Rollingstone.com reports: Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo's entrance into the band was about as intimidating as could be. "It was intense. I had to learn the catalog of music, 22 years of music. And I had to learn the St. Anger album," explains Trujillo. "We've never played this material as a band, but you've gotta learn it. And your first gig is going to be at San Quentin State Penitentiary." Rollinstone reported more from Trujillo, including what songs he played at his Metallica audition and which member of the band was his champion.
You joined Metallica in February, 2003. How much did you know about the dynamics within the band at the time?
They were in the middle of a bunch of transitional things. They were recording the album [St. Anger], still doing tracking and mixing, and also trying to find a new bass player. I received a phone call. I was in Tahiti on vacation. I checked my voice mail, and I had Lars and Kirk on there. Lars was in the background: "Join our band!" They were probably out on the town, having a few cocktails, calling all the bass players on their list.
What was the audition like?
This was 2002, somewhere around December. I was going to San Francisco for a birthday party. They got word I was going to be in town: "Well, come on over to the studio, we'll hang out." We're talking zero time to learn songs. I'm going north to play with the coolest band in rock, and I don't have time to do anything. I did the best I could. I pulled a few songs together, not knowing what they were going to play.
I ended up playing "Battery," a song I kind of knew. I played "Sad But True," "Whiplash," "For Whom the Bell Tolls." Funny thing is, it's a two-day audition. And the first day was just hanging around, a fly-on-the-wall thing. They don't tell you what they're gonna be doing. They don't tell you a film crew is going to be there, and they're making a documentary [2004's Some Kind of Monster]. They don't tell you until 20 minutes before ? "You're OK with that, right?" It's funny. Prior to that, I was always trying to hide from the cameras Ozzy had following him around for his TV show. This was obviously going to be different.
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