"I dunno why but murder's seemed pretty attractive to me lately.  I've been listening to a lot of Nick Cave and he deals with that.  I dunno, maybe the angle of the ultimate thrill.  One of the lines I've written is 'just let me kill you for a while'  It's kinda 'I'm bored what can I do?   Murder, let's see what that feels like"  James Hetfield talking to Steffan Charazi  So What!  1997

There's another song that deals with carpe diem 'sieze the day' which is saying, what's wrong with this day to do whatever it is you need to do?  Do yourself in or whatever it may be?    James Hetfield talking to Steffan Charazi   So What!  1997

James "I won't tell you what I do.  I'm just fuckin' here to have fun...yellin' for 2˝ hours"   So What!  1997

"Feeling no one felt like I did.  Not just one thing turned me onto music.  Relating to lyrics and writing my own helped others understand me as well as understanding myself"          James - most difficult part about being a teenager, and what made him trun to music.    So What!   6.2

"If you came here to see spandex and fuckin' eye make-up and all that shit and the words rock n roll baby in every fuckin' song, this aint the band!"   Jaymz Monsters Of Rock Festival 1984  Donnington, England

James  "Put it on cassette.  (I don't transcribe or read sheet music)"   So What!   1994

"I've had alot of people ask me why I cuss alot on stage 'fuck' is such a great word and 'motherfucker' is even better.  Especially delivered at high volume, so communicating up there is a lil different.  You cannot pretend yo're the same guy up there that you are off-stage.  Something happens to you up there, and if it doesn't then you're a boring fuck"              James Hetfield   So What!  1996

'Hero of the Day'  "the song to me says how children are leaving, or looking outside, home to find hereos when their parents are right there (sometimes)   James Hetfield   So What!   1997

'Master of Puppets'  "not only drugs, but being manipulated by things sometimes out of your control.  So work on what you can control"   -James Hetfield

'My Eyes'  or  'Mine Eyes'  was the original title for which song on ReLoad?   It isn't full metal, but using real sparse instruments and maybe letting the vocals go a bit without having to fill every fucking hole...initially ballady-metal       -James Hetfield  So What!   1997

Which all male rock band would you say is the sexiest?
Jason:  Gwar and The Geto Boys
Kirk:    Bachman Turner Overdrive
Lars:    Queen

"I like the Explorer shape but some things I didn't like.   ESP can custom make them with different woods, fret boards, inlays, etc, the way I want them."  ESP Explorer with deer bones on it , own design.   -James Hetfield

"Tony Iommi is the fucking guy - he's the best at what he does no doubt"  -James Hetfield

"I don't have the desire to be the Sting, the guy on his own.  I enjoy being inspired by the other guys.  I enjoy the camaraderie.  I think when I'm onstage, I am the wolf.  I am running around doing the stuff, and you know, they're following me through the woods, wherever we're going but they're following me."    Lone Wolf - James Hetfield

"Before music I was an Artist.  My Mom painted, She was an Artist.  Did plays as well.  After Her first divorce, She went into a local theatre and sang.  She was a painter, She was an interior designer, an Artist designing logos and things ... and I got the bug I guess.  I came up with the Metallica logo, the ninja star, I just think if I wasn't doing music I'd probably have done that."   James Hetfield

Is there a secret side to James Hetfield that sings country songs in the shower?    "I know 'em, but I don't know, I'm not the guy that sits down and just sings other peoples songs.  I like singing my songs, I don't want to be Johnny Cash.  I admire him so much, and Waylon and Willie, all those cats.  Just the characters.  Always wanted to be in a band, grew up listening to bands.  Posters on bedroom wall would've been - Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Ted Nugent."   James Hetfield

"After rehab ... I think I was kind of the spearhead in the band, somewhat cleaning it up for family, in a way.  It was me.  The booze went away, the whatever, the porn magazines, the stuff that's not great for my kid, so why would it be great for me?  y'know... "   James Hetfield

