Rob Trujillo recently answered some questions during a Q&A session at the ‘Metallica: The Black Album in Black & White’ book signing event at Bio Rex.
The bassist shared his experience of joining Metallica for the first time and said Metallica was better than Guns N’ Roses. He explained why:
“And the interesting thing is, in ’93 in Europe, we were actually going sort of back and forth between Metallica and Guns N’ Roses. So we would do two weeks with Metallica, and then we’d do two weeks with Guns N’ Roses. And what I found was that our two weeks with Metallica were — no disrespect to Guns N’ Roses — but man, way better, way funner, better for us, better crowd.”
An Unexpected Incident
Trujillo then recalled one of their shows where he was ‘supposed to be’ angry but couldn’t because of how hilarious the incident was:
“With GN’R, it varied. I remember one show, somebody threw a sandwich, and it hit me, and I got really mad, and then Mike [Muir, Suicidal Tendencies frontman] and I went out in the crowd of 40, 000 people to try and beat somebody up that we couldn’t find. But all of a sudden, we were signing autographs, and it’s, like, ‘Wait a minute. We’re supposed to be pissed off.’ So, it was weird.”
The bassist also mentioned how they connect with fans:
“There were good days and bad days. But it’s always great to do these kind of tours anyway, ’cause you’re connecting with new fans. But the Metallica fans were more kind of in our wheelhouse. But Guns N’ Roses was huge back then, so, of course, we had to take that tour. It was it was a great experience.”
Trujillo Feels No Pressure
Trujillo joined the band initially as the touring bassist and later became an official member.
In a 2016 interview with Exclaim!, Trujillo mentioned he doesn’t feel any pressure when compared to the bassists who came before him in Metallica. He explained:
“Whether it’s Jason or myself or Cliff, we’re all different types of players coming from a different place, but delivering what is best for the band. That’s all I ever do, just try and do the best I can and cater to the song, cater to the music.”
You can watch the Q&A session down below.