What is your personal favorite Metallica song?
Whichever one I'm playing at the moment.
What was in the bag in the film Metallica trough the never?
Whatever you want it to be. I never got a chance to look in there myself.
Will you guys release a new album? What do you think of Death Magnetic?
We will definitely release a new album. We'll start working on it as soon as I'm done with this AMA! Death Magnetic is the album of ours that has latest the longest for me in a positive way.
Hey Lars, been a die-hard fan for almost 14 years now, and it's awesome that you're doing this!
I have a lot of questions, as I'm posting on behalf of the Metallica forums as well as myself.
Hope you have time to answer them (if nothing else, please answer the first!), and thanks in advance.
1) Rumor has it your vault has all kinds of collectible goodies, rarities, etc stored in it, haha. How much truth is there to all this? Are there soundboard recordings or proshots of any pre-LiveMet shows that haven't been released?
Can you give any information on stuff like the Presidio sessions, Dead Kennedy Rolls, or other such unreleased material? Perhaps songs like those on Beyond Magnetic, that didn't happen to make it into the albums?
As a collector (especially of live bootlegs), I think it'd be really awesome if we could get soundboards or proshots/DVDs of certain shows, in the future. I'm a huge fan of The Garage Remains The Same Tour, personally, and would really love some high quality recordings of those shows.
2) Do you/the band ever watch or listen to old performances, from the '80s or '90s? Is your reaction usually closer to 'Wow, that kicked ass', or 'I'm glad we don't play like that anymore'?
3) Can you tell us about the new album, from a writing perspective? Where are you and the band drawing influence from the most, and what is the writing process like? Do you have a set sound or feel that you're building towards, or are you just jamming and seeing where it takes you?
4) After 30 years, how is writing with the band different from the old days? Also, do you still feel the same fire or buzz when playing live?
5) There's a lot of Load, REload, and St. Anger material that's been untouched by the band (at least before recent shows) and in interviews. Do you and the guys think there are any songs from those eras that didn't get enough love or appreciation?
6) About Through The Never, what happened to the supposed Goblin-esq soundtrack? Will there ever be a release of a full-on concert only version, or the animated version?
And a couple personal questions from me...
7) Will Blackened Recordings eventually begin taking other bands under its wing, and doing the kind of things a traditional label would? Would you guys consider taking fresh or up-and-coming bands on tour?
8) What's your favorite drum kit over the years? (Also, will you be switching drum kits again any time soon?)
Thanks again, man!
1) Yes, there's tons of stuff in the vault that hasn't been released, including soundboard tapes, full videos, lots of goodies to come your way, hopefully sooner rather than later.
Hey Lars, been a die-hard fan for almost 14 years now, and it's awesome that you're doing this!
I have a lot of questions, as I'm posting on behalf of the Metallica forums as well as myself.
Hope you have time to answer them (if nothing else, please answer the first!), and thanks in advance.
1) Rumor has it your vault has all kinds of collectible goodies, rarities, etc stored in it, haha. How much truth is there to all this? Are there soundboard recordings or proshots of any pre-LiveMet shows that haven't been released?
Can you give any information on stuff like the Presidio sessions, Dead Kennedy Rolls, or other such unreleased material? Perhaps songs like those on Beyond Magnetic, that didn't happen to make it into the albums?
As a collector (especially of live bootlegs), I think it'd be really awesome if we could get soundboards or proshots/DVDs of certain shows, in the future. I'm a huge fan of The Garage Remains The Same Tour, personally, and would really love some high quality recordings of those shows.
2) Do you/the band ever watch or listen to old performances, from the '80s or '90s? Is your reaction usually closer to 'Wow, that kicked ass', or 'I'm glad we don't play like that anymore'?
3) Can you tell us about the new album, from a writing perspective? Where are you and the band drawing influence from the most, and what is the writing process like? Do you have a set sound or feel that you're building towards, or are you just jamming and seeing where it takes you?
4) After 30 years, how is writing with the band different from the old days? Also, do you still feel the same fire or buzz when playing live?
5) There's a lot of Load, REload, and St. Anger material that's been untouched by the band (at least before recent shows) and in interviews. Do you and the guys think there are any songs from those eras that didn't get enough love or appreciation?
6) About Through The Never, what happened to the supposed Goblin-esq soundtrack? Will there ever be a release of a full-on concert only version, or the animated version?
