Former METALLICA Bassist JASON NEWSTED Releases Video Update From The Studio

Former METALLICA, VOIVOD and FLOTSAM AND JETSAM bassist Jason Newsted has posted a new one-minute video update from his recording studio in Walnut Creek, California where he is recording the first music from his new band.

Commented Jason: "I've got a new heavy band together that bears my name — NEWSTED, like that — and I'm singing lead vocals and playing bass again. And we're busy working on our second batch of new songs that we'll be sharing with you soon, but our first batch of songs is ready to go. So instead of a standard press release, I would your help to get the word out to all metal fans and all our friends around the globe. So come along and join my crew by signing up at NewstedHeavyMetal.com to receive exclusive details on upcoming releases of our new songs."

In a recent interview with Eddie Trunk's "Friday Night Rocks" radio show on New York's Q104.3 FM, Newsted stated about his plans to release original music via his newly launched official web site, "Whatever it ends up being — if it's five songs, 20 songs, 50 songs… I don't even know what the heck I'm gonna do. I have so much music from over the years. I have a bunch of new stuff, I have so many mixes of projects with people — new players, young players, old-school players like myself — so I'm just trying to figure out exactly what I wanna unleash on everybody first. That's kind of what it's coming down to — the timing of things and how I wanna hit people with it, and which stuff [to release first]."

Asked how he plans to release his music, Jason said, "I see a couple of the old avenues still being there that will always be there in the purest form — making the vinyl and everybody having the special-edition vinyl to be able to read the lyrics, stuff like you and I loved the most, that's the closest to us that's the most endearing and the most personal. So that's always gonna be there and I never wanna dismiss that, so that will be percentage of it for the fans that really dig the real American kick-ass guitar music … And then the newest avenues that I'm just really now learning about as I expose myself to all this stuff… I saw a piece of one of ['That Metal Show' espisodes on VH1 Classic] and somebody talked about DOWN and some other bands doing four tracks at a time in EP form every few months, letting people have some fresh metal. I think that's a pretty good concept, a pretty good formula — I'm hip to that, [and] I'd like to warm up to that. Since it is new territory for me, I'm really open to that idea; I think it's a good way to spread stuff."

Newsted married his longtime girlfriend Nicole Leigh Smith in October.

In his acceptance speech at METALLICA's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction in April 2009, Jason thanked Nicole — whom he referred to as "the love of my life" — for "standing by me through the last seven years of challenges and adventures."