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- or -  VF: Are you excited (like the rest of us) to see Rick Rubin producing the new Metallica album? Are you sad to see Bob Rock go? SW: Emotionally - tough to see Bob go, but creatively exciting to see Rick arrive. Rick is really good at pulling some great stuff out of people – just look at his track record. I've been instigating it for years! VF: So, are you taking credit for Rick Rubin producing the new Metallica album? HA! HA! SW: I would love to take some credit for it (Rick Rubin being the new producer for Metallica.), but it had to be an organic decision made by the band. If I didn't plant the seed, I definitely "watered" it. In a perfect world, Bob would hang out in the studio and Rick would come in and do his thing as well.
 Steve with Lars and James - Guggenheim Museum 2007 (Picture by Ross Halfin) VF: Have you had a chance to listen to the new stuff that Metallica is working on for the new album? SW: I hear it all of the time. I can't get away from it. (laughing) I'm usually in or around the studio with them. There's some fast stuff, heavy stuff, slow stuff. There's some stuff on there that sounds a little bit closer to the Fade to Black/Sanitarium/One style of song...the clean guitar/riff thing, a great melody...verse stuff with the heavy chorus and the ending blows the shit out of the roof. It's cool to hear them doing that kind of thing again. That's what Rick has been saying -- don't be afraid of doing more of what you do really well. Don't try to reinvent the wheel. Just make a really good METALLICA record. SW: So far – as far as I know, James is doing all of the lyrics himself, and not necessarily like what was done for St. Anger (the group effort). I’d imagine Rick would want James to go off into his own world and tap into his own things and get lyrics that come from the heart. Myself, I've written songs (for bands that I've been in) both ways (alone and collaboratively) and they both have their own strengths and weaknesses. I think James' track record has definitely shown he is capable of coming up with some deep shit (lyrics) when he taps into it on his own. I'm anxious to hear what he digs up lyrically.
 Steve and Rob - South Africa - March 2006 (picture courtesy of MetOnTour.com) VF: One of our members heard a rumor that the album will be out sometime this winter (January-March '08), is this true? SW: I would be shocked to see it come out by the spring. There's still work to be done on the lyrics, so I don't know. Rick has been saying not to worry about release dates, just make a good album. And if it takes 2 months, 2 years, or whatever, then that's okay. Let's just make the best album we can, and it comes out when it's done and ready. Plus, there are other things to factor in: families, vacations, the marketing of the album, etc. I'm fairly comfortable assuming it'll come out in 2008 – I think it’ll be DONE this year - but I couldn't tell you when they’ll release it. I know a lot of people are saying, "Stop fucking around! Just get the album out!" (laughing) SW: If Rick gets his way, he'll want to make sure the album is top notch and so far, so good. They just did another round-table interview w/ Steffan (for So What! 14.4) not long ago, and you'll hear how Metallica is approaching this album...sort of like I've been talking about (in this interview) – straight from the horse(men)’s mouth!
 Early on, this picture was going to be the cover for EFI 8.1 (picture courtesy of Steve Wiig)
VF: You know I had to ask this... SW: I have a real hard time trying to pick out my favorite/least favorite because they change all the time, but to generalize my favorite album is probably “Master of Puppets” with “Garage Days $5.98 EP” receiving an honorable mention. Those albums and their one, two punch sealed the deal for me. SW: My least favorite album just might have to be “St. Anger”. It's a little hard to listen to for me. If you put a pile of CDs in front of me, that album would probably get pushed to the bottom of the pile pretty quickly. I do have more of an appreciation of “Load” and “Reload” nowadays though - especially the demos. Maybe in the end, it was overproduced a little or maybe the content was spread a little too thin but I think over time, hearing some of that stuff again, there's some great classic rock ideas on those albums. SW: As for my favorite songs, "The Thing That Should Not Be" was one of the earliest Metallica songs that I fell for. It's such a different sounding song...very heavy. "For Whom the Bell Tolls" was another song that I liked a lot early on. I remember hearing that song and finally discovering that that was the “other” song with the bell intro (AC/DC's "Hells Bells" being the other). (laughing) Others include "Seek and Destroy", "Battery", "Fight Fire With Fire", "The Call of Ktulu", and "Orion". "Orion" is still a favorite of mine. If I see it on the setlist, I'll make sure I try and check it out during the show. "Disposable Heroes" represented everything that I liked about Metallica...the monumental size of that song. Can I just say my favorite is ‘the first four albums’?
