The legendary Metallica co-founder, guitarist, singer and main songwriter James Hetfield talked in an interview for the Metallica Report about the insecurity and the nightmares he usually has before the band start a tour. For decades the musician talked about how he deals with anxiety and insecurity. During this conversation he shared details of the nightmares he usually has before the band hits the road and he explained how he learned to deal with them.
James Hetfield talks about nightmares and insecurity before touring
“(Transcribed by Ultimate Guitar) Over the last month, I will say that the normal thing happens, where I start to doubt myself. I start to feel insecure. (Thinking) ‘Well, we’re old, we can’t do this, blah, blah, blah,’ — all that bullshit everyone tells themselves before they go into something they care about.”
“So, having the nightmares (about how) I’m the only one who cares about what we’re doing here. ‘Where is everybody?’ I show up at the gig, everyone’s goofing off, or there’s 200 people backstage and (thinking), ‘Where’s my stuff? Where’s the setlist? What songs are we doing?’ And then, typical things like the guitar neck is made of rubber, and there’s only two strings on it.”
“And, ‘Where’s my roadie?’, and the guitar cord won’t let me get to the microphone. Silly stuff like that. That has to happen, and I don’t freak out over it. All you do is you practice, and then you build that comes back pretty quickly. It’s part of the cycle; it just is. You have anxiety build up, and don’t let it get the best of ya because you have that balance of anxiety and faith. And as soon as you get up there, it’s all gonna be good,” James Hetfield said.
Metallica has an extensive touring schedule in 2024 to promote their latest album “72 Seasons” released in 2023. They will perform in Europe and North America.