After releasing his debut solo EP ‘Portals,’ Kirk Hammet talked about and reassured his fans that his Metallica bandmates James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich gave their full blessings to him.
There are a lot of combinations in a musician’s career, whether they start with a band, continue solo, or start solo and continue with a band. Some musicians are happy with their bands but still try out solo performances and releases. This variety brings the band members’ blessings into prominence.
After almost 40 years of performing with Metallica, the band’s lead guitarist decided to try out something independently, without his bandmates’ contributions. He released ‘Portals’ on April 23 and put his solo work out there for the first time in his career. This solo effort was exciting news for Hammett’s fans and the musician. However, this brought questions about Metallica members’ opinions to fans’ minds.
Even though the guitarist had mentioned that his bandmates were supportive, he reassured his fans that they had no problems regarding his independent work. He wanted to create a solo EP not because he thought it was time but because it happened naturally. Since Hammett got the band’s blessings, especially James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, he was free to release his solo project.
Hammett’s words follow:
“When I met Edwin Outwater, I played it for him and said, ‘Let’s get together and write some more of this sort of stuff,’ he was so into it. We went through it all, and that became ‘High Plains Drifter’ and ‘The Djinn.’ This wasn’t something where I sat down and said, ‘Okay, solo album, it’s about time!’ I don’t take myself that seriously! And I’m not that intelligent. I’m seriously not.
I write music, and sh*t happens, and this falls under the category of sh*t happening. But now that it has happened, I’ve gotten a taste of this and this sort of autonomy. I’m thinking, ‘Why not?’ I have the full band’s blessing on this, particularly James and Lars. So it’s okay. Now I have something else cool to do. Edwin and I have every intention to keep on collaborating as well because the results have been so great.”
You can listen to Hammett’s first EP below.
