METALLICA's LARS ULRICH: We Try To Constantly Put Ourselves In Different Situations Creatively

Nikita Ramkissoon of South Africa's Times Live recently conducted an interview with METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On METALLICA's second visit to South Africa — seven years after they played the the Coca-Cola Colab festival in 2006:

Ulrich: "There were people who came from all over… We played a bunch of different songs than we did when we were here seven years ago, which we're always trying to and people said they were very pleased that we said we would come back and we did come back."

On METALLICA keeping things it fresh through fear of repetition and constant curiosity:

Ulrich: "We try to constantly put ourselves in different situations creatively… We're doing a movie and did a record with Lou Reed. We don't necessarily go out and actively try to pursue these things like advertising 'METALLICA looking for odd projects,' you know. People call us up, and we keep ourselves open to new projects… We don't seek them out but they come to us and they look interesting and we jump on them… That keeps it fresh and keeps it alive but the main thing we do is try not to repeat ourselves."

On what keeps METALLICA going more than three decades into the band'c career:

Ulrich: "We now know our boundaries, which we didn't know 20 years ago. It comes with age.

"We're open to the good fortune that's come our way seeing people appreciate our music and the difference our music makes on people's lives.

"The main reason we keep going now is that we don't take ourselves too seriously. We're looser and give off our best but we're not as anal. We no longer point out each other's mistakes and we don't argue, but point out the positives.

"We've had our well-documented meltdown but we aim to rise above that, and we're the best of friends."

On whether METALLICA is working on a new studio album:

Ulrich: "I hope there's another album on the way, but it's taking its own sweet time to make."

Read the entire interview from South Africa's Times Live.