Metal gurus

Metallica are running late. While the machine that has built up around them rumbles into action, creating yet another massive production in yet another city, the stars of the show are nowhere to be seen. When they finally do arrive, the reason for their tardiness reveals itself, as a raft of Brown Thomas bags spill out of the limo. Metallica have been shopping.

And why not? If any band has earned the right to enjoy themselves, it’s this one. Having helped change the face of rock music over the past twenty years, Metallica also had to face their own private demons before re-emerging a couple of years back stronger and fitter and with their music sounding as energised as ever. James Hetfield and Kirk Hammet bear out that rejuvenation, projecting an impression of calm amidst the madness that surrounds them.
Tucked away in their practice room, a portacabin full of an amount of gear most bands could only dream of, the pair explain what inspired the band in the first place.
“There was a lot of music out there that made me sick”, says Kirk, his face forming a pained expression. “You also have to remember that it was the time that synth music and new wave was coming out, bands like Duran Duran, a whole wave of crap. There was that whole wave of glam metal; to me we were the antithesis of all that shit.”
For Hetfield, based originally in Los Angeles, the experience was the same.
“The state of music, the type of music fan that was in LA, and not really being heard as young adults; that all inspired us. We wanted attention and the louder and faster we played the more people got pissed off at us but that meant they were paying attention. Pretty much everything that was on the radio was the enemy and we were out to change that”.
From their early days, however, the band found that they weren’t entirely alone in feeling that way.
“We found like-minded people hanging out and getting drunk and just blasting Tank or Motörhead, stuff that we all related to” says James. “There was a big underground scene, tape trading, that sort of thing. We converted quite a few, there’s no doubt, and whenever we played in town they came out of the woodwork”.
“We definitely discovered kindred spirits on the East Coast when we met Anthrax”, says Kirk. “They had a lot of the same attitude that we did. Wherever we went we’d find bands like that”.
What then still fuels the passion when, years later, you find yourself on top of the heap, one of the biggest bands in the world? Kirk pulls his pained face again.
“Just about everytime I turn on MTV and see this pre-fabricated product that they try and pass off as music and artists, when I know that it’s just two songwriters and a producer in a room plus a person who has a few dance moves and looks good. They’re trying to pass that off as a creative entity when it’s glaringly obvious that it’s not.”
Like most bands of their size, Metallica have found themselves at the heart of a merchandising empire, although as James explains they do try and keep it under control.
“Kiss put their name to anything but they were blatant about it and that was fine. Ours is a little more of a lifestyle, integrity-based feeling. It’s things that we’re in to at the moment. I don’t ride a skateboard anymore but at the time we did. Merchandise has always been a passion of mine. Growing up, it was such a thrill to wear the shirt of a band you loved. You’d take it to school, flying their colours, it was a real cool feeling”.
He is quick to recognise that his own fans take that feeling from his music.
“It’s a family, a gang, a clan – whatever you want to call it; like-minded people who really enjoy the same things. That’s human nature, you want to hang around with people you feel good with. It’s not elitist or anything, that’s just the way it is”.
Does Kirk get a similar feeling from the number of younger bands with whom he shares stages?
“I definitely feel that the guys in Slipknot have the same ‘fuck you’ attitude. Some bands take it to different extremes than we do but I still see that core and can still relate to that”.
As he finishes speaking, a huge roar builds in the distance, signalling that the Iowa eight piece are certainly connecting with the Dublin Metallica crowd. And if these bands wanted to knock his own group off its perch?
“Let them try baby, let them try!” grins Kirk. “At the risk of sounding arrogant there are few bands that I’ve felt that would ever give us a run for our money”.