Lars Ulrich
Lars Ulrich
| Lars Ulrich | |
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 Lars Ulrich performing live in London 15 September 2008
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| Background information | |
| Born | December 26, 1963 Gentofte, Denmark |
| Genre(s) | Heavy metal, thrash metal, hard rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Songwriter, Producer |
| Instrument(s) | Drums |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Associated acts | Metallica |
| Website | www.metallica.com |
Lars Ulrich (born December 26 1963) is a Danish drummer best known as the co-founder of the American heavy metal band Metallica. He was born in Gentofte, Denmark to an upper-middle class family. A tennis prodigy in his youth, Ulrich moved to Los Angeles, California at age sixteen to pursue his training, but instead of playing tennis, he ended up as a drummer. After publishing an advertisement in a local Los Angeles newspaper called The Recycler, he met James Hetfield and formed Metallica.
Biography
Lars' father, Torben Ulrich, who was an acclaimed tennis pro from the late 1970s into the early 1980s, was also a musician, playing jazz with giants such as Stan Getz and Miles Davis; legendary saxophonist Dexter Gordon is Ulrich's godfather. In February 1973, Torben Ulrich obtained five passes for five of his friends to a Deep Purple concert that was being held in the same Copenhagen stadium as one of his tournaments. When it was discovered that one of the friends could not go, their ticket was handed over to the nine year-old Lars. The young Ulrich found himself mesmerized by the performance, buying the band's Fireball album the very next day. The concert and the album had a considerable impact on Ulrich, inspiring his entrance into the world of rock and roll and later on, heavy metal. As a result of his newfound interest in music, he received his first drum kit at the age of thirteen, a Ludwig. Lars' original goal and reason for moving to America was to play tennis, but the plan was later changed when he formed Metallica.
Later on in life, in 1981, Lars discovered a British heavy metal band called Diamond Head. He was so excited about their style of music after getting hold of their 1980 debut Lightning to the Nations that he traveled all the way from San Francisco to London in order to see the band perform live at the Woolwich Odeon. However, the young Lars had not planned the trip out particularly well and was left without anywhere to stay after the gig. However, he managed to meet the band backstage and explain the lengths he had taken to see them. The band warmed to him and lead guitarist Brian Tatler let him stay with him in Birmingham,[1] where Lars spent the next few weeks touring with the band. Lars still remains a big fan of the band and even helped mix their Best Of album.
In the same year Lars met James Hetfield in Downey, California and formed the thrash metal band Metallica. He became known as a pioneer of fast thrash drum beats, featured on many of Metallica's early songs, such as "Metal Militia" from Kill 'Em All, "Fight Fire With Fire" from Ride the Lightning, "Dyers Eve" from ...And Justice for All, and "Battery" from Master of Puppets. He has since been considerably influential due to both the popularity of his band, as well as his various drum techniques, such as the double bass in the song "One" (...And Justice for All) and the opening of "Enter Sandman" (Metallica / "The Black Album"). When discussing Metallica in an October 2007 interview, Evile frontman Matt Drake stated that "on The Black Album [otherwise known as the group's eponymous 1991 album], the drums produce the best drum sound I've ever heard on any album".[2]
Napster controversy
In April 2000, Ulrich became a vocal opponent of Napster and file sharing as Metallica sued the company for copyright infringement and racketeering. In July 2000, he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee after Metallica's entire catalogue was found to be freely available for download on the service. The case was settled out-of-court, resulting in more than 300,000 Napster users being banned from the service.[3] Due to his high profile role in Napster's legal troubles and subsequent demise, Ulrich faced significant criticism and ridicule from users of the service.[4] Since the Napster ordeal, Ulrich was quoted by LAUNCHcast as having some regrets:[5]
| “ | I wish that I was more...you know, I felt kind of ambushed by the whole thing because I didn't really know enough about what we were getting ourselves into when we jumped. [...] We didn't know enough about the kind of grassroots thing, and what had been going on the last couple of months in the country as this whole new phenomenon was going on. We were just so stuck in our controlling ways of wanting to control everything that had to do with METALLICA. So we were caught off guard and we had a little bit of a rougher landing on that one than on other times than when we just blindly leap. But you know, I'm still proud of the fact that we did leap... and I took a lot of hits and it was difficult. | ” |
One such 'hit' was being featured in an episode of South Park in which the children are taught not to download illegally because multi-millionaires like Ulrich now have to wait a little longer to buy expensive, extravagant things, like the ridiculous "gold-plated shark tank bar beside the pool". The segment is a parody of the Napster case. Ulrich has been target to many verbal attacks after this incident.
Personal life
Ulrich was married to Skylar Satenstein, an emergency medicine physician, for seven years and had two sons with her, Myles (b. August 5, 1998) and Layne (b. May 6, 2001). Satenstein was the inspiration for "Skylar", the love interest for Will Hunting (Matt Damon) in the movie Good Will Hunting, as Satenstein and Damon dated when they were both in college. Ulrich and Satenstein divorced in March 2004.
Ulrich has been dating Danish actress Connie Nielsen since 2004 and the couple had their first child, Bryce Thadeus Ulrich-Nielsen, born in San Francisco on May 21, 2007.[6] Nielsen also has another son named Sebastian (b. 1991).
Ulrich is also a noted collector of art, claiming that :"Hanging out backstage with Kid Rock is an amazing turn-on, no less so than sitting and staring at my Dubuffet for an hour with a gin and tonic." In 2002 he sold a painting by American graffiti artist Basquiat aptly named "Profit I" for more than $5 million. [7] In October, 2008, he announced he would sell his second Basquiat, which was expected to top bidding at $12 million.