And a couple personal questions from me...
7) Will Blackened Recordings eventually begin taking other bands under its wing, and doing the kind of things a traditional label would? Would you guys consider taking fresh or up-and-coming bands on tour?
8) What's your favorite drum kit over the years? (Also, will you be switching drum kits again any time soon?)
Thanks again, man!
2) Are those the only 2 choices? It's usually somewhere in between. I quite appreciate the youthful innocent energy, but I appreciate how we feel more in control of what we're doing now.
Hey Lars, been a die-hard fan for almost 14 years now, and it's awesome that you're doing this!
I have a lot of questions, as I'm posting on behalf of the Metallica forums as well as myself.
Hope you have time to answer them (if nothing else, please answer the first!), and thanks in advance.
1) Rumor has it your vault has all kinds of collectible goodies, rarities, etc stored in it, haha. How much truth is there to all this? Are there soundboard recordings or proshots of any pre-LiveMet shows that haven't been released?
Can you give any information on stuff like the Presidio sessions, Dead Kennedy Rolls, or other such unreleased material? Perhaps songs like those on Beyond Magnetic, that didn't happen to make it into the albums?
As a collector (especially of live bootlegs), I think it'd be really awesome if we could get soundboards or proshots/DVDs of certain shows, in the future. I'm a huge fan of The Garage Remains The Same Tour, personally, and would really love some high quality recordings of those shows.
2) Do you/the band ever watch or listen to old performances, from the '80s or '90s? Is your reaction usually closer to 'Wow, that kicked ass', or 'I'm glad we don't play like that anymore'?
3) Can you tell us about the new album, from a writing perspective? Where are you and the band drawing influence from the most, and what is the writing process like? Do you have a set sound or feel that you're building towards, or are you just jamming and seeing where it takes you?
4) After 30 years, how is writing with the band different from the old days? Also, do you still feel the same fire or buzz when playing live?
5) There's a lot of Load, REload, and St. Anger material that's been untouched by the band (at least before recent shows) and in interviews. Do you and the guys think there are any songs from those eras that didn't get enough love or appreciation?
6) About Through The Never, what happened to the supposed Goblin-esq soundtrack? Will there ever be a release of a full-on concert only version, or the animated version?
And a couple personal questions from me...
7) Will Blackened Recordings eventually begin taking other bands under its wing, and doing the kind of things a traditional label would? Would you guys consider taking fresh or up-and-coming bands on tour?
8) What's your favorite drum kit over the years? (Also, will you be switching drum kits again any time soon?)
Thanks again, man!
3) Mostly jamming and seeing where it takes us. Like I've said, Death Magnetic is our obvious point of reference. Going good for good riffs, good energy, interesting progressions, with a melodic sensibility.
Hey Lars, been a die-hard fan for almost 14 years now, and it's awesome that you're doing this!
I have a lot of questions, as I'm posting on behalf of the Metallica forums as well as myself.
Hope you have time to answer them (if nothing else, please answer the first!), and thanks in advance.
1) Rumor has it your vault has all kinds of collectible goodies, rarities, etc stored in it, haha. How much truth is there to all this? Are there soundboard recordings or proshots of any pre-LiveMet shows that haven't been released?
Can you give any information on stuff like the Presidio sessions, Dead Kennedy Rolls, or other such unreleased material? Perhaps songs like those on Beyond Magnetic, that didn't happen to make it into the albums?
As a collector (especially of live bootlegs), I think it'd be really awesome if we could get soundboards or proshots/DVDs of certain shows, in the future. I'm a huge fan of The Garage Remains The Same Tour, personally, and would really love some high quality recordings of those shows.
2) Do you/the band ever watch or listen to old performances, from the '80s or '90s? Is your reaction usually closer to 'Wow, that kicked ass', or 'I'm glad we don't play like that anymore'?
3) Can you tell us about the new album, from a writing perspective? Where are you and the band drawing influence from the most, and what is the writing process like? Do you have a set sound or feel that you're building towards, or are you just jamming and seeing where it takes you?
4) After 30 years, how is writing with the band different from the old days? Also, do you still feel the same fire or buzz when playing live?
5) There's a lot of Load, REload, and St. Anger material that's been untouched by the band (at least before recent shows) and in interviews. Do you and the guys think there are any songs from those eras that didn't get enough love or appreciation?
