JUSTIN CREW INTERVIEW // For 25+ years, Kirk Hammett of Metallica has relied upon Justin Crew...
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ย. 2023
- In this in-depth interview, guitar tech extraordinaire Justin Crew shares 25+ years of insights on working for Kirk Hammett and Metallica! Topics include a detailed history of Kirk's rig from Mesa-Boogie half stacks up to the Fractal Audio Axe-Fx, Greeny, the Black Burst, and much more. If you love Metallica, Kirk, and his gear, this video's for you!!!
Tower Records parking lot footage courtesy of the good folks @bootlegcowboys - เพลง
Thank you for all being so polite, this is so far out of my comfort zone.
It’s a wonderful interview and you clearly love what you do and are VERY good at it! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experiences with everyone.
Justin, if every guitar played had a Justin Crew, the world would be a MUCH better place. THANK YOU:)
are you Justin???
GREAT stuff, Justin!! And Doug!
@@coopercartercoming from you that's high praise - thanks for tha!!!
I got emotional when Mr. Justin talked about Kirk at the Jeff Beck Tribute because I've just read a lot of hate comments on his playing that day and Kirk doesn't deserve so much hate 🥺
People seem to think that being mean is cool. Kirk is a great guy, great player, and has worked hard for decades and has both earned and deserves his success. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts - MUCH appreciated (ditto for watching).
@@DougDopplerMusic So true, it was a great interview, Mr. Justin is a great supporter for Kirk and it's nice to hear his thoughts.
That is the first in-depth interview with Justin I have seen. Thanks, Doug!!
Hey Chris! Thanks for watching and jumping in to comment:) Kirk's tech for 25+ years, we should all be so lucky:)
This is SO excellent - I hope you do more "tech" interviews, as they are truly the unsung heroes of the music biz.
So good - thank you!
JIMMY - true that!!! Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. And yes, more to come:)
@@DougDopplerMusicAWESOME stuff!😮 Any chances to go nerdy with Chad on James' stuff? :)
@@aek4018 I would love to interview Chad - he was part of a tech roundup livestream with Maddi Schieferstein and John Zocco, but we did not get a chance to do a deep dive on the James end of things and that would be AMAZING - noted and THANKS ~ Doug:)
Super interesting. Awesome interview! That little story at the end with the roadie coming up to him and telling him he knew him from the Cunning Stunts video was beautiful.
TOTALLY agreed - I LOVE that part, class act! Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment:)
I love Justin. I will always remember the moment he gave me the setlist in Amsterdam a few months back
That would make two of us, set list excepted! Thanks for sharing - appreciated:)
Justin is such a great part of the Metallica family.
TOTALLY AGREED!!!
Thanks for doing this interview!
With pleasure, and thanks for taking the time to comment - appreciated:)
Amazing interview ! Thank you so much 🤘
Actually, thank you - appreciated:)
wonderful interview. Thank you
THANKS LaMarr, appreciated:)
Thank you for this excellent interview.
Fantastic interview! Thanks so much for this. We need more of these interviews that give us insight into the huge support these mega bands have to deliver for the fans night after night with such great people like Justin!!! Merci!!!!
MANY thanks for the kind words and prodding - YES more to come. THANKS, again ~ Doug;)
Fantastic Interview. Thanks for sharing.
With GREAT pleasure - thanks for watching and taking the time to share you kind words:)
Oh my, I LOVED this!!! Justin and Chad are AMAZING. Super cool interview, thank you so much!
Actually thank YOU and yes, the ARE amazing!!!
Love this tech stuff , what a great interview
This is amazing. I love stuff like this.
Appreciate your watching and taking the time to share your kind words - appreciated:)
great interview , thank you
THANKS James, appreciated;)
Great to hear I’m not the only one that learns songs while doing other things, on shuffle.🎉
No better way to get it the subconscious than listening to it subconsciously - right?!?
Really enjoyed that.
Great to hear Nigel - THANKS:)
Lovely interview. 🎉
THANKS, appreciated:)
wow the Greeny story is awesome
Agreed - TOTALLY awesome!
This was fantastic! Would love to see more like this! Maddy next?
MIKE:) Hmm...
