level. People are following you around. We were always greeted by the fans at the airport, and fans were waiting for us outside the hotels. So, we had to have pretty strict security protocol as well. But then of course we try to meet the fans as much as we can. In Buenos Aires we did three shows, and that was really cool. Before one of the shows, there was maybe a hundred fans outside the hotel waiting for us, so we just kind of quickly decided, okay, let’s take acoustic guitars and go outside the hotel and play for them a couple songs. That was really cool. Let me see, um, in Columbia, the fan club, there was one guy who organized a big fan club thing, and they had a surprise for us, we played two shows there, and one of the shows, the fan club guy had shared like these small lights with everybody in the audience, or actually these kind of color strips that you would put on your phone and put the flashlight on, and you would have different colors, and they made the flag of Columbia, like all over the audience. So that was super cool to see.
mxdwn: That is cool. Oh, I love that so much that you guys played acoustic for the fans. Like that’s super special. I know you guys are in the middle of touring still. Are there any cities you’re looking forward to performing in the most or any past ones that have stood out?
TM: I mean, every city is, of course different, and sometimes the past shows, sometimes it becomes a bit of a blur, which show was which. You kind of see a lot of the backstage, you see the stage and the audience, but sometimes it’s hard to like point out, okay, which one was which. Some of course you remember for some specific reason. But often it’s like something else than the show. The shows, once you’ve played enough shows, it’s kind of hard to, at least for me, it’s sometimes hard to remember, okay, which show was like that and that city, but this tour, here in the States, it’s pretty special because we’re doing nine weeks altogether. We have four weeks, now we’re on week four actually, and after this we’re gonna have a little break, and then we’re gonna have four more weeks. So this is the longest U.S. tour that I’ve done, I think we have all together 34 shows. Of course those shows where you get to meet some old friends and, people you know come out, those are of course always really great. Like we had two shows in LA and of course Dirk and James are living in LA so they have a lot of friends and family there, so that was nice to meet everybody. I have a lot of friends on the east coast as well, so looking forward to playing there as well. Like I said, all the shows are special in their own way, and we always try to make the best show out of wherever we play, it doesn’t really matter.
mxdwn: Gotcha. Yeah, that is special that you get to meet everybody and always seeing old friends and stuff like that is always great. It’s a good feeling for sure. What was it like the first time you played live with the band? What were you thinking and feeling?
TM: The first show was, it’s gonna be the first anniversary of that show, beginning of September last year. So I do remember like bits and pieces from that show, I just told you that I don’t necessarily remember like a lot of things about shows, but of course that was such a special show that I do remember. Just before going on stage, talking with the guys and them telling me that it’s gonna be great and, you know, they have full trust and support for me. That felt really great and everybody was super welcoming, so I had confidence definitely for stepping in such a situation. I think the whole thing was planned and it just went so smooth in a way, the transition from Kiko kind of handing over to me, he was very helpful as well, like with me, teaching me a lot of the stuff, a lot of the practical stuff around the band. And then even though it was very last minute when it was fully confirmed that I’m stepping in, but by that time I was already kind of prepared to do it if I had to. It felt really, really great and kind of felt like I was just in this flow, and everything was smooth and great and a lot of people ask me like, was I nervous or stressed, but, you know, I’ve played a lot of shows before Megadeth as well, and probably the most nervous moment was my first time playing with the band backstage at Wacken [Open Air] which was like a few weeks before that first show. Even that was just like, for half a minute, because then I realized that kind of everybody’s feeling a little bit, you know, that this is a new situation for everybody. I just tried to do my homework as well as possible, and if you know the songs even with your eyes closed, then you don’t have to stress about it.
mxdwn: Yes, very, very true. Preparation is key for sure. I can only imagine that the shows in the past kind of blur together, and I did notice when I was looking at all of the tour dates and cities, I was like, wow, this is a very, very long tour. But that’s fun and I’m sure it’s been great and so much fun.
TM: Definitely.
mxdwn: How has your time with Wintersun and Smackbound influenced how you play with Megadeth and your career in general?
TM: I mean, of course I’m really grateful to have had all these experiences. I started touring when I was 18 years old, and at the very, very first tour we did with Wintersun, we were already supporting Exodus and Hypocrisy, big bands and that is really great and kind of made me fall in love with touring right on. I loved touring ever since, and sometimes, some of these years in the past, I was not able to tour that much because Wintersun, for example, was like on the album making process, and then we didn’t tour some years, and I kind of started to miss that and kind of a little bit out of that then came Smackbound because then I wanted to play more shows. That was kind of friends putting a band together and that was a cool project. It actually started as a cover band, and we played a lot of local cover gigs, and then we thought, okay, let’s make some original music as well. That was really cool experience as well. We made two albums so far and that was a lot of collaborative writing. We would just get together and go to a cabin for a weekend and write for a few days and then come out with a couple songs every time. So, that’s how those two albums were made, that was a cool experience as well. All the other projects that I’ve done over the years, different kinds of cover bands and music and all kinds of different things, that kind of professionally prepares you to do kinds of different things because you have experience with these different kinds of situations, in a way. I’ve been really fortunate to be able to do different things also, like I played in the Finnish Army band, we have like mandatory conscript army service in Finland, so I went in when I was, um, what was I, 23 years old? I had postponed my service for a couple years because Wintersun was touring, then I went when I was 23. I got into the Army band and played a lot of background jazz and things like that that I had not played before. That was a cool learning experience as well, and playing with totally different kinds of musicians, not necessarily kind of army music, but also some of that, but mostly like jazz and pop and that sort of things, which I really did not do before that. So, that was really cool. I kind of, like I said before, keeping the ears and eyes open for different kinds of experiences as well, and even if you specialize in metal, I think like drawing from different styles and genres, that can really help you as a kind of overall, well-rounded musician, being that.
mxdwn: Yeah, definitely. I’ve noticed a lot of, you know, musicians are well-rounded, and it really does make a difference, and those unique experiences also make a difference. It just makes you stand out, I think, when you adopt those different styles and music that you wouldn’t have if you hadn’t had those opportunities. That’s really cool. That’s very interesting. I saw on a Blabbermouth interview, Dave said he thinks you’ll contribute to the songwriting process on the next album, and I know you have written music in the past. First of all, are there plans in the band’s near future for new music? And, are you looking forward to being part of that process?
