ROBERT TRUJILLO: When I Joined METALLICA, 'I Inherited A Family'

METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo was recently interviewed by host Mitch Joel of the "Groove - The No Treble Podcast". You can now listen to the chat below.

Speaking about how his relationship with his bandmates has evolved in the 20 years since he joined METALLICA, Robert said (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "METALLICA is a family. I inherited a family. I inherited new brothers. As most people know, or I hope they know, when you join a band, especially a band like this, you have a responsibility. In most bands, I think it's common knowledge.'

He continued: "It's one thing to be able to play — of course you've gotta play; you've gotta play your instrument, and they've gotta have confidence in you, and you've gotta perform. So there's all that. But at the same time, as a family member, you've gotta be able to cater to the personalities. And everybody in METALLICA is very, very different; we are definitely not the same. So there's a lot of communication involved in how we work things out and resolve certain things. And sometimes you find yourself — just like you would with your brother — completely pissed off, and you have to navigate the terrain of the personalities, like I would do with my own family, and at the same time what's really important is support. You've gotta know when one of your brothers is down and how to help him. So there's all of that that goes into what it is to be in a band like METALLICA.'

Trujillo added: "It's one thing how we play individually or how we write with other people… Like myself, coming into it later in the game and having been a writer in my other situations, being a main writer, and all of sudden joining METALLICA and not being a main writer but understanding that, okay, I'm here to support as a bass player, I'm here to support James's [Hetfield, METALLICA frontman] idea, or now it's time to create, it's time to write, to be able to understand how to wear that hat. Because it's not about the ego; it's about how you serve the team. And even beyond just the music and the personalities and how you work with each other, there's also the responsibility to the amount of press and the travel involved in that alone. And, obviously, it can be challenging to be on the road all the time, away from your family… It's a lot of everything.

"Being in METALLICA and also growing as a unit creatively has been incredible, because I really believe this. I feel that we've challenged ourselves over the years. We made an album with Lou Reed; obviously, 'S&M²' was really special. Just creative journeys that this band takes and then you grow from all of this and get better."

Trujillo, who was born on October 23, 1964 in Santa Monica, California, tasted success as the bassist in punk-funk pioneers SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and Ozzy Osbourne's band. But in 2003, he successfully auditioned to replace Jason Newsted in METALLICA, a process chronicled in the warts-and-all documentary "Some Kind of Monster".

METALLICA's new album, "72 Seasons", will be released April 14 via the band's own Blackened Recordings. Produced by Greg Fidelman with Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and clocking in at over 77 minutes, the 12-track "72 Seasons" is METALLICA's first full-length collection of new material since 2016's "Hardwired…To Self-Destruct".

METALLICA and Trafalgar Releasing will hold a worldwide "72 Seasons" listening party. For one night only on Thursday, April 13, "72 Seasons" will be played in full in surround sound, exclusively for cinema audiences worldwide — with every one of the new songs featuring its own music video and exclusive commentary from the band.

The "72 Seasons" global premiere sees METALLICA and Trafalgar joining forces once more, having previously worked together on the October 2019 worldwide cinematic release of "S&M²", which documented METALLICA and San Francisco Symphony reuniting to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their original "S&M" (Symphony & Metallica) concerts and releases.

In the seven years since the arrival of "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct", METALLICA has reissued some of its classic albums, released a second live album with the San Francisco Symphony, commissioned a covers album featuring the likes of GHOST, VOLBEAT, WEEZER, Corey Taylor and THE HU, and landed on the Billboard songs chart with "Master Of Puppets" after a prominent placement in the hit Netflix show "Stranger Things".