Resurrection, the new album from Michael Schenker’s Michael Schenker Fest project, will be released on March 2nd through Nuclear Blast.
When asked how Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett came to be involved with the project, Schenker told Poland’s Interia.pl (as transcribed by Blabbermouth.net, “He is a fan. He always wanted to jam with me. He actually did something very nice for me — he put Michael Schenker Group’s] Armed And Ready on [Metallica’s] version of Guitar Hero; they had their own version. Peter Mensch, he used to be the manager of AC/DC, then Def Leppard and then Metallica, he told me that Kirk Hammett, I’m his Santa Claus. And so that’s how it started. So I found out very late in life that he was a fan. And then we met at a guitar magazine, [when we were named two of] the 10 most influential guitarists, we made the cover page for a guitar magazine in America, but we never talked. So he always wanted to jam with me. [Radio personality] Eddie Trunk, from New York, he arranged for Kirk and me to meet and jam. And so we jammed and then we did an interview together. And then, eventually, he even came to a concert and jammed a song with us. So, basically, Kirk was a fan, he became a friend and he plays in the biggest band in the world. And so I said, ‘Kirk, you wanna [guest on Resurrection]?’ And he was more than happy. His management even… ‘Cause he wanted to record in Hawaii in his own recording studio, so [Metallica’s] management paid for the ticket for Michael Voss, the co-producer, to fly over there to record [Kirk’s solo]. Then they sent me a picture of Kirk [in the studio]. He looked like a teenager, 20 years old, with his casual Hawaiian outfit, baseball hat, and he was happy.”
One Response
I think it’s awesome Michael Schenker was so influential on Kirk Hammett, as well as on Dave Mustaine. Lars Ulrich commented once that Hammett’s European sound is what got him the Metallica gig. No doubt Schenker’s influence contributed to that….so I think it’s a great honor for Hammett to play on Schenker’s album.
The Metallica boys may be members of one of the biggest rock bands, but they truly are music fans who often give respect and tribute to their music heroes who were so influential in their development.