Metallica frontman James Hetfield moved out of the San Francisco Bay Area because he felt like there was an "elitist attitude there," he told UFC personality Joe Rogan on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast.
"If you weren't their way politically, their way environmentally, all of that, you were looked down upon," Hetfield said.
California is known for being one of the most liberal states in the U.S.
"I kind of got sick of the Bay Area, the attitudes of the people there, a little bit," Hetfield said. "They talk about how diverse they are, and things like that, and it's fine if you're diverse like them. But showing up with a deer on the bumper doesn't fly in Marin County. My form of eating organic doesn't vibe with theirs."
In San Francisco, Hetfield said he caught flak for harvesting his own meat, which, in part forced him to move his family to Vail, Colo.
"I think in Colorado, everyone is very natural; they're not posturing," Hetfield said. ". . . They're less obsessed with stopping with what you're doing, and more enjoying with what they're doing.
". . . I feel more at home in the Midwest or the mountains or something. I love the Bay Area. I love what it's got to offer. There was just an attitude that wasn't healthy for me – starting to feel like I was fighting all the time, like I had to get out of my own head."
Hetfield, 53, said the move was an easy one, as his wife lived in Vail when she was younger.
"I'm not a huge skier, but I can ski and I have fun doing it. My kids love it. My wife turns into a kid when we go there, which I kind of like," Hetfield added. "It's a little more like me. . . . I guess I'm more old school. I think the Bay Area prides itself in being progressive. I love the convenience of that but there's a part of me that's just frontier style. I like being simple."
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