JAMES HETFIELD: 'METALLICA Deserves To Keep Going'

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield recently spoke to Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times about the group's "Some Kind of Monster" documentary and the group's upcoming activities. Several excerpts from the interview follow:

Chicago Sun-Times: You were at a really crossroads in your career before "St. Anger". You could have easily said, "The heck with METALLICA; I'm going to make James Hetfield records now." Why was it so important to you to preserve METALLICA?

James Hetfield: "Moving on with the career is something that can always happen at any time. It can happen tomorrow, it can happen in two years, five years, whatever. Preserving METALLICA was important to me on a couple of fronts. We're still creating great music together, and this was also a pretty big challenge personally for all of us. I think to grow through this process was more beneficial than making 10 more records. But also I think METALLICA is more than just a band — it's kind of a movement, a feeling, a thing. And we were somewhat scared about it going away. I think we can maintain the integrity of METALLICA for as long as we feel we can."

Chicago Sun-Times: Are there still places you feel you can go with the band? If you were making a solo album, and you felt like playing nothing but acoustic guitar, you could. But METALLICA comes with all these things that people expect, and those can trap you.

James Hetfield: "I think one of those things that they do expect is to be open and surprised by things that we do. That's not the main reason we're still doing it, but we've got a newfound freedom in this that we've worked a long time to keep and maintain. In 22 years, we haven't been trapped in a box. We've been through many battles — we've got tons of scars from the Napster thing, from certain bass players, from lots of people hurling comments and shooting bullets at us. We've survived all this stuff because of our honesty, and we're the first ones to admit when we're wrong. This movie really shows that honesty and really lays it all out there.

"METALLICA, I think, deserves to keep going. There are a lot of bands that don't get through that point — you could name hundreds of them — and we didn't want to fall into that category. We're the rebels; we don't want to do it like someone else did it!"

Chicago Sun-Times: My Sun-Times colleague Roger Ebert gave the film a three-star review, but he expressed some concern for one of your bandmates. He wrote: "There are hints in the film that a little rehab would not be amiss with [Lars] Ulrich." Are you worried about your friend and drummer?

James Hetfield: "He's a brother in arms. We've been together for 22-odd years — and it has been odd years [laughs] — and sometimes we feel like we totally know each other, and other times we don't. There's a little bit of pride sometimes when someone makes a mistake and they don't want to admit. You know, for me to come back and really try at getting what I need in life out here, with the so-called structure — for me, freedom through structure is pretty huge. I needed structure in my life.

"Lars is very unstructured, and he still believes that that's just how he is, and it could be true. But there are still things that happen in his life that I see, “Boy, can't you see that's not the healthiest choice?” There's part of me that wants to walk up and tell him, but there's another part of me that says, 'Hey, I'm not God. This isn't my world that I'm controlling. He's got to figure out his own path for himself.' We all do, and I'm still learning about me."

Chicago Sun-Times: METALLICA has a new bass player — Rob Trujillo — and all of these new communications skills. Are you eager to start work on the next album?

James Hetfield: "There's part of me that's eager to get going with the next step, and there's another part of me that really just wants to lie down on the couch for a while. [Laughs] We've been out for at least a year and a half, and 'St. Anger' touring with end in November/December. It would be nice to take some time off and get some really quality time in with the kids and family and friends and explore other hobbies and things. But I'm very confident that the next METALLICA record will be good, and the studio process will be extremely fun and comfortable. Whenever we decide that we've had enough of a break and then can get back on it, I'm very confident that the creative juices are there.

"You know, when I'm in a good mood, I start writing some amazing stuff. So it's gonna help."

Read the entire interview at this location.