Robert Trujillo

“The great thing about Metallica's music and the lyrics, it's always going to be hopefully a motivating experience.”

“I went to jazz school. Not to say I'm a great jazz musician, but I studied under some great teachers. It was an important part of my life.”

“In a lot of ways, Metallica is like a fusion band. It's not necessarily jazz or any of that, but the music is grooving.”

“I didn't write 'Enter Sandman.'”

“'Justice' is the biggest challenge 'cause it's also complex in the arrangements.”

“I knew Rocky George, the guitar player, 'cause I went to junior high school with him, so I've known him for many years.”

“We like to challenge ourselves, and having new material and presenting it to the world is fun and exciting and fresh.”

“My first gig with Metallica was at San Quentin State Penitentiary.”

“The cool thing about the smaller gigs - it's the intimacy. You really feel connected to the crowd.”

“Traditionally, the role of the bass player was just to keep things simple and solid, so it's really a special thing when you can get a player that can actually bring in a lot of presence and also a visual presence, too.”

“I call it a process of elimination. You're nurturing ideas, and that takes time. What happens is there's so many, what I say, 'great ideas.' What you have to do is try to consolidate them and put them into one song, and then your song becomes eight minutes long.”

“I feel like I've always been a great mediator.”

“With Metallica, it's hard. I tend to like it all, but the older stuff, when we get into the deeper cuts, it really excites me personally.”

“One of the things that I've noticed since I've been in the band is that, as players, Lars, James, and Kirk truly enjoy making music and performing.”

“It's always nice, no matter what style of music, as long as it's grooving and you feel that, I feel that's what makes... part of what makes a great song, for sure.”

“It's really, really great; it's special when people embrace your music.”

“I feel that music is such an inspirational form of energy, as baseball is. And especially with Metallica, believe it or not, our shows are very physical. Sports is a very physical thing, too.”

“A lot of the hardcore fans wanna hear the deep cuts - songs like 'Orion' or maybe like a 'Disposable Heroes' - you know, songs that we don't play all the time - and then, of course, they wanna hear 'Sandman' and 'Nothing Else Matters' and some of the hits.”

“Bill Ward, when you hear his beats, he's not just playing a straight 4/4 beat; he's doing almost a hip-hop beat. There's a song called 'Sweet Leaf.' The drum beat that he's playing, he's trying to kind of swing and funkify it. Now, is he doing a great job of it? Maybe not. Maybe.”

“I think Slayer is a funky band.”