MASTERS OF METAL
Metallica’s secret on keeping it fresh
Metallica is not alone in having to compete with its own ghost — don’t we all?
But given the metal icons’ unquestionable influence early on — plus the rabidity of their intergenerational and global fan base — few musical acts have been so scrutinized at such a level.
While 1991’s self-titled Metallica sold over 20 million copies — one million of those in Canada — the price of this ferociously successful left turn was that many deepcut fans have for a very long time begged and screamed for albums with the dragon-fire power of 1983’s Kill ‘Em All, or the outright majesty of Ride the Lighting and Master of Puppets — the latter of which arrived in record stores 31 years ago.
“It’s always fun to have someone tell you what you should do,” 54-year-old lead singer and songwriter James Hetfield says with a laugh over the phone from Miami. “Especially when you’re an artist.”
But on the larger sunny side, amid Metallica’s decades of soldout tours, nine Grammy Awards, 100-million album sales and killer songs on more recent albums like St. Anger and especially Death Magnetic, let’s not ignore this cheerful news: Last year’s Hardwired … to Self-Destruct is not only architecturally complex enough to sit up there with the band’s most luminous efforts, but it straight-up kicks arse, most certainly echoing the aforementioned recordings in that it’s both heavy on thrash and radio friendly. The dizzying new Moth Into Flame is a perfect example of this fusion.
Hardwired had just gone platinum the morning of this interview, so it’s here we start talking.
“We’re looking at flashing lights — in front of us, which is better than behind us,” the metal messiah joked right off the bat.
Q Full congratulations on Hardwired. How does selling a million records feel at this stage?
A That’s unbelievable, I tell you. Unexpected, for sure. It’s all bonus, man.
Q And how’s your health, all that?
A We’re touring age appropriately (laughs) 54-55, especially our kind of music, which is a little more aggressive. Two weeks on, two weeks off. No two-in-a-rows. And that’s how we need to do it to stay sane and healthy. We’re happy to still be playing after this long, still love what we do.
Q My cohort at Postmedia News says he’s photographed 1,500 bands live, but that you guys are the best band to shoot.
A Well, we’re good posers. (Laughs.)
Q You did some really cool stuff with the video tsunami thing when the album was released — can you talk about how that went down?
A We’ve got awesome people around us who are extremely creative, buck the system, try new things. We did all the songs, found interesting people, really low budget and made it cool and interesting. We knew we didn’t want to get it on YouTube first (as a) video of the lyrics. We really gave the creative direction to the directors. You can tell an artist what to do, but he’s not going to be extremely happy if it’s not his vision, you know? We’d choose between a couple different concepts per song.
Q I’d say you’ve captured some of the complexity and thrashiness of Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets. I know a lot
of fans are always hoping for that early sound.
A You can’t deny their passion about it. We certainly don’t want to go backwards. We’re here to move forward, but also, we know what we do best. All that stuff naturally happens — we did not set out to make Kill ‘Em All again. I’m pretty surprised people have embraced it as early, early Metallica, because to me it doesn’t sound like that. Maybe some of the guitar harmonies, certain riffs? But it’s nice people are able to hear what they need to in what we like creating.
Q Can you say something you admire about each of the band members? Let’s start with the new guy, who’s been around for a long time now, Robert Trujillo.
A Been in the band longer than any bass player. He will forever be the new guy. Hopefully there’s not another new guy. He’s extremely dedicated. He’s always practising. He challenges us: ‘How ’bout we try this?’ A dedicated musician.
Q And drummer Lars Ulrich, what do you admire most about him?
A He does not take no for an answer. That’s good and bad when you’re a partner in a business. (Laughs.) When you sic that bulldog onto somebody else, it’s great. He’s really good at the big picture, where I can get stuck in details. He’s very into what a fan would love — he’s the biggest Metallica fan there is.
Q And Kirk Hammett?
A He’s got an innocence about him. He’s not really concerned about life, he flows through it really well and good things happen to him. He doesn’t feel the need to control things.
Q You got another Cthulhu song in there with Dream No More — what keeps bringing you back to H.P. Lovecraft?
A Godzilla’s been done, you could write a song about King Kong, I guess. There’s a mystery still to it — it’s still alive and well, and interesting. I’m able to get dark, evil and giant whenever I take on the Cthulhu role.
Q Is there still that sense of fantasy for you? A power thing?
A We’re human, right? And when you’re onstage every other night playing in front of 50,000 people, possibly it’s going to affect your ego. It just is. I know a lot of people who don’t need that to have giant egos. It can take you in the wrong way, and make you believe you’re ... bigger than you are. But we try to stay as grounded as possible, making the stage as low as possible, getting as close as possible to the fans. But there was a time, obviously, when the egos got to you.
Q Looking back on it, your legendary bass player Cliff Burton, rest in peace, was someone you knew when you were a kid. Do you think about him often?
A Absolutely. Fans mention him, and he’s still alive in their hearts. Every once in a while when I need some energy, I will think about Cliff and think, he’d want to let loose.
Q Can you describe Canadian metal fans?
A (Laughs hard.) I can’t describe any Metallica fans now. They look so different now, from gender to age to colour to careers. Everyone is showing up with their kids, their parents. There isn’t a specific look anymore. I could describe them 20 years ago, but it has morphed and changed.
Q You guys play a lot of deep cuts live, what’s the set look like?
A We’re playing five new songs, which is a third of the set, and people are embracing it. I remember 20 years ago, you play too much new stuff, they’d boo you.
Q Do you miss having long hair?
A Yeah. When we’re onstage. But the rest of the time? No, man, not at all.