Extended Q&A: Kirk Hammett of Metallica
Kirk Hammett of Metallica basks in the fans’ adoration at a recent show. (Associated Press photo)
On a recent Saturday, I interviewed Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett on the phone. From a bathroom at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Sometimes my job gets very weird.
I was attending the press junket for the movies “Twilight” and “Milk” and needed to do a makeup interview with Metallica, having missed our earlier scheduled time due to illness. The only time that could fit into Hammett’s schedule and my deadline was midday at Saturday, right in the middle of roundtable interviews for “Milk.”
With the help of some very patient colleagues, I was able to ask the question I needed to ask of “Milk” co-star Josh Brolin so that I could slip out and take the call from Hammett on my cell phone. I needed somewhere quiet – not easy to find in a hotel crawling with TV, radio, print and online reporters, actors, directors, screenwriters and publicists. So, I took refuge in the bathroom.
In my defense, it was a really swanky bathroom and a really solid interview.
At the other end of the line, Hammett was at a hotel in Chicago – “It’s really cold, but other than that life is good,” he told me. But he was having issues with the hotel phone and twice we got cut off before we got rolling on the interview.
Here’s an edited version of the interview, in which we discussed specifically the band’s great new album “Death Magnetic,” which has been called by some critics (specifically the one at allmusic.com) “Kirk Hammett’s revenge.” That got a big laugh out of the guitarist, who is back to thrashing through solos on “Death Magnetic” and will surely be again tonight at Tulsa’s BOK Center.
Q: After the solo-free “St. Anger,” was this album a relief? Was it fun? Was it more gratifying?
A: You know, it really shocked me just to hear of the fans’ response to ‘St. Anger’ not having guitar solos. You know, I did not foresee how much people were actually gonna miss my contributions in that sort of field, in that particular part of our sound. And so, after hearing an earful … for the last three or four years, five years or whatever it is, it felt like there was a little pressure for me to like do guitar solos and do them well. And you know, I really seized the opportunity to just go for the throat and remind people that I’m a guitar player, a lead guitar player, I’m still a lead guitar player, and you know, this is what I’m all about these days. And you know, I didn’t hold much back.
Q: Was it pretty gratifying that people missed it so much? Was that nice feedback to get?
A: Yeah, you know, it was pretty gratifying that hear that almost all of the reviews of the albums, I mean, you know, just across the board, I get a mention saying, you know, ‘Kirk Hammett is back and he’s playing better than ever’ or ‘The long-missed guitar solos of Kirk Hammett are back and Metallica’s back to form.’ I think it just adds to the overall vibe of us kind of like returning to form and refinding ourselves and playing really super-heavy dynamic music again – with guitar solos. And you know, it’s kind of a welcoming feeling knowing that our fans are happy ‘cause we’re playing heavier again – and the guitar solos are back.
Q: What was different with the process with this album than other albums you’ve done. You got a new producer in there, Rick Rubin, what was different about what he brought to the process or the feel of what you were going for this time?
A: You know, it was very, very relaxed. We moved at a very comfortable pace. We pretty much moved at the pace our families would dictate, you know. Now that we all have families, a lot of the family scheduling kind of dictated studio scheduling, which was really, really great, you know, because we’re learning to balance both things, family and band.
And Rick Rubin wasn’t there a whole lot of the time, which for me was a new sort of experience, because for about 15 years Bob Rock has been our producer, and he’s been there for every single note, every single beat, kind of poring over everything. And this time, we were alone in the studio for the most part, with our engineer Greg Fidelman, and we were allowed to pretty much do whatever we wanted to do, explore whatever audio sounds we wanted to explore, or styles or techniques, without there being anyone else in the room really, and it was kind of liberating and freeing at the same time.
(At this point, we paused for him to take a call from his wife: “just calling to check in and just making sure everything’s OK with the family,” he said.)
Q: I know you’re married; do you have any kids?
I have a 2-year-old and 4-month-old.
Q: Wow, I didn’t you realize you had such a little one. Do you have boys or girls?
A: I have two boys.
Q: Family makes life good, but how do you balance it? You guys are touring, which you haven’t done in awhile, so how’s the balance coming between touring and family?
A: Well, we’ve adopted a more, again, family-friendly sort of schedule. It’s still following the same sort of lines that were dictated while we were recording. And what that basically is, is we go out for a week and then we’re home for a week.
And then when we go out to Europe – you know, you obviously can’t do that one-week thing in Europe – so what we do is when we’re out in Europe, we go for two weeks and then we come home for two weeks. And it works out really, really well, and it enables us to kind of maintain that family bond while still being away, still being able to play shows.
And you know, because of this we play five shows a week, which is a little hectic, but you know, we’re all happy to do it because it’s a great tradeoff to be able to be home every other week and getting that good family time in.
Q: One of the things I obviously noticed about this album is all those super-fast thrash solos that we haven’t heard in a few albums: Was that fun to do and was it a conscious choice or just how the album developed?
A: It was totally conscious, you know, I kind of looked back at what I used to do in the past, and took cues from that same sort of approach, that same sort of attitude, and how it could fit in with the music we’re doing now. You know, in retrospect, when I kind of like glance over all the guitar solos … over the course of the album, I kind of realized, that I just really, like I said, I went for the jugular. I mean, there’s absolutely no subtlety whatsoever. (laughs) I pretty much went in there with the attitude of just doing the fastest, most aggressive, loud, raunchy-sounding solos that I could possibly dream up for the material, and yeah, you know, it really suits the songs well I think.
There’s a level of energy that guitar solos have that really just kind of like amplify what the music is doing at that point in time.
