Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett revealed he’d been given a week to complete his debut solo EP Portals once it was decided to release it for Record Store Day.

The vinyl fanatic was presented with the option to tie in with the annual event, even though it meant he had to rush to get the work finished.

“It was all about the timing,” Hammett told Kerrang in a recent interview. “I got a call from management saying we had the opportunity to do it; and we bit the bullet and got everything done in a week so we could get it done for Record Store Day.”

He said the event was “something really cool that I really believe in, because as a kid I used to hang out at record stores and ask about this and that band.” He added: “I love vinyl. I love the packaging, I love the sound, I love the ritual of taking out the record, putting it on the turntable, all of that. So Record Store Day, hell yes!”

Although he felt competent to complete the studio tasks himself, Hammett called on former Metallica producer Bob Rock for help. “I’m so familiar with the whole recording process and getting the sounds – recording, mixing, mastering,” the guitarist explained. “I’m so familiar with all that stuff so that when it came time to do this, yeah, I can do all that myself because I've been doing it for so fricking long. Sometimes I need someone to be subjective with it, though, so I called Bob Rock. I called him up and we mixed the tracks in days.”

Asked about working again with collaborator Edwin Outwater, who conducted the orchestra for Portals, Hammett said: “He was listening to stuff and he just started singing parts at the top of his voice. I looked at him and just thought, ‘This guy is so committed to the music.’ With him on board it turned out much better than either of us expected and we’re forging forward with more collaborations in the making as well. I can’t wait until we start working together again.”

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