Lars Ulrich on why he finds Jack White “so inspiring”
Lars Ulrich tends to have heavy metal music flowing through his veins. Regardless of what trouble he may have gotten into with his fans during the early 2000s with Napster, Ulrich has remained a fan of music despite being one of the biggest stars in the world, constantly propping up whatever new music he may be listening to. Although most of it veers towards metal, Ulrich has a far more eclectic taste than the traditional metalhead.
When working with Cliff Burton back in the day, Ulrich recalled that the backstage area would feature millions of different musical avenues. With Burton being a fan of all types of music, it wasn’t uncommon to go from CCR to Black Sabbath to Kate Bush within the space of a single night in the backstage area. Once the band started to see mainstream success with The Black Album, Ulrich started to pay attention to the new kids on the block for their follow-up album.
Going into the sessions for albums like Load, Ulrich had begun listening to the sounds of radio-friendly artists and metal, counting Britpop favourites Oasis among one of the best acts he had ever seen. Although Metallica would remain a reasonably insular unit throughout their time together post-St Anger, Ulrich still loved visiting artists like Jack White.
In the fading years of the 1990s, White’s work with The White Stripes reinvented the public’s view of what rock and roll was supposed to be. Since most music was going back towards the sounds of heavy metal like Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park, Jack and Meg White paired everything down to guitar and drums, almost evoking a child-like innocence whenever they strapped on their instruments to play.
Coming after the long malaise of grunge, The White Stripes helped most rock musicians get over themselves, playing songs about having fun rather than death, destruction, or darkness. Although Ulrich could have felt intimidated by an artist who was spitting in the face of what metal was doing at the time, all he saw was inspiration.
When talking with Conan O’Brien, Ulrich marvelled at just how much White puts into his craft, recalling, “I think he personifies that edgy form of rock and roll that’s becoming less and less of a thing these days. He’s in the studio, he makes records impulsively. It oozes danger and impulsivity.”
Even with the massive influence of artists like Black Sabbath and Diamond Head, Ulrich counts White among the best he has ever seen, explaining, “He’s in my top five all-time favourite musicians. Whether he’s doing his own stuff, The Raconteurs or The White Stripes. He’s such an unpredictable artist. To see where he goes, it’s so inspiring.”
That creative restlessness has carried White through every facet of his career. Even outside of his music, White is still a student of everything rock and roll, making a mint out of his record company, Third Man Records, while still finding time to work with every artist he wants to at any given moment. While there might not be too much of a chance to get a collaboration between Jack White and Metallica, White’s influence is far-reaching enough to go beyond the generational boundaries.
