JAMES HETFIELD's Son CASTOR Doesn't Believe Rock Is Dead, Says Live Rock Shows Are Still 'A Real Thing'

In a recent interview with the "Mike Nelson Show", the members of BASTARDANE, the new band featuring drummer Castor Hetfield, son of METALLICA frontman James Hetfield, were asked for their take on Gene Simmons's 2014 assessment that "rock is dead." Guitarist Ethan Sirotzki said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "He's lying. It's bullshit. I think it will come back but be much different. I don't think a revival is going to be, 'Oh, the '80s and '90s are happening again.' I think people will draw from that and create something new that will be really big and exciting."

Added Castor: "I think there's a lot of people that all the shows that they've seen live is just some guy with a microphone in front of a computer. I mean, I'm not gonna hate on the music but the live aspect of it — what are you gonna watch?

"There's quite a few people who, I feel like, have come to one of our shows and been, 'Wow. This is the first real instrument show I've seen and it's more of a spectacle,'" the 22-year-old drummer continued. "And I think people are realizing that it's a real thing and I feel like there's a lot of appreciation towards it, especially now that there's a lot of those computer music guys out there. I just think it's cooler to watch live — more going on — and it just feels more intense. You can mess up — playing guitar, you can mess up. The computer is not gonna mess up."

BASTARDANE recently released its debut album, "Is This Rage?"

In addition to Castor and Ethan, the Savannah-based hard rock trio includes Jake Dallas on vocals/bass. The group formed in 2019 from a collection of college students who met through jamming in basements, backyards, and anywhere that was available. Their brand of entertainment fuses fast high-gain riffs and power chord grooves with heavy feedback and clean, dissonant chord progressions.

"We grew up in different places and we all grew up listening to different kinds of music, so we have our own voices, which is cool and they come together in an interesting way," Castor told Savannah Morning News. "We've even been trying to pin it down, name the genre of our music and it's hard to do. I don't think it's necessary, but for publicity stuff, people want to know what genre this is, but we don't know."

Castor, who lists bands like CORROSION OF CONFORMITY, OPETH and TOOL as major influences, added that he isn't overly concerned about having his father's name brought up in every article about BASTARDANE.

"All of us are our father's sons, mine just happens to be very successful in the industry that we're in," Castor said. "It's not bothersome, but it is a little annoying when people try to compare us, because obviously we're our own people and he's his own person. We're making our own kind of music. Online, when you search our band, my dad's face is all over the Internet and it's a little strange for me. We are our own people and want to cut our own path. We're not trying to ride off of anybody else's success here."

James Hetfield isn't the only member of METALLICA whose offspring has followed in his footsteps. Two of drummer Lars Ulrich's sons play together in TAIPEI HOUSTON, while bassist Robert Trujillo's son Tye plays bass for OTTTO.

Last December, BASTARDANE, TAIPEI HOUSTON and OTTTO performed as part of METALLICA's "San Francisco Takeover", a four-day citywide celebration of the band's 40th anniversary that also included a film festival, photo exhibit and curated lineup of smaller venue shows featuring other acts.

BASTARDANE recently teamed up with OTTTO for a co-headlining West Coast U.S. tour.

Castor's mother is James's wife Francesca, whom he married in 1997. She is from Argentina and used to do wardrobe for METALLICA.

James and Francesca have two other kids: Cali, born in 1998; and Marcella, born in 2002.