"We wanted a name that sounded really good, that was vague and had lots of different meanings."   Lars on 'Load' live chat April 8, 1996

On cutting their hair - "I can actually understand that some people question it, but I can tell you from the bottom of my heart that there are no reasons, other than the four of us, at various points in the last year, getting bored with having long hair and decided to do something about it."   Lars online live chat April 8, 1996

James Hetfield - First 'major rock star' that you ever met?  "Lars"   So What! 4.2

"I would sit in my room and listen to shit and learn it (shit), I would learn All the fuckin' words, learn how to play it on guitar ... expecially the Aerosmith stuff, 'cause they never put any of the lyrics in there.  It'd be like, 'What the fucks' he sayin' there?!'  Then I found that you'd go buy the music books and they'd be in there"  -James Hetfield So What! 4.2 

Lars what were you like as a fan?   "For some reason, I was the one who always went to the hotel after the show and waited for the band to come back and get autographs and a pic.  I don't know what it was that attracted me to that side of it.  It's one of those things you could sit down with a psychiatrist for hours and talk about.  As you know, whenever I vibe on something, I FULL-ON obsess about it, still to this day.  For me, when I relate to something, I relate to it in every way I can.  I guess maybe there was a physical attraction.  And that's no different now with say, Alice In Chains or with Oasis or with somebody I really respect or admire or whatever.  But I have to get in there and find out what the fuck it's about I have to go and look these people in the eye, to have just one second of eye contact ... and that goes back to when I was like 12 or 13yrs old.  I mean, I've never known anything different.  People can talk about selling 40 million records, talk about success, they can talk about all that shit 'til the cows come home, but I know in my heart that side of me hasn't changed"   So What! 4.2

"We've never been about creating some fantasy world with our records; we're just documenting where we're at at the time.  There's always going to be youth on the planet.  And every time I look out in the crowd and see some kids battling it out in the middle of the most pit, I'm like, Yeah, I was there, man" - James Hetfield Encyclopaedia Metallica

James - 'Fade to Black' it's a suicide song, and we got alot of flack for that, (as if) kids were killing themselves because of the song.  But we also got hundreds and hundreds of letters from kids telling us how they related to the song and that it made them feel better"

Kirk Hammett - "Things changed after Cliff's death, even our sound changed.  On Justice we fell prey to that whole virtuosic, late-Eighties thing that was happening.  All of a sudden, everyone wanted to be progressive and show off their abilities.  Somehow, just playing fast and heavy took a back seat to that.  There was alot of anguish after Cliff died, and basically Jason was the punching bag.  We vented so much on him, and it really wasn't fair."

Kirk Hammett - "alot of people give me shit about how I hide behind the wah-pedal, but something about it brings out alot of aggression.  It just tailors the sound to match the mood and emotion I'm trying to convey.  Much of my playing is rhymthmic and choppy; I use a lot of double stops.  The wah just accents all those stops and chops and brings out the rhythmic aspect that much more.  Been experimenting with slide guitar."

Kirk Hammett - "there are 2 types of metal guitarists, your basic Eddie Van Halen clone and your stylized heavy metal player.  I didn't want to become a Van Halen clone, I'm more interested in guitarists that know how to tell a story with their guitar."

Lars Ulrich - " Metallica was never just a thrash band anyway.  I accept that we had alot to do with the way that whole scene took off.  We were the first band, to sound like that.  But we never thought of ourselves as a 'thrash band'.  We were always an American band with British and European metal influences"  Guitar World 2006

Lars Ulrich - "until Master of Puppets, nobody took us seriously.  We wanted to make an album that left all that scene behind (thrash) something we took our time on and gave our best shot.  Not something with a label."

Kirk Hammett - " people who listen to the radio probably aren't our type of crowd."