6) About Through The Never, what happened to the supposed Goblin-esq soundtrack? Will there ever be a release of a full-on concert only version, or the animated version?
And a couple personal questions from me...
7) Will Blackened Recordings eventually begin taking other bands under its wing, and doing the kind of things a traditional label would? Would you guys consider taking fresh or up-and-coming bands on tour?
8) What's your favorite drum kit over the years? (Also, will you be switching drum kits again any time soon?)
Thanks again, man!
5) I think reinterpretation is a very interesting element of your back catalogue. I don't think that you need to be tied to one particular version of a song. I've always thought it could be interesting to reinterpret St. Anger in a contemporary live situation. Also we started playing "Carpe Diem Baby" live last year, which was fun, so lots of unplayed material from that era. There are lots of those songs that could work again in live settings. It doesn't necessary need to be stadiums, it could be smaller shows or settings.
Why the hell didn't you guys play Trapped Under Ice during your Antarctica show?
We forgot! We talked about it the week before but in all the momentary excitement, we literally forgot.
Lars, have you ever downloaded illegally a song from the internet ?
Yes. When Death Magnetic leaked 10 days early, one of the HQ guys was over at my house, drinking wine, and we played around with bit torrent and downloaded our own songs, which we figured we were somewhat entitled to do. The scariest part was how easy it was.
What's your favorite Megadeth song?
"My Last Words"
Hej Lars! Big fan here, can’t fucking wait to see you guys again in Finland and Sweden this may. The Big 4 show in Gothenburg was insane. I don’t have overly complicated questions, just a few simple ones!
I’m just curious where you can see Metallica go next. After Through the Never, playing Antarctica and rocking the Grammys with Lang Lang, other than recording the new album (which I can’t fucking wait for!), what can you see being next in store for Metallica?
I was also wondering about the Metallicabyrequest.com initiative, I loved to vote so I’d like to know if you could only choose one song from the setlist to play, what would it be? I think I’d choose Fixxxer.
And finally, now that you have the rights to your own music, are you considering remastering some of the earlier albums? Thanks!
PS
I made this graphic for tumblr (a blogging platform) when you turned 50 chronicling a great 2013 for you and Metallica, and they all loved it on there, so happy late birthday! http://imgur.com/iVVE2ar
Yes, we are considering remastering some of the early records.
Hej Lars! Big fan here, can’t fucking wait to see you guys again in Finland and Sweden this may. The Big 4 show in Gothenburg was insane. I don’t have overly complicated questions, just a few simple ones!
I’m just curious where you can see Metallica go next. After Through the Never, playing Antarctica and rocking the Grammys with Lang Lang, other than recording the new album (which I can’t fucking wait for!), what can you see being next in store for Metallica?
I was also wondering about the Metallicabyrequest.com initiative, I loved to vote so I’d like to know if you could only choose one song from the setlist to play, what would it be? I think I’d choose Fixxxer.
And finally, now that you have the rights to your own music, are you considering remastering some of the earlier albums? Thanks!
PS
I made this graphic for tumblr (a blogging platform) when you turned 50 chronicling a great 2013 for you and Metallica, and they all loved it on there, so happy late birthday! http://imgur.com/iVVE2ar
If I could only choose one song, I'd probably choose "Frayed Ends".
Hello Lars, thanks for the AMA!
Do the members of Metallica check forums/social media/the internet themselves? For example, the Metallica twitter account, is it maintained by a member or by someone else?
It's maintained by the guy who's about 12 inches from me right now. I'm less and less interested in checking stuff out, it's too time-consuming.
What is the most metal thing you've ever done?
Pick my nose.
Hey Lars, After all these years, how do you feel about Dave Mustaine? ?
It hasn't changed. I respect him as a musician and I will always love him as a brother and as a part of Metallica.
Hey Lars! I’m HUGE FAN of Metallica. I’ve been trying for over almost 20 years to meet Metallica just to say THANK YOU for your incredible music. It has inspired my love for heavy metal music and to play guitar. My questions for you are: What do you think of the state of heavy metal today? Do you think we will ever see another HUGE metal act the likes of Metallica/Maiden/Priest and such? Do you think metal will ever make a resurgence to the glory days of the 80’s? Thanks for doing this AMA.
