Metallica’s Rob Trujillo Speaks on Struggle With Playing Bass as Lockdown Made Him ‘Rusty,’ Talks What James Hetfield Had to Say About It

“All of a sudden it kind of dawned on me,” the bassist said.

During a conversation with So What, Metallica bassist Rob Trujillo talked about the ongoing pandemic and how it affected the band.Metallica is promoting the “S&M2” record, you can check it out here via Amazon.Asked about the group’s Pandemica event, Robert commented:

“I’d say mid-July, we received a text that said we were moving forward with the gig. So it felt like it was maybe gonna be a little loose – I don’t know if unorganized is the right word, but it just seemed like it was a little too close for it to happen.

“And then it ended up coming together, so it was good for me because immediately when that happened, I was like, ‘Oh, shit, time to pick up the bass and get to work.’

“Before that, I’d spent more time playing piano and guitar for fun, so when the word came through about Pandemica, I realized it was time to roll up my sleeves, get back on the old Bajo, put the pedal to the metal, and that’s the mode I got into.

“At that point, I was like, ‘Man, I’m rusty, the rust has definitely settled.’ In the house, I’m downstairs and I hear [son] Tye playing every day, and then all of a sudden it kind of dawned on me that wow, I haven’t even been playing bass so much.

“So when this gig opportunity came, it forced me to get back on the bass and start hammering out the songs. Then you realize how those muscles and those tendons in your arms, and even up to your shoulder, they’re not active.

“Along with the calluses! You know, bass strings are big and fat, man, and they hurt. It hurts when you haven’t been playing in a while.”

Interesting. I hadn’t even thought of that. The calluses are a big deal, the protection.

“I asked James [Hetfield, guitar/vocals] after the first or second day of rehearsal, how do your fingers feel? He goes, ‘Sore, totally sore.’ So it wasn’t even just me, you know?

“I was like, ‘OK, good, it’s not just me,’ because something that we forget, that we take for granted sometimes, is just getting into the muscles in your arms, and your fingers, and all the little tendons, and your calluses, all make a huge difference.”

I can see that muscle memory is a big deal, and if you’re not using those muscles, it’s a little bit of a shock to the system.

“So the first few rehearsals my fingertips were actually in a lot of pain, but you know, I gotta say, today it felt really good, the gig the other night felt really good, and some of that even has to do with Kirk [Hammett, guitar].

“Because Kirk was like, ‘Come over to my place and jam,’ on the day off, so we ended up getting together. Even through the rehearsals, we would get together at Kirk’s and jam for a couple of hours.

“We would rehearse ‘All Within My Hands,’ the acoustic version, but then that suddenly turned into a Hendrix jam, or some spontaneous original new idea or something. And that’s when I realized my fingers were starting to get in shape. That’s when I was like, okay, I’m back.”

Very cool that you were able to work that out. And then what about your experience of the protocols that were put in place, and this whole bubble that was created? How do you work with that? Because there’s a lot of things about protocols that go directly against the usual behavior in live music, for example, even swapping your bass over with Zach.

“Well, I gotta hand it to the crew. They were so responsible, with what the protocol was, wearing the face shields and the masks and the gloves, inside and outside. It was impressive that they were so committed to making this go as smoothly as they could.

“So you gotta hand it to the crew, man, they’ve got a strong work ethic, and you could tell the guys on the crew were very thankful for this, and also for being taken care of during this time off, helping them to still stay on board and connected to Metallica.”

Discussing the fact that apart from the lockdown, the band also dealt with the fact that Hetfield was recently in rehab, Rob said:

“You throw into the mix too, ‘How does James feel about this? Is he comfortable?’ So it was a little bit surreal at first – because we just played, but I at least wasn’t sure how he really, really felt about it [referring to the first couple of rehearsal jams at HQ].

“And it’s always important to me to make sure everybody’s comfortable and in a great place with what’s going down, you know? The last thing I want is to twist anybody’s arm into trying to do something that they’re just not feeling in their heart.

“But he started to feel connected to the spirit of the band and crew, and even though we couldn’t hug each other or shake hands and get into all that, it all came together beautifully. It felt like we accomplished something super important for a bigger picture, and a big step forward.”