Kirk Hammett - "the little guitar passage at the end of the verse (Disposable Heroes) was my attempt at a military march.  I watched alot of war movies, trying to find something that was like a call to arms - like something the bagpipes would play as they were going into battle - that's what I came up with"

Kirk Hammett - "he was (Cliff) the mature one out of all of us.  He had a quiet strength, was very, very confident, so much wiser and much more responsible than the rest of us.  He was the guy who would reprimand us and say, "what the hell were you thinking?" or "that was really a stupid thing to do!"  Burton had alot of integrity.  I don't know if he knew somehow that his time was limited but he really lived it like it was his last day, because he just wouldn't settle for anything other than what he believed in."

James Hetfield - "Some people thought that Bob Rock would make us sound too commercial.  You know: "Oh, Bob works with Bon Jovi, Bob works with Motley Crue."  But if Flemming Rasmussen (former Metallica producer) worked on a Bon Jovi record, would Bon Jovi all of a sudden sound like Metallica?  We chose Bob because we we're really impressed with his crisp, full-sounding production on the Cults' Electric Album and on Motley Crues' Dr. Feelgood.  People will be saying Bob made Metallica sound like Bon Jovi.  They don't realise that no one screws with us, except us.  Bob fit right into the program and the direction we were going"

James Hetfield - "A lot of the album revolves around the near-death experience we had - you know, the near-death of Metallica." 

James Hetfield  on sobriety - "Its madremre stronger, I think in that I don't have to rely on an outside source or something - I can go into the cave.  It helps when I'm at home or I'm somewhere where no one's around.  I used to create the cave by drinking, and I don't need to do that.  But there are certainly plenty of times where I think it would be so much easier if I was just not me; or if I drank and became some other thing, I'd be freer.  Then I think it through, and I realise I don't want to be something else or someone else; I want to be me.  Or at least the 'me' I think I know.  Why pretend otherwise when I'm trying to connect with people?  Its not cool connecting with someone because they think you are less creative; I'm more creative.  It's greater; it's not so great.  But more and more, I'm trusting the ability to be creative without cloudiness."

Jason Newsted - 'Metallica, studio albums are marathon labors in obsession and perfection, completeted in what Hammett characterised to me in 1996 as 'Metallitime'  We're the master procrastinators.  We tend to sweat and toil on the beginning of a record, and a lot of that has to do with establishing a stride that works for us.  Sometimes establishing that momentum is very difficult."

James Hetfield - "The idea for 'Seek' came from a Diamond Head song called 'Dead Reckoning'  I used to work in a Sticker Factory in L.A. and I wrote that riff in my truck outside work.  This was our first experience in a real studio.  I used a white flying V, which was the only guitar I had back then.  I still have the guitar in storage."

Kirk Hammett on 'Fade' - "I was still using the black flying V, I used the neck on my guitar to get that warm sound.  In Denmark at the time for 5-6 months, getting really homesick, thoughts of very depressing things while doing the solo, it really helped."

Kirk Hammett on Master of Puppets - "the concept behind the whole album was one of manipulation in all its various forms."

'Disposable Heroes' - "rocked like a bitch" Lars Ulrich,  "

Hammett:  "On TBA we wanted to create a different record and offer something new to our audience.  I hate it when bands stop taking chances".

James Hetfield "I can't play leads, my strength is in writing riffs, I just have a better feel for rhythm"

Kirk on MOP Orion - "Damn that sounds like Thin Lizzy"   Cliff - "That's where I get all my shit from, man"  (you can just imagine the grin on his face as he said this)     "If you listen to Orion the melodic part at the end with those guitar harmonies - he wrote that entire bit"   - Kirk on Cliff

Lars Ulrich - "If you look back on the albums, next to the song titles the times are always listed,"  recalls Lars with a rueful smile.  "I used to be really proud of it.  In the past, we'd do a rough version of a song and I'd go home and time it and go, 'it's only seven and a half minutes!  I'd think, 'fuck' we've got to put another couple of riffs in there.  Now I'm not bothered either way"  1995