Except Kirk's clean tone, always sounds like shit compering to James 😕
Doug you’re amazing brother! It was so nice to meet you at Vai Academy 7.0 🎸✅🙏 sincerely,NormanSmith
Cool interview!
Well thank you:)
Amazing! 😍
Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment - appreciated:)
What a fabulous interview with really honest insight and not too technical.
It was great to hear the explanation about how he learns to remotely switch the effects in songs at the right time. When he has other things to keep an eye on I was wondering how on earth he multi tasked to that degree and never fouled it up.
With the regard to the tale about the fan I reminded me of a little encounter I had recently at a football match in the UK for my fave team Brighton. I was getting a beer and somehow this guy caught my eye and I immediately realised it was Sean Brady who is Adrian Smith's guitar tech. I might add that I'm a Metallica and Maiden fanatic. I went over and politely me introduced myself and thanked him for the great job he does behind the scenes. He was great and out of his pocket gave me one of Adrian's Legacy of the Beast custom picks. I was totally buzzing.
Not sure if you're UK based Justin but one day you need to invite Kirk with Greenie down to my part of the world. Specifically about 25 miles from me is a little town called Rottingdean where ' someone ' would like to know how Greenie is? And to make a day of it Kirk could always pop along the coast to Brighton later and meet up with Michael Schenker who lives there.
Loved the the tale of his 77 year old grandmother being in the snake pit. Talk about the Metallica family!
Hey Michael - thanks for watching and sharing your lovely comments:) Great to hear about your interaction with Sean Brady - I’ve found that the guitar techs are both lovely people and have a deep appreciation for the fans. And yes, the pit story was endearing, as is the whole Metallica family vibe - pretty amazing. I didn’t know Michael was back in the UK - what a legend!
Ohh no no no I never said "I never fouled up" it happens... One of the biggest lessons I have learnt is you HAVE to let that go, otherwise you are thinking about your last mistake and then numerous more are coming your way. After all these years it is still something KH and I HAVE to remind each other to do OFTEN. Kick yourself after the show but try not to do it during. It is so hard to do. Doug and I should have broached this subject, Thank you for bringing it up.
Just discovered your channel and I’m enjoying it. I have to say that you may be the long lost son of Tim Pierce lol. Great interview on the inner workings of my favorite band since the 80s. Cheers.
RUSS!!! What a GREAT way to start my day - THANKS for that, ALL of it - have a GREAT weekend ~ Doug;)
You can see Justin on the making of Phil Collins Both Sides Tour. He was a keyboard tech for the tour.
AWESOME - didn't know that. And yes, he keeps some pretty amazing company!!!
The other amp that he’s not telling us about is probably a model of my Marshall that Kirk is “borrowing,” and uses on every recording.
YO TOM!!! Was/is that a Todd Langer modded amp?
They are sounding pretty good live nowadays.
Hey Dave - you know, the amazing thing about the parking lot video is how much camera audio captured the essence of what made and continues to make this band iconic. Amazing. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment - appreciated:)
It’s amazing how clever these people are !
Hey John, my favorite part is that Justin is a very much in a ‘best of the best’ class, but still incredibly humble. He’s not only got the goods to get the job done right decade after decade, but he is the kind of guy you never get tired of - and yes VERY clever! Thanks for watching and for taking the time to comment:)
Great interview
Well thanks Claus - appreciate your watching AND taking the time to share your kind words:)
Hope the person he talks about at the end of the interview watches this video and reach out to you. Great interview. Thanks!
#metoo
@@justc5079 Me three!!!
Great questions
MUCH appreciated, thanks for watching and taking the time to share your kind words:)
It takes a very special person to be the Guitar tech for the greatest band of all time. This is such an underrated interview. Well done.
He was a guitar tech. for the Beatles?
Hey Charles’s - MUCH appreciated - Justin is a wonderful guy, quite obviously humble - and yes, that band - and the whole team are a class act who have repeatedly shown their love for their hometown:)
Love to spend a day with him taking it all in.
TOTALLY agreed!!!
Great guy
100%!!!
Very cool!!
THANKS Chris - glad you enjoyed it, thanks for 'saying' so:)
Justin is a jack of all trades! Also served as Tony Banks's (Genesis) keyboard tech.
