James Hetfield – legendary thrash icon, up-and-coming-name in the cigar world, massive car nerd, and apparently big time bird watcher.
According to Hetfield in a recent episode of The Metallica Report, he's got six bird feeders at home and an app to figure out which species he's looking at.
"I love all animals. I love them… especially with salt and cooked medium rare," said Hetfield. "No! I love the beasts of this planet, they're so cool.
"On my time off, I'm obsessed with having a cigar on the porch and I've got probably about six bird feeders. I know all the birds that come out there and I've got my little app that has bird noises and I can see which one they are and I'll pull it up and talk to 'em and all that stuff. I love that stuff, I love it. Until the bears are out of hibernation in Colorado and they've come and destroyed all my bird feeders."
Hetfield later explained his fascination with animals overall, comparing their instinct-driven lives to the general hellscape that is being a human being.
"I do live in a place where there's animals all the time and I get to see 'em. I admire the wolf, I admire the eagle, I admire the buffalo, I admire the elk," he says. "I like to think that humans have been so distracted by the worldly clamour that we've forgotten about survival and all these animals wake up thinking – well, I don't know what they're thinking, but – what I visualise is they have to eat, so that's what they do.
"They go out and search for food and that is their purpose for the day. They don't need to worry about all the other shit. At the end of the day, being grateful for the fact that I had food, that's all I need for today."
If anyone could get me an invite to go have coffee and watch birds at James Hetfield's house, lemme know. That sounds relaxing as fuck.
