BEHIND THERE'S ONE EVERY HELL OF A FAMOUS GUITAR TECH GUITARIST…

GUITAR TECHS WHOSE CURRENT AND FORMER EMPLOYERS INCLUDE METALLICA’S JAMES HETFIELD, MEGADETH’S DAVE MUSTAINE AND RUSH’S ALEX LIFESON — PLUS THE OFFSPRING, WHITESNAKE, ADELE, SLAYER, HOLE, JOURNEY, DEF LEPPARD, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA AND SCORES MORE — DISCUSS THE INS AND OUTS OF THE JOB, SURVIVAL ON THE ROAD AND LIFE 20 FEET AWAY FROM STARDOM

- ADAM KOVAC

FOR DECADES

METALLICA’S members performed more than enough hijinks and shenanigans to earn their reputation for alcohol-fuelled hedonism. For the past 16 years, Chad Zaemisch has been along for that ride — just don’t count on him for too many debauched stories from the road. While James Hetfield is playing the opening riffs to “Nothing Else Matters” or “Master of Puppets” to thousands of adoring fans, Zaemisch is the guy who made sure the guitar was set up, restrung and in tune, that the ever-evolving amp and effects rig was in order, that the wireless system isn’t pulling a Nigel Tufnel and that the metal god is, in general, a happy deity.

Zaemisch is one of the all-too-often anonymous guitar techs, a profession that is done best when nobody in a gigantic audience realizes he exists. Going by stereotypes perpetuated by pop-culture oddities like 1980 comedy Roadie (a forgotten film whose unbelievable cast includes Meat Loaf, Alice Cooper, Roy Orbison and Blondie) or the Tenacious D song of the same name, life running the backline is a cycle of shlepping amps and then partying till you puke. The reality, according to Zaemisch, is far more mundane. On Metallica’s recent summer tour, his day started at 9 a.m. to load in and didn’t stop until well after tens of thousands of fans had filtered out of the venue.

“By that time, it can be 11:30 or 12 at night. It can be a little hard to wind down after all that excitement and work and that level of energy,” he says. “Next thing you know it, it’s 2 a.m. and you’re thinking about having to get up at 7:30 so you’d better try and get some sleep.”