James Hetfield’s Son’s Band Reveals Advice He Gave Them

When you’re the child of a musician and you’re a musician yourself, there are likely a few things you’re going to learn about the business from your parent. James Hetfield’s son Castor Hetfield is in a band called Bastardane, and in a new interview with Loudwire Nights host Toni Gonzalez, the fledgling artists revealed the advice that the Metallica frontman gave them.

Bastardane is a trio consisting of bassist and vocalist Jake Dallas, guitarist Ethan Sirotzki and Hetfield on drums. Their first album Is This Rage came out this past March, and since then, they’ve embarked on a couple of different tours, including one with OTTTO — which features Robert Trujillo’s son Tye Trujillo. While Hetfield wants to have his own experience as a band and doesn’t want to live in the shadows of his father, he admitted that the best advice he’s ever received came from him.

“My dad had told me a lot of his tour horror stories from when he was young, so I feel like that helps, so we can pre-learn from his mistakes. Like just leaving all your gear in the car and having everything stolen out of it, or partying maybe a little too much and then having the next show not be as great, just things about consistency, which is something I think is really important,” Hetfield explained.

His bandmate chimed in, adding that he also held a piece of advice from the Metallica singer pretty closely.

“Right before we were playing one of the San Francisco shows, [it was] advice in terms of nerves. I remember him saying basically, ‘The audience wants you to do well just as much as you want to do well. The audience is there to have a good time.’ Because at times it can feel like if you mess up, it feels like they’re going to judge you and have a bad time, but that’s really not the case. It’s useful to hear stuff like that.”

Bastardane’s next show is set for tonight (June 10) in Seal Beach, Calif. with OTTTO, and then they have another nine upcoming shows they’re going to play on their own. See all of the dates here, and follow @LoudwireNights on Twitter for more details on when the full interview will air on the show.

Loudwire Nights with Toni Gonzalez airs nightly at 7PM ET. Tune in anytime from anywhere right here or with the Loudwire app.