James Hetfield (Metallica) Breaks Down What He Appreciates Most About His Bandmates

When you’ve been in a band for quite some time, you’ve gone through a lot of both high and low points together. And those, especially the rough patches tend to bring you closer together as they bring out the truly valuable character traits in people. Metallica can tell you their fair share about that.

In a recent interview with Calgary Herald, frontman James Hetfield has shared what he has come to appreciate and admire the most about his bandmates over the years.

Starting off with Robert Trujillo, Hetfield explains that even though the current bassist has been in the band for some time now, he will probably always be considered ‘the new guy’.

He adds: “Hopefully there’s not another new guy. He’s extremely dedicated. He’s always practicing. He challenges us: ‘How ’bout we try this?’ A dedicated musician.”

When it comes to Lars Ulrich, drummer and fellow founding member, or in Hetfield’s words ‘the biggest Metallica fan there is’, he shares the following:

“He does not take no for an answer. That’s good and bad when you’re a partner in a business. (Laughs.) […] He’s really good at the big picture, where I can get stuck in details. He’s very into what a fan would love – he’s the biggest Metallica fan there is.”

And lastly, regarding guitarist Kirk Hammett, Hetfield states:

“He’s got an innocence about him. He’s not really concerned about life, he flows through it really well and good things happen to him. He doesn’t feel the need to control things.”

In the interview, James Hetfield also spoke about the success of their latest album “Hardwired…to Self-Destruct”, the band’s live set and a bunch of other topics, so if you’re interested in that, you can check out the piece in its entirety here.