In this episode of Tribute Band Sessions, we sit down with Jaymz Lennfield of Beatallica — the legendary band that fuses The Beatles and Metallica into mind-bending mashups that somehow feel like both bands wrote them on purpose. Jaymz breaks down the wild origin story: how a one-night spoof festival in Milwaukee led to homemade CDs, BitTorrent chaos, and the internet effectively naming the band “Beatallica” for them. Then things got real — licensors got involved, the Beatles side became complicated, and (yes) Lars Ulrich actually called Jaymz at home after reporters started playing Beatallica tracks in Metallica interviews. We get into the real behind-the-scenes of being a long-running mashup/tribute act: How Beatallica started at Spoof Fest (April 1, 2001) The internet blow-up: CDs → MP3s → BitTorrent → global attention Why putting music out “for free” still created licensing problems The Metallica relationship, approvals, and staying on the right side of trademarks Why some Beatles songs (especially George Harrison estate material) are a hard “no” for official release How Beatallica writes: weaving structures, lyric craftsmanship, and evolving into a more collaborative band Touring: from 75-cap rooms to 20,000-cap festivals, plus Europe and South Korea Meet-and-greets, merch, and the fanbase split: Beatles purists vs metalheads (and the fans who convert) Jaymz’s warning about the future: don’t let AI replace human creativity in mashups This one is packed with history, laughs, and real music-business insight — plus it sets up Part 2 with even more stories (including a Philly sports story Jaymz teased at the end).  Subscribe, like, and drop a comment: Are mashup bands the future of the tribute scene… or should tribute stay “pure”? 🎸 Listen & Follow Tribute Band Sessions: 🌐 ⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🎧 ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🍎 ⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠ 📘 ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠ 📸 ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🎵 ⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🐦 ⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠ 💬 ⁠⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠ 👉 ⁠⁠⁠Watch Tribute Band Sessions on YouTube Find Jaymz Lennfield (Beatallica) https://www.beatallica.org/ #Beatallica#JaymzLennfield#Metallica#TheBeatles#TributeBandSessions Clickable Chapters 00:00 Beatallica goes viral + licensing problems begin 00:46 Intro – Beatles x Metallica mashup madness 02:12 Meet Jaymz Lennfield of Beatallica 02:29 Running multiple projects under an LLC 03:28 Milwaukee roots + longtime connection with Gerg 06:08 Irish influences, folk, black metal, and everything in between 07:53 Why the mashup works musically (feel + groove + vocal shifts) 09:32 “We didn’t find the band… the band found us” 10:11 Spoof Fest (April 1, 2001) + 50 homemade CDs 11:24 The internet/BitTorrent explosion + the band gets its name 13:50 “Free” music still causes licensing trouble 15:28 Reporters play Beatallica in Metallica interviews 15:57 Lars Ulrich calls Jaymz at home (for real) 17:18 How Beatallica stays legit with approvals + licensing 18:15 Why Beatallica is different: weaving songs, not splicing 19:45 Jaymz’s writing role + evolution into full collaboration 23:04 George Harrison estate: songs Beatallica can’t release 24:47 Crowd reaction to live-only mashups 25:22 Beatles fans + metal fans + the “conversion” moment 28:41 Touring the world: US, Europe, South Korea, 75-cap to 20,000 31:12 Favorite shows + the broken-foot tour story 34:29 How the band operates: self-contained, audio-savvy, pro approach 36:05 Meet-and-greets + fan connection 37:28 Set length, costumes, and rotating setlists 42:06 Where the tribute/mashup scene is heading 42:06 Jaymz’s warning: don’t let AI replace creativity 46:30 Where to follow Beatallica + Part 2 tease Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices