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“Everybody knows that Megadeth is a place where musicians come and go”: Kiko Loureiro says “the door will stay open” following recent departure
“I am not searching for another band; I want to play guitar,” the musician says of his plans for the future.
Image: Joseph Okpako / Getty Images
Kiko Loureiro has spoken about life after Megadeth, as well as the creative and personal circumstances surrounding his recent exit from the band.
In a new interview with Guitar World, the guitarist says “it’s not surprising to anybody” that he’d eventually leave given that “everybody knows that Megadeth is a place where musicians come and go.”
“People were probably saying, ‘Oh, if he stays, he’ll be there longer than Marty,’ or whatever math people like to do. No matter what, people would [eventually] say, ‘Kiko is past his due date.’ Some bands are more stable, and others keep changing members. It’s whatever works, you know?”
Loureiro also clarified that the “freedom” he mentioned in a previous interview “wasn’t about wanting to be free from Megadeth in a bad way,” like many have misconstrued.
Rather, it was about choosing his personal life: “I know that many people aren’t able to quit their jobs and choose to be unemployed, but I had two viable options: to be in Megadeth or not,” he says. “I don’t want to regret my choices about my kids in 10 years because I wasn’t there. The type of freedom I was talking about was deciding what you want to do with your life.”
“I had the freedom to choose if I wanted to stay or go. I made my choice. No regrets.”
That said, Loureiro explains that the possibility of playing with Megadeth again is still out there, as he remains “good friends” with leader Dave Mustaine: “I was talking to Dave the other day – we’re still good friends, so to some degree, the door will stay open,” he says. “I could play with Megadeth or maybe some other band who calls me and has me saying, ‘Okay, now it’s time.’ I don’t know the future, and it will take time.”
The musician continues: “I do know that I want to be home more, and that I love to play guitar. I also love to learn and am excited to have more time to do that. I want to play other instruments and work on composing – but like I said, that all depends on me.”
“If someone else asks me to do something, I’m not looking for that. I am not searching for another band; I want to play guitar.”