Plenty of us know that Melbourne neo-soul outfit Hiatus Kaiyote are one of the best bands the country’s produced in the last decade, but for a long while they’ve been flying a little under the radar overseas, even after getting a few Grammy nominations up their sleeves.
Some people were listening though – like Drake’s producers, for instance – and getting sampled on the rapper’s ‘Free Smoke’ has helped to bring the crew to a whole new audience they absolutely deserve, together with a range of shoutouts from other U.S. acts over the years.
Even the children of Metallica frontman James Hetfield are fans it seems, and apparently they included Nai Palm & Co. as one of the recent music recommendations for their dad.
“My kids turned me onto a lot of new stuff,” Hetfield says in a new interview. “They’re hellbent on this band called Hiatus Kaiyote from Australia.”
While it’s not in his usual sphere of interest, and maybe he won’t be reaching out for a collab any time soon, he definitely has some high praise, saying that “It’s out there, wacky… I just can’t describe their music, it’s so cool.
“They love that, they love certain singers…” he adds, “but as far as me – I always get vibed-up on ’70s and ’80s metal. I just do. It’s just in my DNA, in my blood – it gets me going.”
Hey, Lady Gaga has done her dash, so maybe next time Metallica share the stage with someone, it should be Hiatus.
Check the footage out below, around the 5 minute mark onwards.
