Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett reflects on his more than 40 years with the thrash metal icons in a new interview that touches on everything from toxic masculinity to his love of surfing.
Hammett, 62, says his reputation as Metallica's peacemaker – particularly during well-documented tensions between drummer Lars Ulrich and frontman James Hetfield – doesn't tell the whole story.
He tells the Telegraph: "I have to say, I do have a temper. And I can butt heads with people. I butt heads with James and Lars occasionally. It’s just part of being in a band and being with someone for 40-plus years.
"We were like a gang of youths and just looking for somewhere to belong. I came from a broken home, James came from a broken home, Lars came from a broken home.
"The most well-adjusted person was Cliff Burton. We were all basket cases! But we created this thing called Metallica that’s been our refuge. It’s been the one constant in our lives.
"I was equally as ornery as Lars and James. When I joined the band, I was right in there talking shit and doing crazy stuff, just as much as James and Lars and Cliff were."
Reflecting on that toxic masculinity that fuelled the band in the early days leads Hammett to reflect on life in America today, where President Donald Trump and his most senior advisors have more than raised eyebrows with their rhetoric and actions in his second term in office.
He says: "In the last two or three years, I’ve gotten way into ancient history, and the interesting thing is that, back then, almost all the major civilisations were led by women.
"Matriarchal societies, they are very, very successful. This patriarchal society, with all this fucking masculinity stuff, it’s ingrained in all us males that, if males are leading at the top, that means all males in our culture need to be a leader.
"We can’t all be leaders and that’s where the masculinity comes in: ‘Who’s the best to lead, the strongest, the fastest, the meanest?'"
Hammett has never been afraid to speak openly about his difficult childhood, saying previously that his father beat him and his mother. With that kind of start, it's no surprise that toxicity carried through to his young adulthood.
Hammett adds: "My dad was a full-blooded Irishman who liked to drink and liked to scrap. He was always fighting people, even fighting his friends. He would get together with my uncles and it was just one big fucking toxic soup of masculinity, and that’s what I came out of."
The atmosphere in the band these days is seemingly much less toxic, and Hammett cannot envision ever leaving the band behind.
"Leaving Metallica is not an option,” he says. "If I ever left Metallica, everyone in the world would remind me that I used to be in Metallica."
To unwind, Hammett takes to the ocean where he lives in Hawaii. He says: "I hate being indoors for any extended amount of time and love to surf."
And he has also just released his new coffee table book The Collection: Kirk Hammett. Published by Gibson, the book explores Hammett’s huge guitar collection and is available to order now.