Didn't know he tech'ed for Tony Banks - thanks for sharing that:)
There were many things we did not discuss but what we did was fun, Another secret Justin Fact on my Resumé are the "Indigo Girls" one of the toughest gigs I have ever done. Looking after both Amy and Emily , different tunings to each other and different Capos on every song took a huge amount of concentration.
@@DougDopplerMusic
Such a cool job
RIGHT?!?
29:03 RIP headphone users 😝 Jokes aside, incredible interview - I’ve watched this twice now and love the time and thought you put into the questions and delivery. Thanks so much for your hard work. Would love to see Chad on here next!
First off, THANK YOU! What a GREAT way to start my day - SO glad you enjoyed this, and yes, there are more to interviews to come. Hope you were in phone during that crow eruption at 29:03! REALLY appreciate your taking the time to share your comment and the heart behind it, MUCH appreciated ~ Doug;)
@@DougDopplerMusic My absolute pleasure - keep up the great work!
Justin's energie is so calm, he is like a Buddah...lovely man
The calm inside the storm:)
amazing lets get nerdy another 3 hr video lol dive into the settings Lol Killer video
THANKS the kind words, encouraging the nerd factor, and for watching:)
That's my uncle J 😎🤟🏻
Lucky you!!!
'hi Lewis
Yes I Am, my mother was an opera singer but all that kind of talent went to my nephew www.youtube.com/@lewisking
That isolation box example is priceless. :D And yeah, with the guitar tone not working in the mix... it's known from studiowork that the guitar tone must be created in context of the mix. Never mind sounding shitty when soloed out.
yea! justin is so cool !!
True that!!!
They are a topteam, thats what i like the most!
TRUE THAT!!!
Should got him to review 50 Wah pedals and select which 9 are always on for the Wahammets intense signal chain.
so are they still using the Head part with the Tubes or is just the speaker cab with the Fractal?
I wonder what the other model amp is used with the mesa. My guessing it is a Marshall. Anyone got any ideas?
2:02 even kirk give finger also looks friendly ... lol
That is indeed one of the friendliest 'freeway fingers' I've ever seen:)
Wow, this guys already been with Kirk for 25 years. Does anyone know whatever happened to Kirk's original guitar tech that went by the name Fergie? I think his real name was Ian Ferguson? I remember I had the documentary called a year and a half in the life of Metallica on vhs as a kid and I remember them doing a gear rundown of Kirk's setup with his guitar tech Fergie. This was during the black album era tours. I remember he wore thick glasses, long hair and he had an English accent. Anyone remember that guy? That was around 1991-1993.
I don't, but if I do, I'll circle back to your comment with an update. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment:)
Unfortunately Fergie passed a few years ago, He was indeed a lovely guy. He will be turning in his grave on hearing he had an "English accent" as he was a very proud Scotsman. But giggling too as he had a great sense of humour. ( I spelt it that way on purpose). Thank you for bringing back memories of him.
Chad is next?? :)
Chad was part of a tech round up with Maddi Schieferstein (John Petrucci's tech) and John Zocco (Phil Collen's tech), so I was really happy to get a chance to do this this Justin. THAT said, I am definitely wanting do a deep dive with each of them, so hopefully that will happen sooner than later. Thanks for watching and the suggestion - appreciated:)
Wow this was fantastic
Thanks for watching and to share your kind comments - enjoy the rest of your weekend:)
Really great interview. Interesting that Justin mentions Kirk’s performance at the Jeff Beck tribute though. I think the reason the crowd initially looks confused is that Kirk plays the whole solo from Train Kept Rolling a semitone out!! It’s pretty excruciating! That being said Kirk can’t play a show anywhere without being on someone’s iPhone! I’m glad all my f&ck ups don’t end up on TH-cam! ……not that anyone would care! 😂
Hey! I have to admit my personal heartbreak in coming to terms with Jeff's passing kept me from watching the tribute content, stupid, but that's the truth. After reading your comments I did go and give Train Kept a Rollin' a listen and I thought Kirk did a great job especially playing next Billy and Ron. That said, yes, the iPhone camera is both a blessing and a curse, and yes, having our good and bad moments out there for all the world to pull apart is definitely confronting! All that said, thanks for watching and taking the time to jump in on the comments - appreciated:)
Class act all the way.
Most definitely!!!