TM: Yes, to both. Yeah, we are. I think this tour, here after the second leg of this U.S. tour ending in early or late September, I think after that we’re gonna take a little bit of time off and start really concentrating on songwriting and the plans are to go more into the songwriting mode next year where I think we won’t have that much touring coming up. I’m really looking forward to contributing as much as I can. We’ve kind of started talking about it already, a while back, and the first time Dave mentioned that, yeah, he’d be happy to, you know, have some of my ideas there, and listened to my things, from that moment on, I already took the mindset that, okay, now whenever an idea comes to mind, I’m just gonna put it down and record it and gradually I’ve now started doing more and more of that when we have a day off at the hotel room, I always have my little recording set up and my guitar there. First I usually just play and film an idea on my phone, and then I have a folder of different ideas, and then when I have that off day at the hotel, then I just record it on my laptop and then have a big folder of riff ideas that I can offer at at some point.
mxdwn: That’s great. Oh, that’s exciting. Definitely looking forward to that. Dave also mentioned that the band is playing more songs now, which you also kind of mentioned earlier, than before, and that’s not a dig to previous lineups, but a huge compliment to your knowledge and understanding of the band and the metal backbone that is in a lot of those songs that other people just didn’t understand as well as you. And then he also went on to say, “I do believe that when somebody gets singled out by me, that’s pretty much it for them. They’ve been indoctrinated into the world of great guitar players and from that moment on their life will change.” How did hearing that make you feel?
TM: I mean, of course it feels really, really great coming from Dave, you know, maybe the biggest forefather of thrash metal. I mean, that’s of course huge and just the history of the band, all these great players coming before me, it’s a huge honor to be now included in that lineage, in a way. Like I said before, I really respect all the players that came before me and, and about learning things the way that I do. That’s just something I’ve always loved to do maybe coming back to that blues background, like learning things by ear and kind of try to, in the beginning, mimic other players’ styles to kind of start building your own style. I always loved doing that, trying to kind of figure out, not only reading from a paper what is written there and copy that, but listen to what somebody’s playing, have it in your head, the sound, and then being able to reproduce that sound. That was always very fascinating for me, being able to do that, and of course then when you do it year after year, you get better at that. Some of these cover bands that I played with then, I felt like the most proper way for me to do it is to try to do it like the originals are. I usually go kind of deep research mode and try to really do a note for note and all the nuances and watch live videos for fingerings and things like that. It turned out that that’s what Dave appreciates as well, kind of like in classical music, that the pieces are more or less played like they are written. Of course, there’s always little nuances, your own nuances that you can put in, but I’ve always loved doing that, and it was cool to see that that also then inspired Dave to kind of dig deeper into some of the songs and kind of study them together. Some of the songs that he hasn’t played in a long time, we dissect in the jam room together and check like the riffs and slow things down and figure out, okay, this fingering is here, but maybe you actually played it here, and then we watch old video, oh, you did actually play it here. Then it comes back to him, this feels right, this didn’t feel right here, but, uh, okay, this is how it is, and yeah, it’s really, really inspiring and cool to see that he’s got that, I guess, some kind of a newfound energy. Yeah, we’re spending a lot of time playing together in the jam room and that’s really fascinating and inspiring for me, like how some of that stuff comes easily back for him, like I guess muscle memory and then some things he might ask like, can we figure this thing together? Like, what’s going on here? So I’m of course happy to help anywhere I can.
mxdwn: Wow, that’s super fascinating and so interesting. I love hearing this kind of stuff because I just have like this great appreciation for guitarists and just playing the guitar, the fact that you can hear something and then just play it, or that’s just how you try to do it is so inspirational. I don’t even really have words to describe how incredible or amazing that is just the both of you and hearing this, I absolutely love it. I’ll sit there and listen to a song and sometimes won’t even be able to pay attention to the words so much as I just like listen to the different guitar riffs and I don’t even play guitar and probably couldn’t even if I tried, but I wish I could. I love hearing the way that you talk about it. It’s so inspirational. So, I see you give guitar lessons in person or online to guitarists of all levels. There’s no doubt that you’re a stellar guitar player with a praised skillset, and I can only imagine how much your students look up to you. Where did the inspiration come from to teach?
TM: It was actually my first proper teacher back in the day. He was like really inspiring guy and he introduced me to a lot of music that I had not known before. He was just this guy who had his house filled with all the guitar magazines and all the CDs, and he was such a correct player that just inspired me not only to get better at guitar, but also to pick up teaching then eventually.
mxdwn: Awesome. I love that. It’s been such a pleasure talking to you. You seem so down to earth and this opportunity for you is incredible and well deserved and have fun on the rest of your tour. Good luck.
TM: Thank you so much, Eve. Such a pleasure talking to you.
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