Side projects have long been taboo in the world ofMetallica.
BassistJason Newstedwas famously ousted from the Bay Area hard rock band after he became involved in the power-pop trio Echobrain, less than a decade after appearing on Metallica’s career-defining 1991 self-titled fifth album, known as “The Black Album,” which sold 30 million copies worldwide.
Over its four-decade run, members of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame group have avoided performing individually with other musicians or allowing any extracurricular activities to disturb their united front except on extremelyrare occasions. So it’s little wonder that longtime guitaristKirk Hammettwas reluctant to tell his Metallica bandmates about working on his debut solo recording, “Portals,” which comes out on April 23.
“Hell yeah, I was really nervous about it,” he admitted to The Chronicle. “Those are my bros. When I got the idea, I didn’t know how to let the band know, considering the history of that kind of stuff with the band. Surprisingly, everyone got behind it.”
Not only did they support the idea, but the other band members— singer James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, along with bassist Robert Trujillo —even suggested that Hammett release the four-song instrumental EP on Metallica’s Blackened Recordings.
“They were like, ‘Let’s put it out as soon as we can,’ ” Hammett, a San Francisco native, recalled. “I didn’t expect it to be that easy.”
Recordedin multiple locations, including Los Angeles; Paris; and Oahu, Hawaii, the collection is described by the 59-year-old musician as “soundtracks to the movies in your mind.”It was self-produced by Hammett, who was recently praised as “the central driving force of Bay Area thrash music” byAdam Dubin, director of a documentary on the influential scene, “Murder in the Front Row.”
The EP also features contributions from drummers Jon Theodore and Abraham Laboriel, bass player Greg Fidelman, arranger Blake Neely, and Metallica producer Bob Rock. Other collaborations withEdwin Outwater, who conducted theSan Francisco Symphonyduring its collaboration withMetallicaor the “S&M2” concerts, are also in the mix.
Not only is Hammett slated to appear with Metallica when the group headlines theBottleRock Napa Festivalover Memorial Day weekend this year, but he also plans to perform anafter-hoursset with another side project featuring Trujillo called the Wedding Band.
He spoke to The Chronicle about that and more from his home in Hawaii.
Q: How did you deal with the pandemic after having spent the past 40 years pretty much working nonstop?
A:Well, I mean this with honesty and sincerity, but I’ve been social distancing for like the last 20 years. I’m totally introverted and shy. So when COVID came around, I was happy to wear the mask. The remarkable thing was that it was the first time in ages I was stuck in the same spot for more than two or three weeks. I took advantage of that.
Q: How did you spend your time?
A:Working on music, reassessing life and everything else.
Those two years were really something. I’m more than glad to feel like we’re finally on the other side of that, but I used my time pretty well. I was able to write and record music. It also gave me time to spend with guitars in my collection that I wouldn’t normally play. At one point, my living room looked like Guitar Center — there were guitars and amps everywhere. It was ridiculous.
Q: You started working on “Portals” before the lockdown. The song “Maiden and the Monster”was writtento accompany your “It’s Alive” horror film memorabilia exhibition in 2017, right?
A:I wanted to come up with some background music and I was knee-deep in the arrangement and looking at all these possibilities and saying to myself, “Oh my God, I’ve gone so much deeper into this arrangement. I’ve passed the point. This is more than just background music.”
When that was finished, I set it aside and said I was going to try again. I failed in the exact same way.
Q: How did Edwin Outwater get involved?
A:In 2019 when we did “S&M2,” I met Edwin Outwater and we just hit it off immediately. He loved the idea of doing something together, and I had this piece of music I had rewritten seven times. I was driving myself crazy. I just thought to myself, I’m going to play it for Edwin and see what he thinks. That became “The Encantation.”
Once we finished with that, I had this other flamenco guitar-based piece of music. He loved it. That became “High Plains Drifter.” Then Bob Rock flew into Honolulu to mix it. Because left to my own devices, I would still be working on it now.
Q: Did you always know this was going to be a solo project?
A:I didn’t sit down and say, “This is what I’m going to do. I’m going to put out a solo EP.” I’m not that friggin’ smart. This all kind of happened.
Q: Were you surprised the other members of Metallica were OK with you releasing it, considering the history of the band?
A:We’ve all grown since then. Our priorities are different now. That was a great thing for me, knowing the other guys are going to be fine about it. I didn’t want to put out what they might consider a piece-of-s— product. It matters to me there’s a certain level of quality that’s on par with Metallica.
For me, this has as much to do with Metallica as it does with me. It’s all coming from the same source. Rob, James and Lars’ influence is all over this album. You can really say, “How much of this really is a solo album? How much of it isn’t when you really get down to it?”
I’m getting too philosophical about it. (laughs) When I really think about it, it really involves those guys as much as it doesn’t. Their essence and energy are throughout that album, even though I know how to lead music far, far away from Metallica’s sound. That’s somewhat intentional.
Q: For BottleRock, you’re also playing in the Wedding Band with Rob. What can you tell me about that project?
A:I grew up on 20th and South Van Ness in the Mission. The radio was constantly on KFRC, which played music from the late ’60s, and early ’70s. All this soul, all this R&B — I just loved all of it.
后来,当我搬到东海湾,我进入hard rock. But that wasn’t until I was 14 or 15 years old. Growing up, I had folk albums and psychedelic records. The Wedding Band is a tribute to all that music.
Funny enough, Rob was exposed to the same music under the same circumstances. All this R&B, soul and funk. It’s our tribute to that era. We like to interpret these classic songs, and pretty much have our way with them.
For the rock stuff, we play the s— out of it. We’re never faithful to the originals. We play a bunch of funk stuff. We’re capable of playing anything. It’s just an avenue for Rob and me have to a whole lot of fun.
Q: You get to actually smile on stage?
A:这是非常鼓舞人心。我看到结婚戒指作为other avenue of expression that’s different from Metallica. We can do whatever we want! We can bring a horn section in. We can bring a keyboard player in. It’s great. It’s a fun way to pay tribute to the music we grew up with.
Who knows what can grow out of the Wedding Band? As life goes on, Metallica tours less and less. That’s just the way it is. And it creates stuff like this. Sometimes they complement each other, like playing the after-dark show at BottleRock. It’s going to be super fun.
Every Wedding Band show is different. We have played everything from “Monster Mash” to “Addicted to Love.” I love the rule of having no rules.
Q: It feels like all this other stuff has helped make Metallica fun after a period when it felt like it wasn’t.
A:Ireally feel like I can say that we paid our dues in that respect. We’re still paying our dues in certain ways here and there, and this is what it’s led to: being able to have a more forgiving schedule nowadays. I think we deserve that as a band. It opens up a bunch more time to do other cool creative things.
“Portals”will be available digitally and on CD, with an “ocean blue”-hued vinyl available exclusively for Record Store Day on April 23.
Metallica at BottleRock Napa Valley:7:45 p.m. May 27. The festival runs11:30 p.m.-10 p.m. through May 29. $179-$4,995. Napa Valley Expo, 575 Third St., Napa.www.bottlerocknapavalley.com