Metallica - Cliff Burton and James Hetfield final uncut interview - 1986

Call my hairdresser, we're rolling

[Giggles]

it's an emergency.

The uh Master of Puppets LP

it's number 30 on the billboard,

how did that kind of success

make you guys feel?

Styling

Surprised

apparently [giggles]

yeah real surprised.

Shout the questions out, maybe

[Giggles]

HOW DOES IT FEEL

sorry about that

it's alright

[Laughing] I forgot about that

you wanna answer that again?

the proper way?

[Laughing]

yeah

being in the top 30 is pretty surprising.

it's great though

good place to be

is that how you guys met your success?

album sales?

uhhh

if not, how so?

crowd reactions

yeah

well you can measure it

in quite a few different ways

how many people show up

at your show,

that's how we

pretty much

rate it.

talk to a lot of hardcore metal fans

and they say

quote

"metalica has sold out"

what's your response

to something like that?

don't think you can do it

on a tv

[laughs]

yeah it's uh

we're not too worried

about them

we do what we wanna do

ya-know?

they consider that selling out

then uh

whatever

alot of people think you sold out

just cause you're on a major label

and are very popular

or maybe you don't play

a thousand miles an hour

the whole time, or ya-know?

we'd be doing the same thing

if we were still on,

ya-know

independent label.

we had a call from lars

that said metalica is gonna be big

but we're gonna do it our way

can you uh-

explain that?

well it's good that ya-know we have

you know we're up on

around thirty in the charts

no

hardly any radio play on the

ya know, major stations

ya know a lot of college stations

are helping out

but you know

no video no

you know

mass ya-know media

and still

there's a huge buzz going on

and I think its

because of our music

that's whats great

we're doing it our way

and

lotta the major magazines are pickin it up

and you know

not

putting a bunch of hype

and ya-know we're doing it our way

it's great.

does that still mean no videos?

that's a matter of time

pretty much

just a matter of time

not a huge demand right now

[sniffs]

what's it like being on tour

with ozzie?

doin good

it's a lot of fun

things are going really well

fifty five minutes

you know

all our stage set up

pretty cool

we're treated well

do you guys hang out

with the guys from their band?

now and then

you know

its the night off

ya-know we'll go out to the

local bar whatever

but

depends who's where

you know?

you just kinda run into people

here and there

more or less

How would you- what do you think of ozzie and Metallica

as a touring package

good

real good

both doing real well

um

think kinda complement each other

its a good deal

how've the fans reacted to you guys?

great

they've been with us

yeah

a lot better than

you know

other support acts would have

i think [giggles]

alot of the smaller places

in the middle of the country

are you know

still not too familiar

with our stuff

and

you know

we have time for an encore

we go off stage for a bit

and you won't hear a huge

yeah come on come on!

and you won't hear no

booo

you just kinda hear

[muffled whispers]

you know

"whats that"

"did you like it?"

"I don't know, did you?" "what was that?"

they don't know what to think

in those places

in the bigger cities

do you think a lot of kids

are coming out to see you?

like to think so

it looks that way. that's what we hear,

[whistling]

describe your relationship

you guys have with the fans

same people, same as our fans

we're not up there doing something

they couldn't really do

just a little harder to get to them now

with the big arenas and the big security

and stuff

it's not quite as intimate as it has been

in the past

but

that's to be expected

the small places are real fun

the atmosphere you know

it's more intense

just cramned in

concentrated

no barriers

you know

you can see pretty much everyone

you know

crowds fighting

these bigger places

you know

you got your barriers

and it's hard to see past

say tenth row

hard to get a good vibe off the crowd

why do you think it's important

to be close to your fans?

the energy flow

you know it

we get the energy directly from them

the farther away you are

the harder that is to-uh

communicate

why would you wanna separate

yourself from it?

tell us how long the tour

is going to be going for

well we're with ozzie in the states till

late may

he does two weeks in japan

could do some headline stuff

around texas

and then hook up with him again

when he comes back

go on till I think august

and then

europe after that

couple months

then japan

the end of the year

could be till next year

yeah we're pretty much

on the road

what's after that?

come back and do

some headline stuff

in the stage probably

which will be fun

playing twenty thousand seat arenas

exposes you guys, like you said

to a lot of kids who haven't seen

Metallica before

and don't know what Metallica's about

do you think that's more

important at this stage of your career

then say,

headlining places

like a little more?

yeah [in unison]

definitely

why so?