Equipment
Ulrich is an endorser of Tama Drums, Zildjian Cymbals and Remo Drumheads. He is rarely, if ever, seen without these brands onstage. He has, however, been known to use a mixture of brands when recording in the studio, including Ludwig Drums, Gretsch Drums and Sabian Cymbals. Ulrich was an endorsee of Calato Regal Tip drumsticks, but changed to Easton Ahead in 1994. Tama Drums has produced two Lars Ulrich Signature Snare drums, one with a steel shell (with diamond plate-like finish) and another made out of bell brass which currently is Tama's most expensive snare drum on the regular catalogue. Both snare drums measure 14x6.5".
Current Tour Kit (2008):
Tama Starclassic Maple Drums & Zildjian Cymbals:
- Drums – Marigold Sparkle (finish # MGS)
- 10" x 8" Tom (model # SMT1008)
- 12" x 10" Tom (model # SMT1210)
- 16" x 14" Floor Tom (model # SMF1614)
- 16" x 16" Floor Tom (model # SMF1616)
- 22" x 16" Bass Drum (model # SMB2216)
- 22" x 16" Bass Drum (model # SMB2216)
- 14" x 6.5" Lars Ulrich Signature Snare Drum (model # LU1465)*
- Note: Ulrich uses the standard Lars Ulrich Signature LU1465 snare live on tour (diamond plate), while he uses both the LU1465 and LU1465BB (bell brass) in the studio, depending on what type of sound he wants.
- Cymbals – Zildjian
- 14" Z Custom Dyno Beat Hi-Hats
- 19" A Series Medium Crash
- 18" A Series Medium Crash
- 17" A Series Medium Crash x2
- 20" Z Custom China
- 20" Oriental Trash China
- Drum Heads - Remo
- 10" Tom - TOP: Coated Emperor (model # BE-0110-00); BOTTOM: Clear Ambassador (model # BA-0310-00)
- 12" Tom - TOP: Coated Emperor (model # BE-0112-00); BOTTOM: Clear Ambassador (model # BA-0312-00)
- 14" Tom - TOP: Coated Emperor (model # BE-0114-00); BOTTOM: Clear Ambassador (model # BA-0314-00)
- 16" Tom - TOP: Coated Emperor (model # BE-0116-00); BOTTOM: Clear Ambassador (model # BA-0316-00)
- 22" Bass - BACK: Clear Powerstroke 3 w/Falam Patch (model # P3-1122-C2); FRONT: Ebony Powerstroke 3 w/ 5" Black Dynamo (model # P3-1022-ES)
- 22" Bass - BACK: Clear Powerstroke 3 w/Falam Patch (model # P3-1122-C2); FRONT: Ebony Powerstroke 3 w/ 5" Black Dynamo (model # P3-1022-ES)
- 14" Snare - TOP: Coated Controlled Sound w/Black Dot On Bottom (model # CS-0114-10); BOTTOM: Clear Hazy Ambassador (model # SA-0114-00)
- Hardware - Tama and Drum Workshop
- Tama Iron Cobra Power Glide Kick Pedal (model # HP900P)
- Tama Iron Cobra Power Glide Kick Pedal (model # HP900P)
- Tama Iron Cobra Lever Glide Hi-Hat Stand (model # HH905)
- Tama Cymbal Holder (model # HC104TB)
- Tama Cymbal Holder (model # HC104TB)
- Tama Cymbal Holder (model # HC104TB)
- Tama Cymbal Holder (model # HC104TB)
- Tama Cymbal Holder (model # HC104TB)
- Tama Tom Stand (model # HTW99)
- Tama Snare Stand (model # HS90)
- Tama Multi-Clamp (model # MC62)
- Tama Hi-Hat Attachment (model # MHA623)
- Tama Ergo-Rider Drum Throne (model # HT310)
- DW Drop-Lock Hi-Hat Clutch (model # DWSM505)
- Sticks - Ahead
- Lars Ulrich Signature 16-1/4" length, .595" diameter (model # LU)
References
Books
- Steffan Chirazi and Metallica (2004). So What!: The Good, The Mad, and The Ugly. Broadway. ISBN 0767918819.
Notes
- ↑ Galaway Advertiser, The Week, June 2007
- ↑ Morgan, Anthony (2007-10). "“Armoured Assault” - Evile frontman Matt Drake hails gargantuan Thrash masterpiece Enter the Grave". Lucem Fero. Retrieved on 2008-05-03.
- ↑ The Falcon Newspaper - Napster bans more than 300,000 for downloading Metallica
- ↑ YouTube - Napster Bad
- ↑ PiTRiFF Online
- ↑ "METALLICA Drummer LARS ULRICH, Girlfriend CONNIE NIELSEN Expecting", Blabbermouth.net (December 6, 2006). Retrieved on 18 November 2006.
- ↑ "Metallica drummer to sell $12 million Basquiat painting". www.meeja.com.au (2008-10-11). Retrieved on 2008-10-11.
External links
| Find more about Lars Ulrich on Wikipedia's sister projects: | |
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Quotations |
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Images and media |
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News stories |
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Learning resources |
- And Justce for All Kit for Roland Vdrums TD12
- "Lars Ulrich's Biography on Metallica.com". Metallica.com. Retrieved on December 30, 2005.
- "Lars Ulrich's St Anger Tour Setup". Tamadrum.co.jp. Retrieved on February 19, 2006.
- "Lars Ulrich's Load/ReLoad/Garage Inc./S&M Tour Setup". Tama.com. Retrieved on February 19, 2006.
- "Napster bans more than 300,000 for downloading Metallica". thefalcononline.com. Retrieved on June 19, 2007.
- Lars' kit setup
- Lars Ulrich Drummerworld.com profile
- New York Times article about Lars' art collection
History
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