Lars Ulrich - "We got more publicity from not doing a video than doing a video.  We just said, well, the formula for the record company stuff is here's the band, here's the look, here's the safe radio song and here's the video.  We just thought, 'fuck that'.  It took us a long time to realise that you can use a video as more than just the obligatory promotion tool.  You can use the medium and make it as much fun and creative as it is to make a record.  So on the next album (AJFA) we sat down and made a video that was as creative and fun as when we made a record.  And not just have some kind of... running down a corridor with the wind in your hair bullshit.  But at the time of MOP, we just couldn't see the point.  We'd rather spend the money we would have spent on a video keeping the band on the raod and working that way"

Lars Ulrich on Leper Messiah - "What those so-called Christian fundamentalists represent, to us, is a very real evil.  Trying to put fear into the population.  Fear of being in any way different from the norm - which is probably the healthiest thing in the world to be.  And what these TV preachers are about is even more bizarre.  They don't just wanna fuck you up, they want you to give them all your money for doing it too!  That's what I call truly disgusting.  And Leper Messiah is just an attack on that whole weird scene..."

Lars Ulrich on Blackened - "Lyrically, this one's about old Mother Earth and how she's not doing too well nowadays...how the whole environment that we're living in is slowly deteriorating into a shit-hole.  It was meant to be a huge environmental statement, it's just a harsh look at what's goin on around us."

Lars Ulrich on TBA - "We'd built a little 8-track studio in my house and made some rough demos; just me on drums and James, not really everybody, just really rough.  After hearing a demo of 'Sad But True' Bob was like, "Wow, this could be the 'Kashmir' of the Nineties"

Lars Ulrich on Enter Sandman - "That song had been on the fucking titles list for about 6 years.  The way it works, James and I sit with a big list of song titles and throw them at each other.  We might pick one that will work with a specific guitar part.  Others that don't catch straight away we just leave on there.  I'd always looked at 'Enter Sandman' and thought, 'what the fuck does that mean?'  Me being brought up in Denmark and not knowing about a lot of this shit, I didn't get it.  Then James clued me in.  The Sandman is like this children's villain - the sandman who comes and rubs sand in your eyes if you don't go to sleep at night.  So it's fable and then metallica turn it into a...      so 6 years ago I looked at 'Enter Sandman' and thought, 'naw, lets write 'metal militia' ... metal all the way, you know?"  he squinted his eyes, then chuckled self-consciously.

Lars Ulrich on Sad But True - "It's about how different personalities in your mind make you do different things"  Lars told Wall in 1991, "And how some of those things clash and how they fight to have control over you.  From the mind of James Hetfield, you know what I mean?"  he grinned evilly

Lars Ulrich on Don't Tread on Me - "And the truth is, how James Hetfield talked about it when he wrote the songs anyway, was that, if you're an American, there really is no place like home.  You know, no matter how fucked up or corrupt our administration may be, or how many dirty deeds go on that we know nothing about, America, for us, is still the most pleasant, comfortable and exciting place in the world!  It really is!  So I guess after putting the place down so much (previous albums) James just figured he'd write something from the opposite point of view.  Like, no place is all bad like no place is all good.  James just thinks America has more of the good in it than any place else right now.  So there"

 

I like a woman who's got some balls, some strength. As long as I can beat her at arm wrestling, that's fine.

I remember back when I stood in line for 3 hours waiting for autographs, and when the star just hopped into his limo, and took off, I'd think 'You dick, I hate you.' I'd go home, rip down all his posters..."

I was fortunate enough to have musical instruments in the house. I had two older half-brothers who played in bands, so there was a drum [set] there, as well as a guitar. There was actually a piano sitting there, so I had my choice of whatever I wanted. So I did band around on all of them and to this day, I can play a little bit of each one of them. I became a musician because of posters I had up in my room. I wanted to be on a poster. That was it. And also I didn't want to get stuck in a regular job.   I thought music -- you won't get stuck in one spot. I could go anywhere with music, and there was more of a creative outlet.

