For 42 years, Metallica have known exactly what they want. That’s how they became the biggest metal band in the world. Now they have finally recorded a strong album again. An exclusive conversation with drummer Lars Ulrich about the ebb and flow, about trust, the gray of everyday life and plans for the future – in the 05/23 issue of ROLLING STONE, in stores from April 27th. Read an excerpt from the cover story here.
You had to cancel the last tour because James needed rehab. Aren’t you worried that an endlessly long world tour might not do him any good now?
Oh. Do you know …. (Unusually long break.) If you look at the dates, yes, that’s right, we’ve got the tour scheduled for about two years – but with a lot of breaks in between. A few years ago we band members decided to take the tour plans into our own hands. Before we had concert agencies and managers for that, but we know best what we want to do and when we need a break and time with our families. The schedule now has maximum respect for the band members and their needs. The most important thing is mental health, but also physical – we try very hard. All the feelings, the excitement, the anticipation of getting out there is there – the energy to share the music with the audience. And at the same time the consideration that has to be in balance with the enthusiasm.
This time we’re doing something crazy too: we’re going to play two nights in each city, with completely different setlists. A year ago this looked like a great idea on paper or in the emails – let’s see how we can pull it off! (laughs) All of this is exciting and intimidating at the same time. Sometimes we sit there and think: maybe we’re not quite right in the head? What have we got ourselves into then? We must be crazy. But that has always been the case with us.
This time we have installed all protective measures so that everyone is doing as well as possible. But what happens next is called life. And we respect life and its twists and turns, there is always something unexpected. You can only prepare as best you can. We have a great crew helping us and hopefully in the end everything will be as it should be. And if not, then we’ll think of something.
And what’s next after that?
At our age, it’s better not to plan too far ahead. You have to respect your physicality. It’s inspiring to see that the Rolling Stones are still playing or bands like Deep Purple. That Paul McCartney is 80 and still on the move. But I don’t know how we will feel in 15, 20 years. Can we still play those Metallica songs? With the same power as today? We will see. For myself I can say that I work very hard to stay strong, healthy and in shape. That takes a lot of time and effort. Knock on wood it was worth it!
We’ve been doing this for 42 years now, right? We all like the idea of always moving on. But it’s also about keeping the right balance. To move forward while being respectful of what it takes to be the best. I’m even a bit stronger now than I used to be, a bit lighter too. So I think we still have a long way to go.