Heavy-metal Metallica: 'We don't cause trouble'

By Johannes Simbolon

JAKARTA (JP): Two members of the heavy-metal group Metallica -- guitarist-vocalist James Hetfield and bassist Jason Newsted -- arrived here last week to promote their new album Load, which is due to be released worldwide next month.

This was their second visit, after a first in 1993. But at a press conference last week for the new album, the press seemed more interested in discussing their April 1993 concert, held at the Lebak Bulus stadium in South Jakarta. The show ended in a riot in which 13 were seriously wounded and another 38 slightly injured.

During the press conference at Planet Hollywood, the Metallica band members flatly refused to comment on that chaotic show.

Later, in an interview with The Jakarta Post and Kompas in his room at the Sahid Jaya hotel, Newsted was initially reluctant to talk about the incident. Yet, after several questions, he was willing to comment on the 1993 riot. His comments indirectly illustrate how Metallica felt about the violent concert in Lebak Bulus.

Excerpts of the interview are presented below, although he first talked about the new album.

Question: Could you tell us something about your new album?

Newsted: We finished Load two weeks ago in New York. We went into the studio in April, 1995. Thirty songs were the (initial) idea of the recording. All of these songs (would) make a double CD package... We got about to November and realized that it just was not really a workable task. There was no way we were going to get the songs done and still be able to get out on a tour in the summer... So...we focused on the 14 songs that became Load. So from about November to about two weeks ago, we finished the record. So it basically took about six months to create the album.

It was a conscious effort to make more of a live-feeling album, not so tight like Metallica (sixth album released in 1991), ...And Justice for All (fifth album released in 1989) and other albums. You know everything had to be so perfect in those albums. This time (for the Load album) we tried to keep it so that it's a little more real, a little more imperfect, more human factors, something you play live, where you make a few wrong notes here and there, a few noises that aren't so great. It came out being a groovier kind of record, like more listenable.

As soon as we're finished with this press tour -- Lars (Ulrich) (drummer) and Kirk (Hemmet) (lead guitarist) are in Europe doing the same thing as we are doing right now and we'll meet up by the end of May -- we'll start doing some rehearsals and some one-off shows and club shows getting ourselves together.

We're gonna try to go back after one year of full touring and finish those other songs and put together another record so you will see two Metallica albums in an 18-month or two-year period.

Is there the opportunity to play again in Indonesia, given that your former concert caused a riot?

I can't say. Ask me something else.

Is there any specific theme in the album?

James has written lyrics in the past that have been very direct. On Master of Puppets (third album, released in 1986) or ...And Justice For All there were songs directly about things, directly about the army, directly about suicide, directly about drug abuse. These have all taken place before on other albums.

This time, on this album, there's more of a introspective kind of things, a lot of things from inside. The lyrics are more vague, not so pinpointing on any certain thing or subject.

The first single is called Until It Sleeps. What is "it" to you? What is "it"? It's the first video and the first video from the album. It's up to anybody to interpret their own way whatever "it" is for them. That's the whole idea behind this record.

You mean there is no theme in each song?

There may be a couple songs that are obviously about something. There is one song -- it's my particular favorite -- called Mama Said. It's obviously about James singing about his mother. She passed away many years ago. It's gonna be something that everybody can relate to in a separate way. Everybody has a mother. I feel the song so ... I've heard the song two thousand times already. But each time it still ... (gasping in amazement) because it sings to me, singing about my mom.

That's obviously about a mother. But 12 of the 14 songs are not direct.

How did you feel seeing your concerts creating riots and injuries, including the one in Indonesia. Do you feel guilty?

I really don't want to talk about this subject so much as far as concerning Indonesia's incident 'cause we had no idea that any of that was taking place.

But riots don't happen only in Indonesia.

No. Just like in any other time, we go to do what we do. We go to play this music just in any other time. It'd be the same if we played in Jakarta, if we played in Moscow, Russia. It's always the same.

We still go to play these certain songs, this certain way. Every time. It's not we go in and say, "Call in trouble". We do the same thing we always do everywhere. We do not change that wherever we go on the whole planet. However (any) organizations (or) whatever handle it, that's their own thing. We are still going as ambassadors of our music. We do what we do.

We don't cause trouble. We're not the kind of band that earn their merits from gimmickry, antics, troublemaking, paparazzi, that s... We earn our merits from touring hard, from working hard,... from always trying to do the right thing. You don't see Metallica in trouble for drugs, in trouble with police. Metallica's worked hard and people are seeing that.

Do you want to say you don't feel guilty and the organizers are to be blamed?

I'm not gonna blame anyone. I have nothing to say about blame. All I have to say is that we do what we do with a clear mind, we do what we do with good intention, we do what we do because we love to play loud and people like our music. We are entertainers. Right? We are not politicians. We play music because that's what we're good at and that's all. We are only there to help people to have a good time, to enjoy life.

Do you mean, that despite the riots you made a lot of good to people?

Absolutely. I tell you what man, there was a lot more people, lot more kids, they come up to us, and say "Thanks for being you. Thanks for writing this certain song because without that I would have killed myself a long time ago. Without you guys, I wouldn't have been there, I wouldn't have been able to get through life". It happened many more times than I can count like this. I can say easily, at least 50 times in the past 10 years, the kids have come to me -- big guys, little guys, girls in all countries and languages -- and looked in the eyes or touched us and said "If it was not for Metallica, I would have died right now. You help me through, you know, you stopped me from committing suicide"

Because of the lyrics?

Because of the lyrics, because of the meaning, they feel part of it. Sometimes they say there's so much good in it, just because the music doesn't sing about flowers or rainbows. Not everybody wants to sing "Listen to the flowers and rainbows". When we get out there and play, even if we play the song hundreds and thousands of time, it is still easy to get excited about playing the song because people are there and they wanna hear and every time they say: "Yes. Thank you for letting us be a part of this magnificent time". And it's always there. Always. There's no city on the planet where we play that is not like that. Ever.