RC: Everybody loves the way Death Magnetic is reaching for an older sound. Do you guys have plans to work with Rick Rubin again?
KH: You know it’s pretty early still, but I have no qualms about working with him again, but it’s still too early to say. We might be in a totally different headspace by then. It will be a while though; we still have another year and a half of touring to get through, and hopefully we’ll get through that and still have our marbles. Then we’ll start thinking about the new album.
RC: You have worked with a ton of great musicians, collaborating over the years. Is there anyone you haven’t worked with, but would like to?
KH: I would love to work with a lot of different people; the only problem is, some of them are dead. But we’re pretty open to a lot of different things when it comes to collaborations, so who knows?
RC: The video game is pretty cutting edge. What’s the next place, for Metallica to stay on the forefront?
KH: I don’t know. Technology moves so quickly these days, there might be something completely different in two years that everyone is raging about, so it’s hard to say.
RC: And this is my last question, feel free to take the fifth on it.
OK (Laughs)
RC: In retrospect, was Napster really that bad?
KH: It’s one of those situations. You have to ask yourself, ‘would it have been bad if we’d not gotten involved? I don’t know.
We did get involved, did it make it worse, or not? It’s just one of those questions that you just have to take it for what it is, really.
After the interview, I left the hotel, where it was off to Stubb’s, where Metallica’s ‘secret show’ took place…
