Metallica guitarist opened up in a recent interview with the fan club magazine So What!, discussing his passion for playing music and performing, stating:
“I love what I do. I love what I fucking do, okay? There’s been times when the negative aspects have totally taken over me, and I’ve spent a lot of time highlighting those negative aspects, but don’t get me wrong. The positives still outweigh the negatives, and I love what I do. Basically, it’s getting up there, playing guitar for people, and showing them a good time. Because when I’m up there, I’m having a really good time. And ever since I was a kid, I have thought, ‘If I’m up there having a good time and people see me having a good time, they’re going to pick up on that good time and have a good time too. I learned that when I was 17 years old and first started playing shows in Exodus. I believed it then, and I believe it now, and yes, I’m having a great time up there because I’m playing guitar. I’m playing good songs that are fun to play. We write songs that are fun to play because that’s what we want to do. We don’t want to write songs that are a bummer to play. Fuck that! I’d get bored. I’d probably fall asleep or walk off stage or just start soloing in an inappropriate manner — and I’m good at that.
But we have killer songs. I’m playing with killer musicians. They’re my bros. We have an amazing fan base who understands us and then some. I still love it. And I love the fact that we can get into a big room — 50,000 people — and everyone, everyone, when we play a song, is in the same focus and the same awareness and the same presence of mind on the same thing. And we feel connected. To feel connected, all of us — 50,000 people — in a song… That feeling of community? That’s what you’re really feeling when you go to a rock show. It’s elation from celebrating the fact that we’re all together, seeing something that we all love, and experiencing something that we all want to do together.
Huge, huge, powerful stuff, man. And to be in that situation — to be at the forefront of it, guiding it, supplying it, and steering it — is magic, man. It’s pure love. L-O-V-E. People laugh, but I challenge anyone who might think that’s corny: go to the core of it. Go to the core of what is really motivating you to be entertained.”
Hammett also discussed his personal growth in recent years, revealing how he’s improved with expressing himself and opening up on his feelings. He revealed his tendency to withdraw from people and how he recognizes that it is better for him to express his feelings all the time.
He attributes much of his personal growth to being sober for almost nine years and says that he is focused on contributing positively to the well-being of others. Finally, he talks about how he is less chaotic and unpredictable than he used to be, and that he is now grounded and aware, less reactive and more responsive.
Hammett released his first solo EP, Portals, in April 2022. The all-instrumental four-song effort was recorded in Los Angeles, Paris, and Oahu and was produced by Hammett, who drew inspiration for the songs from horror movies, classical music, and the work of Ennio Morricone, whose “The Ecstasy Of Gold” has been opening Metallica live shows since 1983.
This past week, Metallica kicked off its “M72” world tour 2023-2024 with two performances at Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The 32-song, 2 night, greatest hits set-list featured songs off their newest album, “72 Seasons”, as well as their past 11 studio albums.
Metallica are visiting a total of 22 different cities around the world and are playing two nights in each city, promising fans who purchase a two-day ticket that they won’t see the same song twice.
72 Seasons landed in position No. 1 in its first week of release in physical sales. The record had the biggest week for any rock or hard rock album since Tool’s Fear Inoculum in 2019.