That's a great question. I think it would be so awesome if there was a band that come along and shook it all up again. I just don't know who. I think the coolest band for me in the last couple years is Baroness. I also love Norwegian band Kvelertak. But I just don't know if any of these bands can take it to those heights unfortunately.
Favorite beer?
Tuborg or Carlsberg
What is it like to still be performing after all these years?
It's great to still be performing after all these years. We work hard to stay in good shape. As long as we're healthy, it's very invigorating.
Hello Lars, I have a few questions if that’s ok..
Will we ever see a NA tour with the TTN stage? I want to see that beast live.
Have you guys started on the new album yet? If so, how is it coming along?
Last year you did a Metallica night at the SF Giants game. Any chance of Metallica ever doing this at a Sharks game? The Sharks skate out on to the ice to Seek and Destroy, only thing more awesome then that would be to have you guys there playing it.
You have made 10 studio albums, a concert with a symphony, you did the Big 4 shows, a documentary and a 3D movie, what is the next big thing?
“Am I the only one here that thinks Metallica should come back to Fresno a little more often than every 4 fucking years?” It’s been just over 5 years since then Lars, still waiting…
Not a question but just wanted to tell you thank you. I have seen you in Fresno 03 and 08, opening for the Rolling Stones in 05, the Bridge School Benefit show in 07, the Marin show in 09, the Shark Tank in 09 and the Big 4 show in Indio. Everyone one of them has been fucking awesome
Hello Lars, I have a few questions if that’s ok..
Will we ever see a NA tour with the TTN stage? I want to see that beast live.
Have you guys started on the new album yet? If so, how is it coming along?
Last year you did a Metallica night at the SF Giants game. Any chance of Metallica ever doing this at a Sharks game? The Sharks skate out on to the ice to Seek and Destroy, only thing more awesome then that would be to have you guys there playing it.
You have made 10 studio albums, a concert with a symphony, you did the Big 4 shows, a documentary and a 3D movie, what is the next big thing?
“Am I the only one here that thinks Metallica should come back to Fresno a little more often than every 4 fucking years?” It’s been just over 5 years since then Lars, still waiting…
Not a question but just wanted to tell you thank you. I have seen you in Fresno 03 and 08, opening for the Rolling Stones in 05, the Bridge School Benefit show in 07, the Marin show in 09, the Shark Tank in 09 and the Big 4 show in Indio. Everyone one of them has been fucking awesome
Hello Lars, I have a few questions if that’s ok..
Will we ever see a NA tour with the TTN stage? I want to see that beast live.
Have you guys started on the new album yet? If so, how is it coming along?
Last year you did a Metallica night at the SF Giants game. Any chance of Metallica ever doing this at a Sharks game? The Sharks skate out on to the ice to Seek and Destroy, only thing more awesome then that would be to have you guys there playing it.
You have made 10 studio albums, a concert with a symphony, you did the Big 4 shows, a documentary and a 3D movie, what is the next big thing?
“Am I the only one here that thinks Metallica should come back to Fresno a little more often than every 4 fucking years?” It’s been just over 5 years since then Lars, still waiting…
Not a question but just wanted to tell you thank you. I have seen you in Fresno 03 and 08, opening for the Rolling Stones in 05, the Bridge School Benefit show in 07, the Marin show in 09, the Shark Tank in 09 and the Big 4 show in Indio. Everyone one of them has been fucking awesome
When fans criticise Metallica in all their myriad ways, do you go "ooop, maybe they've got a point", or, "ehhh they didn't get in, soldier on"?
It depends what the criticism is. There are such a wide range of criticisms thrown at you nowadays because the internet gives everyone an opinion, for better or worse. And some people just spew crap for whatever reason, which I don't pay very much attention to. I'm also pretty thick-skinned by nature and actually have the ability to find it all a bit silly and laugh at most of it. But if someone's got a fair critique, I'll certainly pay attention.
Hi Lars !
As a french fan of Metallica, I wonder why you don't come to France for the By Request Tour ? We fucking love you so much here guyz !
Thanks man ! YOU ROCKS !
Good question. I don't book the tours. But it may have something to do with the fact that we rocked Stade de France pretty next level in 2012. Most of the shows we play in our "non record touring" years, like this year, are by invite. So we generally show up where we are offered a gig.
Do you still have that fur coat you wore in the Load booklet?
