S&M² - a must-see celebration of the 20th anniversary of Metallica’s groundbreaking S&M concerts and album recorded with the San Francisco Symphony - hits the big screen on October 9 for one night only in over 3,000 movie theaters around the world.

Just two weeks out from conducting the San Francisco Symphony as it joins Metallica for the grand opening of Chase Center, San Francisco Chronicle caught up with Edwin Outwater during a leisurely hike in Sun Valley, Idaho.

“I may be chilling now, but once I’m back in San Francisco, we go straight into rehearsal,” Outwater said. “There will be a lot of rehearsals.”

The concerts (to be recorded live on September 6 and 8), conducted by Outwater, with a special appearance by Symphony Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas, mark the 20th anniversary of Metallica’s first performance with the Symphony at the Berkeley Community Theater in 1999 (that show was conducted by the late Michael Kamen).

Outwater talks about the thrill and challenges of working with the world’s biggest hard rock band. An excerpt from the Q&A follows:

Q: Were you much of a Metallica fan before this project came up, or was it a crash course in “Master Of Puppets” for you?

A: I grew up in a rock music family. My dad was head of engineering at Warner Records. His mother worked for Ella Fitzgerald. My first rock concert was Alice Cooper. I grew up listening to metal. Then I got into other kinds of super eclectic music. Once I got the Metallica gig, I decided to really immerse myself. I’ve been listening to nonstop thrash metal for the past few months."

Read the full interview at San Francisco Chronicle.

Get tickets for the S&M² big screen event on October 9 at metallica.film/.

For those seeking to skip the merch line at the show, pre-order event gear here. All merch ships the week of September 9 - after the show.