Heavy Consequence caught up with METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich and bassist Robert Trujillo on the red carpet of the premiere of the new documentary, “Metallica Saved My Life”, on June 11 at New York City’s Tribeca Festival at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center. During the chat, which can be seen below, the two talked about the why it was important to put the spotlight on their fans in film, which was directed by acclaimed filmmaker Jonas Åkerlund.
Asked why it was important to put the spotlight on the METALLICA fans in the documentary, Lars said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “ Well, I think that there’s so many great stories to be told. There’s so much diversity. And I think probably the greatest thing about our fans and all the people that are turned on and inspired and caught up in our music is how different they are. And so if we were standing here, say 40 years ago, it would be much easier to define who they are. But today, 44 years later, it’s almost impossible to define. So I always say, if you’ve got 10 people, you get 10 different stories. You get a hundred people, you get a hundred different stories. And just trying to share some of those stories and get a little bit of a peek into the lives and their points of view, their diversity, what they go through to be part of all of this. And it’s just great for us to kind of turn the spotlight away from us and on to the fans and get a chance to hear their stories. And that’s been the best part of the last three years on this project.”
Robert chimed in: “The fans are as important as the music. They’re as important as we are. They’re attached to everything that we do, and they’re the reason we’re here now. They’re the reason we’re on tour. They mean so much to us and vice versa. So it’s amazing to see their stories and hear what they have to tell. And it’s very international, and it goes deep.”
Asked if there were any fan stories that particularly resonated with them, Lars said: “Well, as an only child, the reason I wanted to be in a band was to belong to something bigger than myself, to belong to a collective, to a group, to a gang, however you wanna phrase it, and every one of the fans who have their version of that are the ones that I just really relate to. There’s a girl, a Chilean girl, in the movie, called Camilla, whose story I relate to. There’s the Norwegian Vikings, me as a Scandinavian, who I relate to. There’s lots of them. I find a connection to pretty much all of ’em. And I think ultimately what we try to do in METALLICA is break down that barricade that separates the band from the fans and try to make it all-inclusive and put us all on an equal pedestal. And everybody’s that’s got that same objective in mind, I feel a kinship with.”
Added Robert: “Absolutely. Same here. Every night on stage, you look in their eyes and you see that sort of happiness that exudes through the music and through what we do. And there’s just mutual respect and love. And it’s a very powerful thing. I kind of feel it more than ever nowadays, especially on that stage [during the ‘M72’ tour], ’cause they’re right there. And even though it’s larger venues, there’s a connection that we’re feeling, ’cause we get to sort of make the rounds and find the sweet spots with ’em. So it’s really fun and exciting.”
“Metallica Saved My Life” documents the incredible stories of family, identity, redemption, loss, and salvation that make METALLICA‘s fans perhaps the most recognized example of why music matters to the world, and of why METALLICA is the kind of band that can literally save lives, including their own.
Åkerlund, who previously directed METALLICA‘s music videos for 1998’s “Turn The Page”, 1999’s “Whiskey In The Jar” and 2016’s “ManUNkind”, interviewed fans from 23 different countries for the documentary, which is slated for release later this year.
Also speaking on the red carpet of the “Metallica Saved My Life” premiere, METALLICA guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield stated about how the idea for the film came together: “It all started with a friend of ours, Jim Breuer, who is a comedian that was opening up for us in the arena tour, and he was traveling around with a lot of these fans and just kind of got to know them staying in the Airbnbs with them. And he says, ‘James, you have got to hear these fricking stories. They’re unbelievable — where these people came from, how they got into music and why.’ … Such deep emotional human stories. So he’s the one that inspired this in a way. We didn’t know what to do with it at first. What? Do you just do a podcast or blah, blah, blah? It’s, like, no. Let’s get together. And everyone knows our bio; we wanna get the fans’ bios out there.”
Regarding why Jonas was the right person to helm “Metallica Saved My Life”, Hetfield said: “He’s our kind of favorite go-to guy, and he gets us. He’s done a couple of our just song videos and whatnot, and he totally gets us. He gets that world. He grew up in a metal band himself from Sweden. He’s a big fan of metal, so we knew he was the guy.”
James went on to talk about how the METALLICA members’ personal stories are intertwined with those of the band’s fans. He said: “It’s not like we clock in at eight and clock out at five. Our job, it kind of… It’s, like, we’re leaving home for a month and a half. There’s an anxiety, there’s a weirdness, there’s a ritualistic psycho-ness in our heads that happens. And the winddown after that too. How do you get back into regular life? And, hey, I’m not objectified by my neighbors now. I’m just a dude, which is great. I’m taking the garbage out in my underwear, being a regular guy. And that’s what we are at the end of the day. And this is all just wonderful dust. It’s not real out here, essentially. So we try to stay as grounded as possible, and I think this movie really shows how we are the same as our fans, and we’ve got, and they’ve got, a great story to tell.”
Ulrich was equally excited about sharing the fans’ stories, saying: ”This is a celebration of the diversity of our fans. I’ve said for years, for decades, if you line up 10 METALLICA fans, you get 10 different stories. If you line up a hundred METALLICA fans, you get a hundred different stories. This is 10 to 15 of those stories. We’re turning the spotlight away from us and on to the fans and celebrating how unique our fanbase is and all those great human beings. And this is really ultimately about trying to break down that barricade that separates a band from its audience and trying to celebrate the oneness of all of it and how we’re all in it together and how we all are METALLICA together.”
In a statement announcing “Metallica Saved My Life” in April, the band said: “As a few of you may know, we’ve been working behind the scenes the last couple of years on a new film that will be released later this year starring you guys! ‘Metallica Saved My Life’ explores our world through the lives of fans who have supported each other through highs, lows, trials and triumphs for over four decades. And yeah, we’re in it a little bit too.”
Back in July 2023, METALLICA put out a casting call for “superfans” of the band to possibly appear in an upcoming documentary. The filmmakers were looking for “big personalities, unique characters and unexpected stories from METALLICA fans who consider METALLICA to be their favorite band, real ‘Fifth Member’ types. All stories and walks of life” were “welcome and encouraged to reach out.”
The documentary was produced by METALLICA and Mercury Studios, powered by Universal Music Group.
