Modern Drummer: I know you're using the Easton Ahead sticks now. When
did you go to them and what do you think of them?
Lars Ulrich: In the summer of '94, when we did a really quick U.S. tour, we
were playing outdoors the whole tour in places like Buffalo, and it gets pretty
cold by 9 p.m. on a May night in Buffalo. In the first song, when it was really
chilly, I'd literally break four or five sticks, and I just couldn't deal with that
anymore.
So I thought back to '92 on the Guns 'N Roses tour, when Matt Sorum had
me try the Easton sticks a couple of times. About two minutes into the song,
I'd have to put them down because I couldn't quite play or get the feel with
them, so I'd go back to the old, reliable Calato Regal Tips. But after the '94
tour, I had a little time to play with them in my studio and I got used to the
feel, and now I wouldn't play with anything else. Calato was with me for ten
years, and they were really cool, but I had to make the move out of sheer
necessity. I still break a stick once in a while, maybe ten or so in the last
year and a half, but you can't beat the dependability.
I even recorded with them, but the one thing that's noticeably different with
them is how they sound when you're hitting a cymbal. You can certainly
make the case that it's not the same as striking a cymbal with a wood stick.
I think there were one or two songs in the studio where I actually had a wood
stick in my right hand and an Easton stick in my left hand, just to get a little
more of a natural sound.