When you're in school there are so many things that are forced upon you that don't seem so natural to you. There are certain times that you need to learn changes and certain times that you're not ready for them. But I thank music from day one -- you move to music, you move to sound. Music has helped me a lot in my life when there weren't that many friends around. I put on songs that make me feel good or feel a part of something, and being able to play instruments, you can express your feelings that way. So it's really been a big therapy for myself.   I think it's extremely important for children to have at least within a grasp some sort of instrument.

(On people showing up at his place)
I just walk out with the gun and say 'Hey!'. Oh yeah, I'm a meanie. I send my dogs after 'em... No, actually, I just tell 'em, 'This is my house and...leave me alone, okay'.

(his view on life)
Call it anarchy or whatever you want to--there's times when you wanna be able to do whatever the fuck you want and, y'know, life's always short, so why shouldn't you.   We can do whatever the fuck we want, really. We've got carte blanche. I mean, when we did 'Fade to Black', that was our first ballad and it really blew a few minds out there. People wrote us off then; 'Fuck them! It's over.

It's no longer speed metal.' Okay, fine. You can feel that way. But fuck you, too.

"If you came here to see guys in spandex and makeup, and hear 'oh baby' in every song, you're in the wrong place!"

"Dancin along, singin along, fuckin along, doin a somethin the fuck along"

(S&M DVD Bonus) "I think the first violinist stole my sandwich."

In reference to NEM
"It's scary to look out and see couples hugging during that song. Oh fuck, I thought this was a Metallica show.

3 reasons why James said that his Black Sabbath record was important:
"First it scared the shit out of me. Second, it crushed the fuck out of all the peace'n'love'n everything's groovy bullshit that was still hanging around in the early seventies. And third, my friends' moms wouldn't let them own it!"

"I'd like to have a beer-holder on my guitar like they have on boats."

"Music is my therapy"  Hall of Fame Induction 4/4/09

 

James Hetfield talking to U.K.s version of Classic Rock Magazine in July 2009

Classic Rock: Were you uncomfortable with the band's new image for "Load"?

Hetfield: Most definitely. Lars and Kirk drove on those records. The whole "We need to reinvent ourselves" topic was up. Image is not an evil thing for me, but if the image is not you, then it doesn't make much sense. I think they were really after a U2 kind of vibe, Bono doing his alter ego.  I couldn't get into it. The whole, "Okay, now in this photoshoot we're going to be '70s glam rockers." Like, what? I would say half — at least half — the pictures that were to be in the booklet, I yanked out. The whole cover thing, it went against what I was feeling.

Classic Rock: What didn't you like about the cover?

Hetfield: [Laughs] How can I put this? I guess when I talked [earlier in the interview] about the resentments of being left out of the bond that they had through their drug use — Lars and Kirk were very into abstract art, pretending they were gay. I think they knew it bugged me. It was a statement around all that. I love art, but not for the sake of shocking others. I think the cover of "Load" was just a piss-take around all that. I just went along with the make-up and all of this crazy, stupid shit that they felt they needed to do.

Classic Rock: A lot was made of the haircuts at the time. Was that a group decision?

Hetfield: [Laughs] It wasn't like we went in together and went, "Hey, can we get a deal on four haircuts?" It just slowly happened, with age, thinning hair. Long hair just didn't feel right anymore.

Classic Rock: Musically, was that the first time METALLICA was unsure?

Hetfield: I would say so. That whole period. Why do we need to reinvent ourselves? A lot of the fans got turned off quite a bit by the music, but mostly, I think, by the image.

Classic Rock: Were you uneasy about Kirk and Lars kissing in the photographs?

Hetfield: Totally. That's why they did it. I'm the driving force behind their homosexual adventures. I think drugs had something to do with it too. I hope. [Laughs] There are many times in our career that people have jumped ship, and that's going to happen. It's more hurtful to hear, "Okay, people are stomping METALLICA records because they're suing Napster."

(find the whole interview in Classic Rock Magazine)