Robert Trujillo
The Big 4 tour was really great.
We enjoy playing small shows, big shows, whatever. There's the energy of the visual production, and all that stuff starts to happen, so when you see it come to life, it's pretty exciting.
With Metallica, it's hard. I tend to like it all, but the older stuff, when we get into the deeper cuts, it really excites me personally.
You want your fanbase and new fans too, to embrace the music, the new music.
We like to challenge ourselves, and having new material and presenting it to the world is fun and exciting and fresh.
I believe in rock and roll and heavy music in general.
When Lars said, 'We want you to be in Metallica,' I was blown away.
What I have learned about Metallica is that it's all about taking chances and challenges.
'Some Kind of Monster' is a challenge, and 'Through the Never' is an extension of that. Even the album we made with Lou Reed, it was a challenge.
For me, the most important thing that I tell young people is to have fun.
I play in Metallica, and I have fun in Metallica. I tell you, I am the luckiest man on the planet because we have a good time and we're happy. When we put on our guitars, we're teenagers again, and that's where the fun comes in.
Don't make music to make money, because that's not why you should be doing it. Have fun, be creative, and embrace the past.
I think that young people should embrace artists like Lemmy from Motorhead but also be open to different styles.
Any band that you have, any relationship in your life, is gonna come with moments of tension.
Joe Walsh is somebody who... he's a writer, obviously, and he's a singer-songwriter, whatever, but at the end of the day, when it comes to the Eagles, he's there to play guitar, and he's there to supply whatever is needed for that band, and that is what I feel with Metallica.
There is a lot of energy between Lars and James, and sometimes that energy can erupt. I know that before I was in the band, Kirk was the guy who was often in the middle, and it was important at that time. And now I feel like sometimes I'm the guy that's in the middle between not just James and Lars, but even Kirk.
I feel, in my life, in any situation I've been in, I've always been sort of in the middle.
Each album you make, each body of music, you just never know how the world's going to relate to it.
I was fortunate to not get wrapped up too hard in anything that was too dangerous.
I went to jazz school. Not to say I'm a great jazz musician, but I studied under some great teachers. It was an important part of my life.
I didn't write 'Enter Sandman.'
Bill Ward, when you hear his beats, he's not just playing a straight 4/4 beat; he's doing almost a hip-hop beat. There's a song called 'Sweet Leaf.' The drum beat that he's playing, he's trying to kind of swing and funkify it. Now, is he doing a great job of it? Maybe not. Maybe.
You listen to a Metallica song, and you listen to the drums, and they're not necessarily swinging, but the arrangements are different. Why is that? Because it's more in tune with jazz arrangements. It's very different. It's not a traditional rock and roll production, in terms of the drums.
I've been friends with Jaco Pastorius's son since 1996 - Johnny Pastorius, the eldest son. And I remember when I first met him, I said, 'Some day, you've gotta make a film about your father,' because his influence is so broad.
Back in the day, being a young, inspired bass player, I started to gravitate toward jazz fusion. I almost would have called myself an elitist. I got to the point where, for a little bit there, I was more interested in instrumental music.
The first album I ever bought was Santana's 'Abraxas.' Obviously, I was a huge fan of Carlos because he had the unique guitar sound, and he had incorporated a lot of the percussion and really, really fun rhythmic bass lines in there, too.
Lemmy is, I think, for anybody in the world of rock n' roll - you don't have to be a bass player - he is a pioneer, and he was true to his music and also the lover of a lot of different styles of music.
I knew Rocky George, the guitar player, 'cause I went to junior high school with him, so I've known him for many years.
My first gig with Metallica was at San Quentin State Penitentiary.
The great thing about Santa Monica civic auditorium was it was a place you could ride your bike to. In this case, my dad dropped me and my friends off, and we'd go see Ronnie James Dio or Jean-Luc Ponty or Weather Report or the Pretenders.
We used to go to Palm Springs, ditch school when I was in eleventh grade, and go hang out poolside with our ghetto blaster and listen to Pat Metheny 'Offramp' and kind of trip out on a lot of his music.
When I first heard the song 'Eruption,' which is Eddie Van Halen's most famous solo composition, I was confused because it sounded incredible, but I didn't know what it was. I didn't know if it was a guitar. I didn't know if it was a synthesizer or a keyboard. I couldn't figure it out.
I think Slayer is a funky band.
I don't generally like things that are too pedestrian. But at the same time, and if I'm in the right mood, hey - I ain't gonna lie - I listen to Joni Mitchell. I listen to 'Blue,' I listen to Miles Davis.
In a lot of ways, Metallica is like a fusion band. It's not necessarily jazz or any of that, but the music is grooving.
I like that Metallica has found a way to have these non-pedestrian arrangements but then the vocal melody is strong and intense. I've always appreciated that as a fan.
Writing a Metallica song is a journey and a process, and it takes time, but that's what's special about it.
One of the things that I've noticed since I've been in the band is that, as players, Lars, James, and Kirk truly enjoy making music and performing.
The great thing about Metallica's music and the lyrics, it's always going to be hopefully a motivating experience.
It's very important to us, family, and the balance of family within the band is probably the most important. Metallica is important, but when you have your wife and your kids, and you need to maintain that and keep the peace, it's important to work around the schedule of the kids' schools.
I always say my role in Metallica is to support the song and to support my team, and whatever that means, I'm there for it.
I always say, 'Hey, I'm in Metallica, but I wasn't on the Black Album.'
What we're doing is special and unique in its own way but still keeping it heavy. For me as a listener, part of the journey I'm on with Metallica, there's just a certain edge that needs to be there.
The cool thing about the smaller gigs - it's the intimacy. You really feel connected to the crowd.
You can make an album, and people won't get it. Or won't connect with it. Or won't - whatever is going on in the universe at that time, it doesn't really register.
We see kids out there on their parent's shoulders rocking out. And that's really special.
I feel like I've always been a great mediator.
We absolutely cherish our kids. But the fact that we all have them - it's definitely created an additional bond. It's not just Metallica - it's our families. And we also have Metallica.
You need to find a way to propel this creativity to the masses. People get brainwashed and they start to forget what's good.Collection: Creativity