Lars Ulrich recently celebrated 40 years with Tama Drums and marked the occasion with an interview on Metallica’s YouTube channel. He recalled how he chose Tama as his to-go brand with the Neil Peart’s influence in the band’s early years.
Lars Ulrich talks about Neil Peart
The drummer shared, “In ’83, when Cliff [Burton] joined the band, I added a second bass drum and re-covered the Camco kit all in black. This was also the drum kit that got stolen, I believe, in early ’84. One morning, we got a call from one of our cue guys saying that the whole truck was just gone.”
Ulrich had debuted his Camco kit at Metallica’s first concert at Radio City in Anaheim, California, in March 1982. It wasn’t long after the release of ‘Ride the Lightning’ that Peart convinced him to switch to Tama drums.
“Our new managers had a relationship with Rush,” the drummer noted. “I found myself on the phone in the fall of 1984 with Neil Peart, who obviously, at that time, was the number one guy on that pyramid. [He] certainly was at the very top, and as an aspiring drummer, talking to Neil was just crazy cool. And I had understood the overlap between Camco and Tama, and Tama was basically my first choice.”
“So, one thing led to another, and I was talking to Neil, and then he sort of connected the dots and put me in contact with the good folks at Tama. Talking to him and having him help open the door to this relationship that’s been in place for 30 years was an amazing way to kick it off. Tama was what I was after, and Tama is where I ended up.”
Ulrich currently plays on a Starclassic Maple series kit, including 10″ and 12″ rack toms, two 16″ floor toms, and two 22″ bass drums. He used an orange version of this kit from 2008 to 2016, and on the M72 World Tour, he brought a bright yellow version complemented by black hardware.
A special drum kit mirroring Ulrich’s custom ‘72 Seasons’ tour kit just arrived to celebrate his 40th anniversary with Tama. It’s limited to only 72 pieces worldwide.
