In an insightful segment of Jonathan Montenegro's "My 3 Questions To," former Megadeth’s guitarist Chris Broderick was asked about his pursuit of artistic freedom following his departure from his former band a decade ago. Reflecting on his journey with In Flames, Broderick shared that Anders Fridén and Björn Gelotte, the band’s frontman and guitarist respectively, have allowed him significantly more creativity.
"I think they definitely give me a lot more freedom because I can pursue them in my own ways," Broderick remarked. "I think, though, at the end of the day, they're going to always write an album that is In Flames. And so they're going to be the ones really kind of scrutinizing what that will be. And I understand that to no end because they are one of the original bands of that sort of Swedish sound, and nothing I could do could really create that. I would love to add to it, and they've already allowed me to do that, and I love that."
Broderick expressed his appreciation for the opportunity to contribute to In Flames' signature sound, but also mentioned his liberty to explore solo projects, adding, "At the same time, they're, like, 'Oh, if you wanted to go and write a solo album or anything like that,' I have the opportunity to do that as well."
Broderick’s statement offers a perspective that contrasts with the constraints he felt in Megadeth, which he described in an interview with Ultimate Guitar in 2016. When elaborating about the circumstances that led to his departure from the band, he said: "I wouldn't say it's necessarily artistic and musical differences as much as it is the ability to express my musical and artistic choices. Everybody knows that Megadeth is really Dave and that's fine."
Acknowledging Dave Mustaine's dominant role in the creative process, he added: "I knew that Mustaine was captain of the ship going in. But there comes a time where you're like, 'I've done this and it's great but I'm a musician and artist at heart and I need to express myself that way. So, I need to have that outlet for myself and not just do it in support of another person. Megadeth wasn't a democratic or an equal band in terms of the decision-making process. And again, I was totally fine with that at the time. It was awesome for my career and it was great playing for all those fans but at some point, when do you decide you're gonna be a musician and really create your own music, or are you just going to record what somebody else wants?"
In a previous interview with Guitar World in 2015, Broderick explained regarding the moment he felt the need to leave: "Around the last quarter of 2014. I was dwelling on my lack of musical creativity in the band. Dave was getting ready to go in and do another CD and my heart just wasn't in it because I knew I wasn't going to have any artistic say in the definition of the album and the music. He was calling, saying, 'Hey, I want to get you guys down there.' The last thing I wanted to do was go down there and work on a partial CD and then say, 'Hey, this isn't for me.' It was just the right time to leave."
