Tom Lanham of Examiner.com recently conducted an interview with METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

On how being a father is more demanding than anything else he has ever done in his life:

"Because having kids has changed everything in my life, from my relations to other people to my awareness of myself — you find yourself getting involved, getting passionate, paying attention, you find yourself for the first time in your life thinking of others and not just yourself."

On his strict regular daily ritual that begins when the rooster crows:

"The alarm clock goes off at 6:45 a.m., I get a quick cup of tea while I check the headlines in the paper, and then I, you know...start."

On how, hailing from Denmark along with his girlfriend Connie Nielsen, they're unable to vote in this country:

"But we pay taxes and have American kids. So we try to be as active in our community as we can be to contribute to our kids' futures. And instead of thinking about the next METALLICA record as your priority, you're thinking about your kids. And the METALLICA stuff kind of works its way around that."

On the band's decision to waive longtime producer Bob Rock for Rick Rubin for the new album (which is tentatively due in February):

"For our own sanity, our own creative survival, we needed to work with a different set of circumstances and dynamics. So we've been stripped of our defense mechanisms, and it's been very invigorating to be challenged again. Rick's taken everything we've known about making records and completely turned it upside down."

On working songtitles:

"There's one called '19', '10', 'German Soup', 'Glass Cow', and even 'Black Squirrel'. Just names that relate to where the idea came from, like Glasgow, Scotland became 'Glass Cow'. And when we don't have anything clever to call it, we just call it a number. They're just silly working titles."

On whether the songs are punchier, four or five minutes long:

"Well, the most of the intros are four to five minutes. I don't know — METALLICA and short songs just don't go that well together. But whereas 'St. Anger' was an exercise in over-pummelling the listener, these new songs echo some of our stuff from the '80s — long, epic journeys through different musical landscapes, heavier, but a lot more melodic."

On playing the Bridge School Benefit this coming weekend:

"When Neil Young calls, all you say is 'yes,' and 'when and where.' Neil has dedicated his whole life to helping others, so when he calls you don't ask any questions. All you do is show up."