we're playing alot of places

that we wouldn't usually play

If we're headlining

cause of, you know

tour budget

in front of a lot of kids

that wouldn't come to see us

if we were headlining

maybe

just cause you know

ozzie

it's a chance to make more fans

you know

people that just

wouldn't see it

reach out and grab some more

what do your parents think about all this?

they're into it

yeah

your parents real into it

so is curg's

lars's as well

my dad, you know, whatever [laughs]

you think they look at you

a little differently

when they see the albums go high

in the charts?

well it

it makes them

they're proud

and they're happy

that there's some success

going on you know

its a bit of a relief for them

you know they'd be pretty worried

about it

years ago

do they come out and see your shows?

if it's appropriate

you know

if the venues right

you know

we don't bring 'em to any

small riots that we had

when we were first going up

[laughs]

we've been known to play a few of those

and mom up front [imitates fighting]

eyyyy

[laughs]

why do the kids spend ten bucks

to see Metallica riding in

in a metal band?

uh

well hopefully because he likes it

he wants to see us [laughs]

well because

you know

we

have something different to offer

something more than

you know

basic thrash

just a hundred percent

all the time

got some varied stuff

like to think its interesting to see

too

what is that something different?

[giggles and laughs]

uh

some lyrics i think?

lyrics that say something more

than hey baby lets party

you know

bang our head against eachother

and all that

some music gets uh

pretty intricate now and then

watch a lot of the

you know

thrash and bands

are pretty straight forward

in their approach

you know

what are your thoughts on

looks bands

people like ratt, crue, kiss

people who rely on

the effects and costumes?

so what

works for them

we wouldn't do it

we'd be pretty ugly in it [laughs]

we look ugly enough as it is

we don't need any help

leave well enough alone

so tell us your theory on that

just sticking with the jeans and sneakers

well it's what we're comfortable in

its what we wear

when we're

just hanging out doing nothin

and

you know

why should we change

we're on stage

we're not trying to

be something big

and fancy

you know

its just us

doing what we do

let's keep it that way.

bring the music more

across instead of

the look

not trying to hide anything

that also ties in to what you said

about just being like

the kids who come to see you

yeah

lotta times we'll get hasseled

like

where's you pass?

they think it's some

punner trying to get back

[laughter]

its cool

i like hiding the pass

so they hassle you

[laughter]

why don't you think about more

I hate to use the term

thrash bands, but

hardcore speed metal

bands

or bands who have their roots

in that?

why have you been signed and not them?

hmm- uhm

I dunno

I think we're pretty lucky

yea

cause kill 'em all

really

like hit the underground

really hard

and then a lot of bands

started catching on after that

I think we had a head start
on a lot of them

when we saw

the new wave of british metal

that was coming out

we knew it was gonna hit

like- ya know

couple years before

it was gonna hit the states fairly soon

so

we like doing it

we were doing it down in LA

and alot of people

didn't know what the hell was going on

they didn't see any

hair dos or makeup or anything

just going up there bashing it

do you think speed metal's

developed into

just like

another trendy musical genre now?

could be

in terms of like

you know

satanic images

or you have to have that

and you have to have

studs and leather

theres always trendy stuff

thats coming up

but I think we're

gonna be hanging out for quite a while

just, you know

sabbath

a lot of bands caught for a while

and then kinda

dwindled away

what are your influences

what did you guys like

grow up listening to?

old sabbath

rush

Aerosmith

thin lizzy

(Burp)

a lot of thin lizzy

great band

(laughs)

Cliff I read that you're into blues

uhhh

i"m into a lot of different kinds of music

that's uhh

[unintelligible noise]

not real (laughs)

he's into yellow, blue, red

not real accurate ya-know

i'm into a lot of different stuff

classical music

punk

uhh, beer

some popular music

it's a bunch of things I like

listen to different stuff for different

moods, ya-know

yeah, exactly

who are the new artists or records

that you guys are getting excited about?

whiskerdoo

like the new stuff

bankle english dogs

some of the minor, underground bands

that are not so popular

band call sawwin

uh, the old misfit stuff too

is real good

mm, a lot of the old stuff

we grew up on, we still listen to a lot

not listening to ya-know

some of the basic metal that's coming

out, kind of shy away from that

what do you think is in the future for

heavy metal?

it's gonna be hangin out for a while

it always has been

hangin out.

one last question,

this is a toughy,

is it true Cliff Bernstien is the

secret fifth member of the band?

(Laughs)

See him out at the

at the sound desk

you would think so

he gets into it

he does

do ever bring out to had to bring him

out to

play some air guitar with you?

(laughs)

that'd be cool

if he wants

(laughs)

alright, thanks a lot.