I don't believe that was mine to begin with! But I have a picture of me wearing it…. oh, so do you!
who pushed the hair to the back of your head?
My mom and dad and my DNA.
Hey Lars, I have a question for you. Is there an artist or genre of music that you absolutely cannot stand?
Yes. Bad music. I generally just have 2 genres - good and less good (bad).
Did you ever talk to AC/DC during the '91 Monsters of Rock headline at Donington? If so, what was Brian and Angus like?
Yes I did. They're super nice. Very chill. Easy going. Quiet. Low key. Over the course of the tour, I would get invited back to the dressing room after the show to have tea with Angus. It was very cool.
What up man!
You tell me!
Why did you guys cut your hair back in 1996? I felt not only your image changed but so did your music. Was this the point or part of marketing?
It had nothing to do with marketing whatsoever. It was 5 years between the Black Album and Load and in that timespan the members of Metallica at various points decided individually to trim their hair length. It stunned us to the point of disbelief that people actually gave a shit about our hair when the record came out. But it was nothing to do with image or marketing or any of that nonsense.
Lars you said lets not wait another 29 to metallica come back!! When metallica come back to Guatemala???? Please i cant and guatemala cant wait!!!
Invite us! Tell your local promoter to call our booking agent. Like I said before, we actually have a high percentage of showing up at the places where people invite us to. It's not as difficult as you think.
if there could've been a 4th single from Death Magnetic, what would it be?
What were the first 3 again?
What were the first 3 again?
I think I stopped paying attention to the word, "singles" a while ago.
Created an account just for this. Do you plan on doing a tour in the US?
We always plan on touring the US, especially around our new record release.
Hi Lars, the Metallica By Request results looks pretty... don't get me wrong, boring. Most of the voted setlists looks the same and contain songs you usually play anyway. There's loads of great rare songs that were left out. Are you going to change the setlists a bit, for more fun and excitement or play the songs that were chosen by fans only?
Obviously, we are going to play what the fans are choosing. That was the whole point of the exercise. Rare songs were not left out at our end. We are as motivated to play them as some of you are to hear them. But in this case, if you, the fans vote for certain songs that we "usually play anyway" then so be it.
friends still mention the NAPSTER thing when I talk about Metallica.
Any regrets there or do you feel it has had any long-term positive or negative effects on sales/the band/digital music?
"No way he's touching this question"...oooh here we go... A couple thoughts: I wish we had been better prepared for the shit storm that we found ourselves in. I don't regret taking on Napster, but I do find it odd how big of a part of our legacy it has become to so many people, because to me it's more like a footnote. I was also stunned that people thought it was about money. People used the word, "greed" all the time, which was so bizarre. The whole thing was about one thing and one thing only - control. Not about the internet, not about money, not about file sharing, not about giving shit away for free or not, but about whose choice it was. If I wanna give my shit away for free, I'll give it away for free. That choice was taken away from me.
FUCK IT ALL AND NO REGRETS I HIT THE LIGHTS ON THESE DARK SETS.
I couldn't have said it better myself.
Huge fan from India here.
Saved up a lot of money, travelled a 1000 miles sitting on the floor of an overcrowded train to reach Delhi (Gurgaon). Stood in the heat from the morning, trying to get a good spot for the concert.
And then you cancelled it. It was a nightmare. A horrible nightmare. WHY, LARS! Why did you cancel that show?
Can you tell us a bit of what happened backstage that day?
P.S. Just for context, this was Metallica's first ever concert in India ever. Which didn't happen.
We were as bummed as you were, if not more. We came from even further away to play for you! But we have never and will never compromise anybody's safety for the sake of a rock n roll show. After the press conference at the hotel we were told there were security issues at the venue. We continued to monitor the situation and were subsequently told the security and the safety of the venue, specifically the barricades, were not safe for the thousands of fans and the workers, and that if we proceeded with a show, there was a high probability that somebody would become injured or worse. That's a risk that we are never prepared to take. It devastated us. We will do our best to come back - you know that!
Do you think Hetfield could kill a bear with his bare hands?
I think he already has.
Lars, what was the significance of the stuffed animal you used to have on your kit in the early days? Reference pic http://imgur.com/Kt3DcZ9
Flemming, my drum roadie, put it there one day. And it stayed on there til one day he took it off.