 (picture by Anton Corbijn) VF: At the San Quentin show (in May 2003), were you, the crew or the band scared something might happen (i.e., become a hostage, getting killed, etc.)? Were the inmates cool with the band and crew? Any problems from the inmates? SW: No, but there was quite a tense buildup (i.e., hostage policy, they don't negotiate, people saying you might not get out alive, etc.) to the whole thing but once we got there it was fairly relaxed. When we got inside, you could tell it was well-run and plenty of guards. It wasn't as scary as you might think. SW: In between takes for the St. Anger video, Lars would be chatting with some of the inmates. As we got escorted to other parts of the prison, he would make a comment to one of the security guards, "Hey, that guy was pretty cool." And the security guard would reply with, "Yeah, for a triple murderer." (Yikes!) So, we got to meet some of the inmates and got a private, narrated tour of the gas chamber. SW: At the end of the day, as we were leaving/being escorted out, it was dark, and the moon was out. There was this one building with tiny windows, and you could hear people screaming “I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!! AHHHHH!!!”. It was where all the really crazy prisoners were being kept. That was a surreal, somewhat haunting – yet sad moment. This was definitely a learning experience. It was a privilege to go in there...especially as an observer and NOT as an inmate. But in the end, it wasn't as scary as it may have been built up to be...
 St. Anger video shoot - San Quentin VF: What has been your favorite city/country/venue to visit? SW: In the states, as far as cities go, I love New York and Chicago. As for Europe, anywhere in Scandinavia feels like home to me. Copenhagen is wonderful. I’d love to spend a little more downtime in Finland and Sweden. Paris is next-level; Zurich has been fun; London is alright; Tokyo is an experience; Sydney is a blast; Canada has its moments; Spain is a vibe; Ireland is awesome; and I like the writing in Korea. That’s just off the top of my head!
 Steve, Rob and an elephant - South Africa - March 2006 (picture courtesy of Steve Wiig) SW: South Africa was possibly the most unique place as far as the non-gig part of it. We went on a safari, and we stayed in these villages or reserves. That was a very cool experience. Plus having Jim Breuer around adds to the entertainment value!
 Steve and Comedian/Actor Jim Breuer - South Africa - March 2006 (picture courtesy of MetOnTour.com)
 Steve and Comedian/Actor Jim Breuer - South Africa - March 2006 (picture courtesy of MetOnTour.com) SW: As for gigs - more recently Athens, Greece was pretty cool...people were lighting fires in the crowd and there were some big trees that people were climbing during the show. The Gorge in Washington is a really unique venue – visually/structurally. I think the last time Metallica played there was in 1998. SW: It’s kinda tough to pick favorites here too cause I don’t exactly have a choice as to where we’re playing or staying, so you knid of have to make the most of it wherever you are. A lot of the time it’s not so much about the city, country or venue, but the people and the experiences and the timing.
 Metallica in Athens, Greece - July 2007 (picture courtesy of MetOnTour.com)
 The Gorge - George, Washington SW: Probably my favorite place to see and hear live music in the Bay Area is the legendary Fillmore, so it was cool to spend a week there. [Ed. Metallica played 4 club shows at The Fillmore May 18-22, 2003.]
 The Fillmore VF: In your opinion, what country or city had the best crowds at a Metallica show? SW: The ones with soccer teams. VF: Out of all of the opening acts for Metallica that you've seen, who was your favorite(s)? SW: COC and Kid Rock are first that come to mind. After Corrosion toured with Metallica (in 1997), they did a small mini-tour by themselves. I travelled with them and filmed a tour DVD (entitled, "Seven Daze") which they released. I did a bunch of artwork for them as well. I remember after this one gig in Iowa, Pepper and myself were at a bar, which was connected to the venue in which COC just played, and we just got on stage and started jamming on Black Sabbath, COC and Metallica songs in this barn next door in front of a bunch of drunk Iowans. SW: Jerry Cantrell was a lot of fun too. He and Sean Kinney (drummer for Jerry Cantrell/Alice in Chains) are quite the duo to have around on tour. Man, there’s too many to mention. I probably couldn’t come up with half of the bands off the top of my head. If you gave me a list of all of the bands that opened for them in the last 10 years I could probably give you a word association answer. SW: One the best tours we ever did was The Big Day Out in Australia (in Jan. 2004). It was very cool to have all of these diverse acts traveling together like a little carnival on a very relaxed schedule. Everybody really had the time to get a chance to know each other. For two weeks you’d be having drinks with Fergie, The Strokes and The Mars Volta every night in the summer down under. It was a much different than your typical super duper metalfest sorta event.
 VF: When the Metallica eventually decides to "retire" (hopefully not anytime soon), what do you think you'll do next? SW: That's when the real work begins! I can see books being written (about/by Metallica), maybe some box sets or whatever. When you're not creating music anymore, that's the next logical step...to go into "reflective" mode. They might start digging up relics from the past. I can see Lars going into that direction...he's already mentally prepared himself for that. When the dust settles and Metallica is over, he might focus on that stuff (books, box sets, greatest hits, etc.). However, I don't see them ever NOT creating music unless something physically causes them to stop. Because creating music is in their blood.
 Hard at work (picture courtesy of MetOnTour.com)
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