James Hetfield was interviewed by Metallica's self-published fanzine, So What?, and there were some interesting revelations during the interview.
One of the biggest things James said he was working on with himself was "to recognize that it’s okay that I’m, say, feeling depressed, and get depressed. You get depressed after tours. Or get anxious before a tour starts," adding "I’m just noticing that a lot more. I’m a little more sensitive than I want to admit, I suppose."
When asked if there was an anxiety about returning to the band space and performing again, Hetfield went through all the precautions that had to happen for the show to take place. He revealed Lars hasn't left his house in months!
Here in Colorado, [having] been here for months and months, you know, in your little cocoon, building your community and buddies and all the stuff that we love doing outside… and you know, there’s been a lot less quarantine here in the mountains than most cities, which I’m really grateful for. And [then] sitting there doing our weekly Zoom call with the band, Lars talking about being in his home in San Francisco and he’s, you know, not leaving. He’s getting things delivered, and how he hasn’t been in a grocery store in four or five months. That just blows my mind. I’m really fortunate here. I’ve got four or five buddies to come over, barbecue, we go shooting, we go camping, we go fishing, whatever. There’s grocery stores, the Home Depot, all the normal stuff. Very grateful for that.
But getting back into work, I’ve been playing, writing kind of nonstop, and trying to slow down and trying to have the other guys present some stuff that they would like to play in Metallica. So getting back together with the guys was anxiety ridden. I mean, it really was. Getting on a plane, traveling. And then what we really had to do was make the least comfortable person comfortable with all of this COVID and testing and whatnot. So double masks, face shields, rain slickers, hazmat suits, you know. Walk into a, whatever the little smoking things that they had, little fogger to fog your backpacks, and there was every precaution taken that was available. Some people just feel a little more freaked out by this, feel safer with a different cautionary level. So I think we did a great job in that department. But getting back and playing was just scary. After almost a year, you get up there and, “Wow, I can’t play as quick as I used to, I can’t this or…” And it’s all the same stuff that’s happened over the years, where we have nightmares before getting back together, and then as soon as we play, everything’s fine. It’s just that messed up creative mind that’s the blessing and curse, you know?
James also realized he's not as much of a lone wolf as he originally thought:
Well, that reminds me of the phrase, “you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone,” you know? Where certainly, “Okay, gosh, I’m tired of touring,” and now I really want to get out and do some shows. Not tour like we were, crazily, but seeing familiar faces, the family, the rehearsal, the creative process, HQ itself, just everyone that works there. God, I just missed it so much. And yeah, it’s my choice to live away from it, but with the whole distancing and all of that… gosh. You know, I always really prided myself on – or had a romantic notion of – the lone wolf; that’s how I am, and that’s how I want to be. But I miss people. And as much as I say I don’t, I do.
The last part of the interview was an interesting peak into the future for the band. Looks like James is doing a lot of writing:
We are brothers on this journey in life, and Metallica definitely happens because of us getting together, you know? We’re gonna continue to stay connected and write music. For me there’s been two sides of the coin in the band. There’s been, “you’re on the road” or “you’re writing.” And so [right now] we can’t be on the road, I guess we’re writing. It’s the easy choice of the fork in the road, so that’s what we’re doing. I’m writing, they’re writing. At some point we’ll get together. I know Greg has definitely fiddled around – heh heh – with the Zoom connecting. We did this song for the upcoming Disney movie over Zoom, and it was very cool. So again, like Napster or whatever else it is, the internet, people start freaking out about it. You know, COVID, no live shows. Okay. You adapt and it’s important to be of service with our music, so let’s do what we can out there, and we’re adapting.
Previously in the interview, James joked "as far as lyrics go for the next, who knows, man. I definitely need to write something a lot more happy and positive, so hopefully that will happen."
Read the whole interview here. (free registration required)
