Kirk Hammett has had his say on the current state of songwriting and pop music, which he has described as "crap".
The Metallica guitarist made these comments in an interview with The Irish Times, amid controversy over being seen wearing a Taylor Swift T-shirt.
Earlier this month, Hammett received flack after being spotted in a T shirt which read the words, 'Taylor Swift Is A CIA Psyop' during a Metallica show in Budapest, as part of their ongoing 'M72' European and UK Tour.
Photos of this soon did the rounds on social media, and led to criticism from Swifties.
While he did not discuss the matter specifically, Hammett chatted to The Irish Times in between two Metallica stadium shows in Dublin last week, where he stated that “right now, songwriting and pop music is crap”.
The musician made this remark when reflecting on how music had previously challenged him when he was growing up, commenting: “I started off learning off records, just trying to develop my ear and learning songs and guitar solos from playing records over and over again...".
He continued: “And it was a real challenge because if you got three different guitar players together and said, ‘OK, play ‘I’m The One’ on Van Halen’s first album’, all three guitar players would play it differently. There was some charm to that".
“I kind of lament [not having] those days when people had to really struggle to learn, because it’s all in the struggle. And it’s all in the determination and being inspired at the same time that forces you to come up with your own stuff and eventually your own sound and style".
Hammett also told The Irish Times: “I just worry about how things are so perfect these days, the musicianship. It’s great that all these guitar players have all this vast knowledge of technique at their fingertips. I wonder where it’s leading to.”
“I hope it leads to a better quality of pop music, popular music, and just a better quality of songwriting. Because right now, songwriting and pop music is crap".
“I’m hoping that all these great musicians who can teach themselves through the internet step up and put all that great learning and all that great inspiration into creating new stuff, new songs, the future of music, and at a higher standard than what it is now".
“Because I’ll say it again, K-R-A-P. Crap. Sorry for all you pop fans out there".
During one of these shows at Dublin's Aviva Stadium, Kirk Hammett fell from the stage after a cover appeared to give away from under him at the stage's edge, during Metallica's live performance of 'Seek And Destroy'. More on this story from Nova here.
