Lars Ulrich on politics: Im stunned about how truth & facts have become obsolete
Hands down, one of the best rock-documentaries that you will ever see is Some Kind of Monster, about Metallica’s multi-year process of recording their album St. Anger. I wasn’t even a Metallica fan when I started watching it, but I came out of it with so much respect for all of the bandmates, especially Lars Ulrich. The dudes fight about everything, but they care about each other and they’re committed to the band, which is why they hired an on-call therapist to help them work through their issues. It’s a fascinating look at a successful band and how stress fractures form and can be healed. Since I became a Lars Ulrich fan when I saw that doc, I decided to read his interview with New York Magazine, which he did because Metallica has a new album out right now called Hardwired… to Self-Destruct. The whole piece is worth a read – go here. Some background info: Lars is Danish, but he mostly lives and works in America. He’s a major art collector and he’s a prescient businessman. Some highlights:
Whether he considers Metallica to be a political band: “If you break down what Metallica does in its simplest form, it’s write — or at least try to write — f–king great rock songs. Once you go beyond that and into more specific social or political relevance, I get uncomfortable. We’ve never been a preachy band, and we try hard to not do any interpretation for people before the music comes out. When you listen to our music, it should fit your needs, not our needs.
What he thinks of Paul Ryan being a fan of Metallica: “I lived through Some Kind of Monster so I’m pretty good at compartmentalizing. And I’ve had to sit there and answer questions like, ‘How do you feel about the U.S. military using your songs to torture prisoners?’ I mean, as much as that makes me squirm, when you hand those recording master tapes to the FedEx guy and then the music goes out into the world, you’ve gotta let it go. Whether people like it or hate it, you just find a way to deal with it. So if Paul Ryan likes Metallica, hallelujah, it’s fine with me.”
Whether he talks to politically-conservative bandmate James Hetfield about politics: “I swear to you, I talk to James Hetfield about most things on this planet, but I don’t think I’ve ever willfully had a political conversation with him. We’ve spent 35 years together, and obviously we’ve been in the same room when the conversation went toward politics, but James and I sitting down in a room and discussing our particular views on something like affordable health care? Never happened.
His view of the world: “I grew up in a functioning social democracy. I grew up on affordable health care in a country where the word ‘we’ is more popular than the word ‘I.’ So trust me I have my opinions about this stuff, but I don’t really need to shout it from the rooftops. Maybe one day I will, and there are times when it’s difficult not to. I’m stunned about how truth and facts have become obsolete, and how if someone sees something they don’t like, they just say ‘the media made that up.’ But I get plenty of shouting done about this stuff in my personal life.
Whether Metallic’s tour will get political: “Sometimes the music connects in certain ways with people because of how the planets align or whatever, and sometimes it doesn’t. Art serves whatever function people need it to serve. So when we go out to tour the United States — which we’ll start doing in May of next year — for us it’s just a matter of leaving it all out there on the stage. We’re not here to heal you. It’d be self-important for me to say that. I think it’s pompous when bands go that route.”
What he things of those rock stars who do criticize politicians: “If Bruce Springsteen felt that, then he should say it. I totally support his doing that. The thing is, I’m not an American citizen. I pay taxes here, but I can’t vote. So I have this strange thing about commenting on this country’s politics. I have nothing but love and respect for Bruce Springsteen — I just finished reading his book a few weeks ago. But it’s not for me to say he should or shouldn’t do what he wants to do… If you’re Sting or Neil Young or Bruce Springsteen, you’re speaking for yourself.”
How he was proven right about file-sharing music: “No, I don’t walk around feeling good about it. It was never about money for us anyway. People were saying back in 2000, “Oh, Lars is being greedy.” That was totally wrong. It was about control. If an artist wants to give their music away, it should be their choice. That’s what I was arguing, and Metallica took a hit, because it got spun as us being against the fans. That was a hard summer, and it’s passed. I don’t take any glory in being “right” about anything.
Half of the interview was political talk, and Lars managed to strike an interesting “I really only talk about politics in my personal life” tone and stick with it. What I’m getting from this is that he’s a socially, economically and politically liberal guy but he doesn’t feel like it’s his place as a rock star and a Dane to comment on the nitty-gritty of American politics. Is that admirable? I don’t know. While I prefer the Michael Shannon method of Celebrities Discussing Politics, I think Lars probably knows well enough that his fanbase is probably half-Trump supporters too, if not more.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
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