Although it was Lars Ulrich that was interviewing Miley Cyrus for Interview magazine, the Metallica drummer still had plenty to say about the state of both the touring industry and his band. Ulrich spoke candidly about what a post-covid road trek looks like, “Obviously, it’s a whole new world out there. We’ve been talking with our team about covid protocols, and it seems like the safest, most peaceful place you could be these days is onstage. The phone doesn’t ring, nobody can bother you. You’re alone up there. . . You leave all the horse*** behind when you walk out on that stage. It’s the greatest feeling.”
Ulrich touched upon Metallica's early club act recalling, “We began as a cover band. When we first started playing in L.A. back in the early ’80s, we did nothing but obscure covers. We didn’t play Van Halen and Journey and Kiss songs, we played a bunch of cool, underground, British metal songs. Out of that setlist came our own sound. We didn’t have the patience to curate our vibe, we just wanted to get out there and play.”
He went on to say, “Playing other people’s material, and reinterpreting it — with respect, obviously, to the original vision — is so freeing. You don’t have to be so precious about where to put the double chorus, or whether to go to the bridge before or after the solo. All these things that you drive yourself nuts over in your own songs just melt away.”
