Interview: Kirk Hammett talks solo debut, prog rock, Metallica plans

“Portals” is the rock guitar record we need for 2022.

It’s a grand instrumental epic, despite only being a four-song EP that runs just over 27 minutes, and it’s full of the kind of heart, technical genius and awe-inspiring talent that fans have come to expect from the one-and-only Kirk Hammett.

It’s also the Metallica guitarist’s first ever solo album, one that contains some of the finest guitar work of his entire career.

And, yes, I know that’s a bold statement given all that he has accomplished as a member of the best-selling Bay Area band of all time.

“Portals” is being released by Blackened Recordings on April 23 – aka, Record Store Day 2022. It’ll be available across digital platforms as well as on CD and, best of all, as a Record Store Day exclusive ocean blue vinyl EP (that comes with a download card as well).

I recently had the chance to chat with Hammett about his first-ever solo effort as well as briefly catch up on Metallica and his cool covers side project the Wedding Band.

Q Let me start off by saying, “wow.” Your solo record is really great.

A Thank you, bro! It just kind of unfolded in front of me over a period of time, you know? I am just as blown away from it as anybody else. OK, No. 1 — I don’t take myself that seriously, so to even want to put out a solo album. And two, I’m not that guy (who says), “In three years, we’re going to do this and it’s going to be great” – because I can’t be bothered.

I guess it’s one of those things that the universe sort of meant it to happen. Because it was such a great experience for me — creating this music, collaborating with people and being in the driver’s seat for the first time since practically my days in Exodus — it’s kind of opened my eyes up to a new musical experience for me. It’s given me a lot of confidence, going forward in the future with doing more stuff like this.

It’s really opened my eyes to self potential.

Q Sounds like this is not just a one-off project for you — that, instead, it could be just the start of something.

A I would say most definitely it opens the doors to a lot more possibilities. I feel like a lot of the limitations that were around me – way back when – just don’t exist anymore. Also, I have been 7 ½ years sober. I’m older, somewhat wiser, somewhat more responsible. So, the time is right for this kind of thing.

As far as how everyone (in Metallica) feels about me putting out a solo album, I have the full support of James (Hetfield), Lars (Ulrich) and Rob (Trujillo) — and management. It’s a great thing, because it wasn’t always like that and that’s been well documented. But things are different now and thank God.

And because things are different now maybe that’s why this kind of just showed up.

Q You cover an impressive amount of musical territory on “Portals.”

A With this music, the vocabulary is wide open. There’s a huge classical influence. There’s also a flamenco influence. There’s a little jazziness here and there. There are chords in this music that I would never think about using in Metallica.

I’m sitting on a mountain of music. I always have a lot of music. That’s one thing I’ve never been in shortage of — musical ideas. It’s always bewildered me when bands says, “Oh, we don’t have any songs.” I’m like, “How can that even happen?”

(“Portals”) breaks down the doors. I’m way into classical. I’m way into jazz, bossa nova, blues. I love old country.

The sky is the limit at this point. And it’s a pretty beautiful thing.

Because of this, I think it’s going to probably have a little influence on my other band — the Wedding Band.

Q How so?

A The attitude with the Wedding Band, again, is the sky is the limit. We play whatever we want.

So, maybe the Wedding Band goes on tour and plays the stuff on the solo album. I don’t know. I know that in the future, going forward, the Wedding Band is probably going to be refurbished at one point.

Q Meaning not just a covers band?

A Not just a covers band. We might put out a jazz-fusion album. I don’t know. We might put out a heavy funk album. Who know? We might put out an album that is a love letter to ‘70s funk and hard rock.

Q One of the most striking things about “Portals” is just how much it doesn’t sound like Metallica.

A I made a very conscious to have this music stand alone.

(“Portals”) doesn’t sound like Metallica. It really doesn’t.

I should say, OK, I thought 95 percent of it does not sound like Metallica. Just by proxy of who I am, as a member of Metallica, some of it is going to be reminiscent of that. But that’s the 5 percent that is kind of instinctual — it’s kind of like bred into me.

Q But not only does it not sound like Metallica — “Portals” isn’t even a metal record. I was feeling prog. I was feeling jazz-fusion, Return to Forever, Phil Manzanera, your buddy Joe Satriani. There are a lot of flavors, but metal wasn’t really one of them.

