METALLICA: 'So What!' Fan Club Magazine Editor Speaks Out

Overkill.pl recently conducted an interview with Steffan Chirazi, a full-time METALLICA chronicler and editor of "So What!" magazine, a quarterly that is mailed to the 22,000 members of the METALLICA fan club. Chirazi also edited METALLICA's "So What! The Good, The Mad, and The Ugly" book, a collection of original interviews, handwritten notes from the band, intimate journal entries and more than 1,000 exclusive photos. A couple of excerpts from Overkill.pl's question-and-answer session with Chirazi follow:

Overkill.pl: Who are the guys from METALLICA for you? Gods? Friends? Employers? All of the above? Has it always been so? If not, what has changed in your relations during all those years?

Steffan Chirazi: "First and foremost, they are people with whom I've had a relationship since I was a teenager (we're talking over 21 years) so we have a long, almost familial, history with each other. To break it down, I feel that we're all friends, but I've had a particularly stong and trusting friendship with Lars and James over the years. One of the best things has been the fact that since I was invited by them to become the So What! editor in 1999, our relationships really haven't changed. Often work can affect such things, but there's always been an ability to keep work matters and friendship stuff separate. I would also add that obviously the daily nature of friendships shift and change due to our respective families, lives and so on, but the bottom line is that I would always be right there for them as human beings if they needed me, and I feel the same very much back from them. Thus I'd have to conclude by saying it's always been an incredibly consistent friendship and working relationship."

Overkill.pl: What was your aim in writing this book? How, according to you, could a fan benefit from it, taking into account that lot of publications (maybe not authorized, however carefully covering the subject) about METALLICA have beed issued so far. How the book was meant to surprise us? Did it make your dreams come true and fulfill your expectations? Is it (the book) was in your mind?

Steffan Chirazi: "The primary aim in putting the book together was to give true fans a deep, inside look at the band via a selection of the best moments (in my opinion) from their magazine So What! being the band's own magazine, it seemed like the logical place to draw material from. We did not want to to do a biography right now, thus I really wanted this to be a very meaty and satisfying 'coffee table' book, the METALLICA version of the excellent book on THE BEATLES titled 'Anthology'. I also really wanted a book where fans had to keep on coming back to it over a long period of time to enjoy it, where there was a lot to find, and I think we achieved that. So far as fans benefiting, no other book out there has as many handwritten notes, personal photos or exclusive photography. I am very, very proud indeed of the book, and is it the book I had in mind? Y'know, I have a theory that you should never, ever be 100% satisfied with what you've done, but I would say that it is 98% satisfaction and every time I look back over it, I like it a helluva lot."

Read the entire interview at Overkill.pl.