Arts & Entertainment, Business, Music
Navigating Egos and Giving Criticism
Lesson time 13:50 min
Learn how to set up a communication style that is conducive to creative collaboration. Members will walk away with practical tips for giving constructive criticism and managing conflict in the service of doing what’s best for the project.
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Topics include: Talk It Out · Understand the Personalities in Your Band · Compromise With a Common Goal · Lay Down a Challenge · There’s No Wrong or Right
Teaches Being a Band
8x Grammy Award–winning rock band Metallica teaches you the keys to communicating, collaborating, and successfully creating as a group.
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[HEAVY METAL MUSIC] JAMES HETFIELD: Time to party-- er, work. - Why do we write such long fucking songs? JAMES HETFIELD: In the early days, there was so much just [MAKES CRASHING NOISE] MAN: Frankly, I don't give a fuck. I'm tired of arguing. RECORDING ENGINEER: I'm sorry I laughed. - The vocal line goes exactly with the guitar. - Just verse and one chorus, that's all I ask. JAMES HETFIELD: You can't play the song without me, or what? [GUITAR RIFF] LARS ULRICH: Is that like-- - Physical fights happened, yes. Most-- most of it was psychic wars, you know, things going on up here, how can I manipulate him to do this and all of that. You know, besides the-- I'm going to-- I call first shower in the hotel, it was-- you know, because there's only two towels. LARS ULRICH: (IRRITATED) What? MAN: You got a phone call. - Get the fuck out of here. - There's the survival stuff. And then there's the I want to dominate, I want my vision to be seen. And I have to squish your vision so mine can be. There's no way these two visions can see each other, you know. Did not have the knowledge of, you know, if I light your candle with my candle, it's-- my candle's still burning. And it's still good. You know, we get two. There was no clue about that. So there were lots of fights around it, who's running the show. But at the end of the day, we did discover and find out that we can-- we can live together, we can compromise, and still have integrity. LARS ULRICH: In the wake of Jason Newsted leaving the band, a performance coach named Phil Towle came in. We started talking to each other. Subsequently there was a film crew that came in. And the movie "Some Kind of Monster" came out of that. [GUITAR RIFF] It was basically the first time where we ever really talked to each other about how we were doing, how we were feeling, and-- and how being in Metallica was affecting us individually. The-- the thing about being in a group is that four individuals then creates a fifth entity which is the collective. It just came to a point where the individual also needed a voice. And so through two or three years of learning to communicate to each other, of learning to stand up for our own needs, came a-- kind of a transitional period around the "St. Anger" record. And subsequently, the Metallica that has now been going for the last 15 to 18 years is in much better shape, internally much healthier. We, I think, enjoy what we're doing more. [ELECTRIC GUITAR AND BASS GUITAR PLAYING] ROBERT TRUJILLO: We all have our demons. And that could definitely cause a problem with the creative flow. One of the things for me is ego. When egos are flaring in your band, it's important for you to understand what's actually happening. Because this is very common in every band. You're dealing with creative minds that are kind of flying all over the place. And somet...
About the Instructor
With 28 albums, 8 Grammy Awards, and a home in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Metallica have been creating iconic music together for over 40 years. Now, they’re teaching what it takes to build and sustain success as a group. Get an exclusive look into their process for songwriting, building an album, and performing, and how they took charge of their creative destiny so you can do the same.
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Metallica
8x Grammy Award–winning rock band Metallica teaches you the keys to communicating, collaborating, and successfully creating as a group.
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