A It was important to have a different vibe and a different approach.

And you are absolutely correct on the prog side. I wasn’t ever into prog music until about five years ago. All of sudden, I started listening to prog — kind of by accident. I went out and bought the entire Yes catalog and I just devoured Yes for like a month. I went out and bought all the Jethro Tull stuff and just devoured that.

Q Oh, Martin Barre (of Jethro Tull) is so good.

A Ian Anderson and Martin Barre are really phenomenal. I recognize that Yes and Jethro Tull have all sorts of reasons why they are instrumental in the development of heavy metal. I see it. Genesis, King Crimson, ELP — just tons of prog. Yes, it is a big influence — as is classical music.

Q One of the contributors on “Portals” is Edwin Outwater, who conducted the San Francisco Symphony at the S&M2 shows with Metallica at Chase Center in 2019.

A He knows his classical music. He would send me stuff to listen to — obscure classical pieces that had a more haunting, more horror, darker feel.

It was great because we had a real intense mutual love for the horror genre and it just seemed natural that we would work together. It was so seamless. I am definitely going to plan on doing more stuff with him in the future.

Q Knowing your love for horror, I smiled when I first read the song titles on your EP — “Maiden and the Monster,” “The Jinn, “High Plains Drifter,” “The Incantation.” They all sound like they could be the names of horror flicks.

A It was a very conscious thing to sort of paint pictures with musical notes. A lot of the parts of the songs are actually my attempts to mimic certain atmospheres and feelings and the vibes of certain periods of horror.

I have been watching these movies for so long that it’s easy for me to just think about the unmasking in “Phantom of the Opera” from 1925 — Lon Chaney Sr. I know what I want to hear. I want to hear a baroque kind of thing that cycles through and then ends with some sort of haunting conclusion.

That’s what the middle breakdown of “Maiden and the Monster” is — it’s based around the unmasking of Lon Chaney Sr. in “Phantom of the Opera.”

A lot of this is based on German Expressionist horror as well – “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,” “The Golem,” “Nosferatu,” “Metropolis.” The feel and the atmosphere and the vibe of those movies are entrenched in this music.

Q Yeah, you are throwing out some definite Fritz Lang guitar parts, no doubt. What’s it like to go through the process of an album release as a solo artist?

A Usually when there is an album release — it’s the four of us (in Metallica). We all have each others’ backs. We are all supporting each others, because it’s kind of a nerve-wracking sort of emotional and mental thing.

Usually, during this time, we have each other to talk to about any sort of insecurities or whatnot. But now that I have put out a solo album, I am the guy who bears the whole burden of all that.

I said to James (Hetfield), “This is weird. I have an album release and usually I have you three other guys. But it’s just me and it makes me feel insecure and nervous.”

And James only had one reply: “This is a growth and learning experience for you, bro.”

And I go, “Thank you for saying that because I didn’t see it like that.”

Q You are set to perform at BottleRock Napa Valley over Memorial Day weekend. But you’re not just doing it once — you’re doing it twice. You’re appearing with both Metallica and the Wedding Band.

A It’s going to be great to be able to finally play BottleRock. I’ve heard so much about it.

I spend a lot of time in the North Bay, so I’m looking to have a nice night out in the North Bay rocking out to all our friends and family again in the Bay Area. So, that’s going to be really great.

Then Rob (Trujillo) and I are going to have a Wedding Band show right after. It’s going to be a special trimmed down version of the Wedding Band, because some of the members aren’t available because they are out on tour. We don’t have the 10-piece band. And because we don’t have the 10-piece band and the horn section, we have changed the set list.

We are going to just play a bunch of stuff that we feel like playing — which is a bunch of punk stuff this time.

Q Will Metallica be playing other Northern California dates in 2022?

A I think there is a pretty good possibility that we will be doing more Bay Area shows by the end of the year. It all just depends on availability — venues, schedule. But the idea is to definitely play a few more Bay Area shows.

Q You can totally use my backyard if you need a place to play.

A (Laughs) Well, you know, Wedding Band will play anywhere.

Q OK, it’s set! Wedding Band at the Harringtons’ house!

A I would love that. That would bring me back — playing in somebody’s backyard. But you would need a keg in the corner.

Q Not for you, because you are sober.

A Yeah, but I like to think about everyone else.