Metallica have been everywhere of late, slugging through a disastrous performance at the Grammys with Lady Gaga, indulging in some carpool karaoke with James Cordon, and even kicking some poor super-fan’s arse in a quiz on Jimmy Kimmel about… what else, but Metallica.
They’ve also been doing a mess of interviews, including this recent one with Thrasher, where James Hetfield was asked whether putting their catalogue on streaming services was essentially surrendering to piracy.
Hetfield stressed the band are a fan of technology, and have been embracing it since it became apparent that’s where the future of the industry was.
“Our battle with people giving our stuff away was a moral battle”, he explains. “Not a technology battle or a convenience battle. We felt like our vault got opened up, you know? It was like in The Little Rascals where he goes in and grabs all of that old guy’s money and he starts throwing it out the window. It’s not about money but it is somewhat about money.
“I don’t do this for a hobby. I love doing it but this is how I survive. If it was a hobby I’d look at it different maybe. I don’t want the guy working on the brakes of my car telling me that’s his hobby. I want it to be done right from a professional. The paramedic that shows up at my house, like, ‘Hey, this is my side job. I do this for fun!’ Like, ‘Uh, no.’ We do this because we love it and it sustains us and our families.
“You know, technology is awesome. We love what’s happening. We’ve been embracing it since we knew how things were going to be. It’s out of our control so let’s take advantage of it and let’s make it unique and that’s what we’ve done with everything. We want to be different; that’s all.”
