METALLICA's LARS ULRICH: 'I'm Not A Particularly Accomplished Drummer'

September 9, 2008

MusicRadar has posted an excerpt from an interview drum magazine Rhythm conducted with METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich.

Rhythm: Did Rick Rubin ["Death Magnetic" producer] push you to play the drums better?

Lars: "He pushed me to listen to the other guys. We have this tendency towards, 'You start with the drums, and then you add this, and this...' like you're building a house, with the drums the foundation and everything else an afterthought. But he didn't want that - he wanted us all to play together and interact with each other. His whole thing was: 'We're not going into the studio until the songs are written. We're not recording until you can play these songs with your fuckin' hands tied behind your backs, upside-down, while you're sleeping…' So the studio is not a place of creativity, it's a place of execution. He made me play better because he made us rehearse more."

Rhythm: You've had a lot of flak over the years from people who accuse you of being a poor drummer. Does that ever trouble you?

Lars: "It used to, back in the day — and I spent a lot of time overcompensating for that on the early records. But then you wake up one day and you're like, whatever. It hasn't bothered me for about 15 years. I'm no Joey Jordison, I'm no Mike Portnoy, and I have nothing but love and respect and admiration for all those guys. When I hear some of the young dudes, they blow my mind with what they can do with their feet and stuff - but it's not something that makes me go, 'I need to feel better about myself so I'm gonna learn how to do what they do with my feet.' I'm not a particularly accomplished drummer but I am very, very, very good at understanding the role of the drums next to James Hetfield's rhythm guitar. I guarantee you I'm the best guy in the world for that, and that's enough for me!"

Get the October 2008 issue of Rhythm magazine, on sale September 30, to read what Ulrich also reveals about his drum set-up, what he thinks of bass players Cliff Burton, Jason Newsted and Rob Trujillo, and much more.

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