Metallica Looking to Isolate in “Bubble” Where They Can Write, Play, and Record New Songs
Metallica have had a very busy pandemic despite, like all bands, being unable to fulfill their touring commitments. Starting with their “Metallica Mondays” series of archival live releases that ran for 23 weeks beginning in March, they parlayed the current isolation of the masses into a massive drive-in event and even released an album just last week, a live recording of last year’s S&M2 show.
And it’s not stopping there. Members of the band have spoken briefly in the press about how they’re utilizing technology (Zoom, etc.) to work on writing new material, which will be their first since Hardwired… To Self-Destruct in 2016. But, as you might expect from a band that came into existence well before all that technology existed, they’re way more comfortable working out song ideas together in the flesh the old-fashioned way. To that end, the band plans to enact some kind of quarantine / isolation “bubble” where they will do just that.
Speaking to NME, when asked if the group found this period “creatively productive,” Lars detailed the problems they’ve faced so far and what Metallica plan to do about them:
“I’m not sure – it’s not easy, but we’ve been doing what we can. We’ve been exchanging ideas back and forth. The hardest thing about being in four different spaces is that there’s no software that can have us all play in real-time to reach each other. So I can play something and send it to the next guy and then he can play on it and he can send it to the next guy, or vice-versa, but we can’t play at the same time so it takes the impulsivity and the momentary energy out of the occasion.”
“I’ve talked to some people in technology about how close we are to being able to all play in real-time with each other, but that hasn’t been cracked yet. If it is, we’ll maximize it, but for now, we’re in this bubble for a couple of weeks, and we’re looking forward to seeing if at some point this fall, we can get back into another bubble where we write and play and maybe even record – so we’re looking forward to the possibilities on that one.”
It’s not clear what “bubble” the band were in when this interview was conducted — something pertaining to the S&M2 release, perhaps? — but it’s no surprise to learn they’re looking ahead to when they might be able to get together again. And for a band of Metallica’s stature, it certainly makes sense; they can easily afford to isolate and take all the necessary precautions to remain that way for two weeks or however long they plan to jam together. It could even make for a fun reality show! I hope they have the cameras rolling while they do it.
[via Ultimate Guitar]
