PHIL TOWLE is the man who, according to Lars Ulrich, saved Metallica. He’s best known as the performance coach immortalized in the documentary film Some Kind of Monster. This conversation covers Phil's background, methodology, and of course, Metallica.

BUDDERSIDE (and former Adler’s Appetite) vocalist Patrick Alan Stone crossed paths with Lemmy and his entire life changed. The Motörhead frontman and his bandmates all made regular appearances at his home. When Velvet Revolver searched for someone to replace Scott Weiland, Lemmy recommended Patrick, which led to several demos. Lemmy personally signed Budderside to Motörhead Music. Lemmy's son, Paul Inder Kilmister, produced their debut. Phil Campbell guests on the band’s second album, Spiritual Violence, released in March, 2021. Patrick talks about his relationship with Lemmy, his upbringing, jamming with Slash and Steven Adler, and of course, Metallica.

BUDGIE cofounder Tony Bourge is the man behind the riffs in "Crash Course in Brain Surgery" and "Breadfan." Budgie classics have been covered by Soundgarden ("Homicidal Suicidal"), Iron Maiden ("I Can't See My Feelings"), Megadeth ("Melt the Ice Away"), as well as Metallica. Van Halen opened early club shows with "In for the Kill." Tony talks about the band's history, influence, songwriting, recording sessions at the Rockfield Studios in Wales, site of legendary recordings by Black Sabbath, Judas Priest (who opened for Budgie), Motörhead, Stone Roses, Oasis, and many more. He even straps on his guitar and plays a bit of "Crash Course" and "Breadfan."

JAMES HETFIELD’s GUITAR TECH talks about getting the Metallica gig in 2003; his first visit to HQ and interview with James; his early days of touring with The Breeders, Hole, Veruca Salt, and Garbage; Courtney Love and the legacy of Kurt Cobain; Hetfield’s playing and tone; and more.

JUSTICE FOR ALL: THE TRUTH ABOUT METALLICA author Joel McIver is responsible for more than 25 books about rock music, including To Live is to Die: The Life and Death of Metallica’s Cliff Burton (with a foreword by Kirk Hammett) and biographies on Black Sabbath, Slayer, Tool, Motörhead, and Slipknot. He’s also the co-author of memoirs from Max Cavalera and David Ellefson.

SPIRIT ADRIFT frontman Nate Garrett is the former guitarist for Gatecreeper and a massive Metallica fan. Three different Spirit Adrift albums have landed in the coveted Top 40 Albums of the Year list in Decibel Magazine - two of them in the top 10 and one, Enlightened in Eternity, at No. 5 for 2020. The album was also included in the Top 10 of the year-end album list from Revolver Magazine.

KVELERTAK guitarist Vidar Landa met James Hetfield when the Metallica frontman came to see his band at a club in San Francisco. The Norwegian metal act - who is also a favorite of the guys in Mastodon, Converge, and Ghost, among other bands - went on to play multiple shows with Metallica, including the historic gig at London’s O2 Arena in 2017 which broke the venue’s attendance record.

STATE OF MERCURY YouTube channel guitar shredder C.J. Cox is a master of the rework, where he re-records and often rearranges a Metallica song from one album in the style of another. His most popular videos include “What if ‘Enter Sandman’ was on …And Justice for All?”, “What if ‘Master of Puppets’ was on The Black Album?”, and “What if ‘Blackened’ was on Master of Puppets?”

Ex-KERRANG! Global Head of Brand Strategy Ethan Fixell is a former standup comedian and rock musician who headed up the U.S. division of the long-running UK magazine just a few years ago. As of the time of this conversation, Ethan is Head of Production for the Custom Podcasts division of iHeartMedia. He’s written extensively about alcohol and appeared on The Tonight Show, PBS, VH1, and Bravo.

METAL INJECTION co-founder and editor Robert Pasbani is also the co-owner of the Blast Beat Network, which handles digital advertising for his own site as well as Metal Sucks, Lambgoat, The PRP, Gear Gods, and Metal Insider, among others. He’s a former on-air host for Sirius XM’s Liquid Metal and is part of The Metal Injection Livecast and Squared Circle Pit.

