SYLVIE SIMMONS
Lars was like a “puppy on speed” when he befriended the music journalist in the 80s
How did you meet Metallica?
“I first met Lars back when the band was just a bunch of kids playing in the garage of the house in the LA suburb where he lived with his dad. They didn’t have an official name back then as far as I can remember, let alone a record deal.”
Who were you writing for at the time? “I was writing for the weekly rock paper Sounds under my own name and for Kerrang! under the pseudonym Laura Canyon. I was living in Laurel Canyon and I was writing a lot about the metal scene. Someone who seemed to be at every show was a kid named John Kornarens, or ‘Heavy Metal John’, as he called himself. He was a nice kid who really loved the music and had good taste. He came to my place now and then and I’d give him those 8x10 black and white photos of bands that publicists used to send out with their press releases. One day he asked if he could bring a friend. It was Lars.”
What was he like back then?
“Lars was like a puppy on speed. I mean he wasn’t on speed, he was just incredibly hyper. While I talked to John, Lars was talking away and rummaging through my waste paper bin digging out press releases and photos I’d thrown out and saying, ‘Can I have that?’ ‘Can I have this?’ I got him a pass to go see Motörhead play Long Beach once. I can’t remember if he swayed me with his sheer love for that band, which I shared, or whether he just broke me down with all that talking! He was a Maiden fan, too – or at least one thing that caught his eye was one of those Christmas cards with Eddie on the front and he asked me for that. I think I said no.”
Are you still in touch with the band? “We’ve met fairly often over the years, Lars and I, but for the most part only for interviews. Sometimes when a band gets big, they either forget or deliberately distance themselves from people who were there at the start – journalists, other bands, their first record label. But not Metallica. They never forgot. When they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, they flew out a bunch of people from their early days to the ceremony and party. I’m happy to say I was among them.”