You know, a lot of the albums that we made in the ‘90s, a lot of guitar solos were much more melodic, and much more blues-based, and much more laid back, which is fine, but for this album, that approach really didn’t work so well. So, like I said, just kind of went for it and let it rip.
Q: With you wanting to do that, was that pretty much in line with what the rest of the band wanted to do?
A: Oh, yeah, we totally wanted to make a really extreme, aggressive album, and we were all pretty much unified in that approach.
Q: Was there more pressure coming back after such a long period? It had been five years since you’d had album, so was there that pressure to really hit one out of the park, so to speak?
A: You know, we kind of feel that a little bit. You know, whenever we go into the studio to make an album, there’s always a little pressure to just come up with what we do best, which is write the best songs that we can possibly write at that point and just try to make the best album that we possibly can. And we follow through with that.
You know, a lot of the times, the concepts are just different. Like for ‘Load’ and ‘Reload,’ the concept was to kind of like play more laidback, more groove-oriented, kind of blues-based sort of heavy rock, heavy metal. For me, I mean, ‘Load’ and ‘Reload’ are kind of like subconscious tributes to the classic hard rock we kind of grew up on when we were all teenagers.
And you know, with this album, the concept was just again to make a really heavy album with progressive flavors here and there, a lot like the stuff we did in the ‘80s. And to make the best album we possibly can.
I guess to answer your question, there’s pressure to do the best we can, under whatever circumstances and to follow through with whatever we’re thinking conceptually.
Q: You guys are on the short list for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Is that gratifying? Is that exciting? Is it kind weird that so much time has passed so fast?
A: You know, it is pretty cool to be nominated and to be acknowledged by the industry. It kind of vindicates all the blood, sweat and tears and sacrifice and long hours, all the traveling, and all the ups and down that you’ve experienced over the course of 25 years or so.
And it kind of makes me feel that wow, you know, it’s been a great, great journey, and now the industry’s actually recognizing it and considering us for the hall of fame. And that’s a great feeling. I mean, it really is exciting, and I really hope we win, obviously. (laughs) In fact, you know, I was just thinking today, ‘Oh my God, I gotta start working on my acceptance speech ‘cause I want it to be perfect.’ (laugh)
Q: Is it really gratifying to be cited as an influence, because a lot of hard rock, metal and thrash bands cite you as an influence. Is that pretty thrilled? Is it something you never considered when you started this?
A: When we started doing this, we just wanted to make music that we wanted to hear. We wanted to play music that was fun to listen to and fun to play and exciting for us and that was the intention. … And you know, it’s … inspired a lot of bands and continues to inspire bands, generations of bands now, and it’s super, super flattering.
And you know, again, it’s very gratifying to know that you’ve helped other musicians to kind of like help set them on their paths and set them in a direction that you kind of forged. And it’s great to know, I mean, because to be known as a band that’s had an impact on musical culture, I mean, that’s great to me. Because I know what sort of influence a band like Led Zeppelin had on my life – just to like name one band among many – and to know that we mean that same sort of thing to a bunch of people out there of all ages, denominations, whatever, you know, again, it’s very, very gratifying. It’s very cool to know. …
Q: You haven’t toured too much recently: What’s new, what’s different, and what’s the same? What can’t people expect from the live show?
A: Well, we’re in the round, which means that the audience is in the middle of the arena, and we’re playing a pretty healthy dose of songs from “Death Magnetic.” We’re playing about half the album now, and fans are contacting us saying ‘You gotta play more ‘Death Magnetic.’” I mean, and we’re just kind of throwing up our hands in the air, saying ‘What about all these other albums? And so having said that, we’re just trying to just be a bit comprehensive in our song selection, in trying to like pick songs off all our albums, that represent our entire career.
And we have a totally new production; I don’t want to give two much away ‘cause it’s super cool. And you know, it’s gonna be two hours of pure metal mayhem.
Q: I’m looking forward to it. And I noticed on your bio that your birthday is the day of the Oklahoma show. Are you doing anything special for your birthday? Should I bring you a cake?
A: I’m sure that the band has something special in mind for me. (laughing) I won’t even go into that, but I’m sure there’s gonna be some surprises waiting for me. (laughing)
Q: You say that like you’re a little bemused, maybe a little apprehensive.
A: Whenever it’s someone’s birthday on the road, they always get pied. You know, the whipped cream pies come out and … I’m always at the forefront of that, pieing someone, so I know it’s going to be payback for me. (laughing)
Q: So either before or after the show, you will have to clean yourself up.
A: Yeah, who knows.
Q: It has been 25 years now, are you really just glad and grateful that the band came knocking on your door? Have you looked back with the recent success and rock hall nomination? Are you happy with where you are?
A: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I’m absolutely thrilled that 25 years into it we’re still able to like put out an album that’s relevant and that mends people and that we’re able to go out on tour, especially at a time like this when the economy’s all shot to hell and there’s just a lot of things wrong in the world. You know, it just feels good to be able to go on tour and that people are spending their hard-earned money to buy tickets to see us, to have a good time.
I have no regrets whatsoever. You know, we’ve done some pretty dodgy things in the past careerwise, but I don’t regret any of it because it’s been an amazing learning experience and a lot of great music has come out of it.
You know, that’s what I pretty much think about that.
Q: And you can still play just as fast as you did back when you’re a teenager; that must be nice to know that you can still hit the speed button pretty hard.
A: Yeah.
Q: Is there anything else that you wanted to add about the tour, the album or the fans?
A: You know, I just have to say that I’m really looking forward to playing Oklahoma. Oklahoma’s always been a great place for us, and we’ve had a great show of support every time we’ve come to Tulsa, and to Norman, and to Oklahoma City. It’s always been a really great lot of fun and I’m looking forward to it.
-BAM
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Kirks solos on DM are actually really great, welcome back.