12:11 - Ah...so they HAVE turned the PA volume down in recent years. I remember the shows seemed much louder years ago than they have in recent years.
Indeed. Be it playing in the round and or not wanting to deafen people, it's not a bad thing IMHO:)
Guitar tech for over 2.5 years
Nice - congrats:)
Second amp model a Roland Jazz Chorus 120, per chance?
Hey Jack! I'm pretty sure it would be another dirty amp. The JC-120 however obviously has it's place in Metallica history:)
Jaymz is the JC120 guy
PS I want a greenie -
Yeah you do!!!
axe fx 2 or 3?
Axe-Fx III :)
It's interesting to hear it officially stated that Metallica have turned down their shows considerably on this tour. I haven't seen it in person, but I always felt it must be quieter than usual based on videos I've seen. Especially the ones up close to Lars taken from the front row. You can actually hear the acoustic sounds of his drums from, what must be, 15 feet away! I was thinking, if that had been in 1992-93 when I was first seeing them, you could've put your ear 3 inches from his snare drum and you'd still only hear the PA. I don't quite know what to think of that decision to turn down. I've been to a number of shows that I thought should've been louder, and they're always a letdown.
Hey Tyler - thanks for your message. My opinion, so there's that, but having seen Metallica at the Old Waldorf in 1983 and in the round, I'm personally not missing being blown out of the water by the volume. And trust me, you could DEFINITELY hear Lars' drums back in the day. Regardless, appreciate tour taking the time to watch and share your thoughts - both appreciated;)
@@DougDopplerMusic I could see that, having it been back in the club days. That’s awesome you saw them so early! Anyway, awesome video with Justin. It was very informative.
I think it's good that they are choosing not to give the kids and teenagers at their shows instant tinnitus (which I have developed over the years of listening to their awesome music).
Metallica did a gig in Antarctica?
YES, they did!
th-cam.com/video/2Hi2u98VKxc/w-d-xo.html
I think there is a story about when Justin called Kirk’s Mom a washer woman? You should ask about that one…
before my time, But I believe that happened to a predecessor
I was staying out of the fray on that one. Thanks for answering that Justin:)
do us a favor...hide kirks wah
Funniest reply so far 🤣😂🤣😂luv it
Axe fx 3 sucks. We can year the diferences in tone of those guitar thru the years.
Meathead. There it is then.
I know absolutely nothing about sound. All I can say is this, I've seen Metallica 4 times and the first 3 they used amps live and it was LOUD AS HELL! The 4th time was Slane and the sound was shit. Wasn't loud at all and Lars bass drum didn't have that gut punch it used to 🤷🏻♂️
I remember reading 2004 I think and they tested Lars’ bass drum and yeah it was on another level to system of a downs drum sound who were playing before them
Hey Michael - thanks for watching and jumping into the convo. The first time I saw Metallica was at the Old Waldorf in 1983, and numerous times since then, with amps and with Fractals. For me, the sound has always been great, but I also know that ultimately the experience that people like yourself have is super important. And given your articulation about the bass drum, you know more than nothing. I will saw that certain venues are better for live sound, and most of the places the band plays these days were never designed with this purpose in mind. That said, feedback like yours matters, so thanks for sharing - appreciated:)
Slane castle?
Health and safety laws have been brought in everywhere against high SPLs. Nothing to do with the backline. All stadium gigs are quieter now. I saw U2 at wembley in 1997 and couldn't hear for a day, saw them in 2019 and you could hold a conversation. Saying that, Metallica at download this year was pretty loud, could be heard like 10 miles away.
To me,,the downside to metal rock shows these days is the lower volume, it's stupid cause some pop act out now plays louder, lve seen country shows that's louder,,metal SO weak these days,, shame, shame, shame!
Hey Kenny, I have not seen Metallica on this tour, but the last time they were nice and loud. And while Def Leppard and Motely Crue may not be hard core Metal that show was pretty loud. Noting that I too LOVE it loud, kinda curious which Metal shows you thought were under-mixed in the volume department. Thanks for watching and thanks for sharing your thoughts - both appreciated:)
It's well known Kirk' sound is just crappy...great guitarist but his sound...Cool vid though!
Give it a few years and the tech with be an AI
I hope not!!!