Dave Mustaine has had right old pop at some of his former Megadeth bandmates.

Blabbermouth reports that, during an interview on radio show Metal On KLQ, the Megadeth leader responded to a question about constant Megadeth line-up changes with the following outburst:

“I can remember the day I was in Tokyo and Marty Friedman [guitar] and David Ellefson [bass] and Nick Menza [drums] were all sitting down at lunch with me and they said they wanted money to just be in the room with me when I played guitar from my music because I wouldn’t be able to write the songs if they weren’t playing in the background. And I thought: ‘OK, that’s the last straw. The musical relationship with all of us is over. Just because you guys can’t write songs doesn’t mean that I should be punished for it.’

“And it killed our relationship. And… what have they done since? I love those guys – well, I don’t love Ellefson – I care a lot about those guys and I respect them for what they’ve done for the franchise and for the legacy that’s Megadeth and they all have a place in my heart. But there’s a difference. When you lose your vision, and you start to be in it for the wrong reasons. ‘Cause if you’re playing music for money, you’re playing for the wrong reason. I play music because I love it.”