STERN PINBALL Senior Director of Licensing and New Business Development Jody Dankberg is directly responsible for the awesome Stern Pinball machines involving Game Of Thrones, KISS, and Metallica, among others. As one of the founders of Krank Amplifiers, he was particularly close with the late Dimebag Darrell. Jody talks about his career in music, including the story behind the Metallica pinball machine.

OVERKILL drummer Jason Bittner is also a longtime member of Shadows Fall and has filled in for Charlie Benante in Anthrax. He performed on Marty Friedman’s 2011 solo album and was briefly the drummer in reformed thrash band Toxik before his three-year stint behind the kit for Flotsam & Jetsam. Jason spent a year at the Berklee College of Music, before embarking on a career that’s taken him around the world.

COMEDIAN Don Jamieson is a standup comedian who first rose to prominence in the metal world as co-host of VH1 Classic’s That Metal Show. A prolific joke writer heard on The Howard Stern Show and an Emmy Award-winner for his work on HBO’s Inside the NFL, Jamieson has released four comedy albums and toured as the opening act for Andrew Dice Clay and the band Pop Evil. He’s hung out with the Metallica guys several times and even performed at the inaugural Orion Music + More Festival, where he was brought on stage and introduced by Lars Ulrich.

PATREON ONLY! LAMB OF GOD vocalist D. Randall Blythe talks about his book, photography, side projects, and VII: Sturm und Drang. Taken from Ryan J. Downey’s interview archives. Conducted in 2015.

SLAYER cofounder Dave Lombardo talks about Slayer and Metallica's first show together; filling in for Lars Ulrich; the Big 4; which Slayer song was influenced by Metallica; designing the Slayer logo; how he almost joined Megadeth in 1986; Grip, Inc.; The Misfits; Mr. Bungle; Rick Rubin; holiday text messages from Glenn Danzig, and much more.

METALLICA: THE CLUB DAYZ, 1982 - 1984: Live, Raw and Without a Photo Pit! collects the multitude of killer pictures of Metallica captured in their formative years by Bill Hale. He was there for six of the band’s early shows, including their first with Cliff, the band's last with Dave, and the first Metallica show with Kirk. Megadeth: Another Time, A Different Place is similarly stuffed with seminal photos, and features a foreword by Dave Mustaine himself. Bill talks about those shows, those guys, that early scene, and his current life in Hawaii.

Ex-MEGADETH lead guitarist and solo artist Marty Friedman on discovering KISS, his formative bands in Hawaii, hearing the Metallica demo, Kill 'Em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, the behind-the-scenes similarities between Megadeth and Metallica, what makes "Enter Sandman" and "Through the Never" so hilarious to the Japanese public, and so much more.

COMEDIAN Dean Delray draws upon a life of heavy metal and Harleys that began in the Bay Area, telling stories as a standup and longtime host of the Let There Be Talk podcast. His show bears the distinction of being the first podcast to feature all of the current guys in AC/DC. He spent four hours talking with Kirk Hammett for one episode and has himself appeared on the podcasts hosted by his friends Bill Burr, Marc Maron, and Joe Rogan.

SKYLANDERS ACADEMY creator Eric Rogers tells the story of getting James Hetfield to voice werewolf musician Wolfgang in the hit animated series, which ran for three seasons on Netflix. Based on the Activision game series, Skylanders Academy also featured the voice talents of Justin Long, Ashley Tisdale, Breaking Bad’s Jonathan Banks, Bobcat Goldthwait, and my favorite comedian of all time, Norm Macdonald. Eric talks about working on the Emmy-winning series FUTURAMA, the ups and downs of developing Skylanders Academy, and of course, Metallica.

MUSIC ATTORNEY Eric German worked with the record companies in their lawsuits against Napster, including A&M Records v. Napster. He’s also a massive Metallica fan and spent his teenage years playing in rock bands. These days, his clients include Five Finger Death Punch, AWOLNATION, Bad Wolves, and Asking Alexandria. This conversation is filled with insights about copyright law as it pertains to music.