American b*ist (born 1964)

Musical artist

Roberto Agustín Miguel Santiago Samuel Trujillo Veracruz (/truːˈhiːjoʊ/ troo-HEE-yoh; born October 23, 1964) is an American musician who is the b*ist for heavy metal band Metallica. He first rose to prominence as the b*ist of crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies from 1989 to 1995, while also collaborating with Suicidal Tendencies frontman Mike Muir for funk metal supergroup Infectious Grooves. After leaving Suicidal Tendencies, he performed with Ozzy Osbourne, Jerry Cantrell, and heavy metal band Black Label Society. Trujillo joined Metallica in 2003 and is the band's longest-serving b*ist. He was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Metallica in 2009.

Contents

• 1 Life and career
  • 1.1 Early life
  • 1.2 Career
  • 1.3 Personal life
  • 1.4 Other projects
• 2 Technique
• 3 Equipment
  • 3.1 B* guitars
  • 3.2 Effects
• 4 Discography
• 5 Videography
• 6 Video game appearances
• 7 References
• 8 External links

Life and career

Early life

Robert Trujillo was born in Santa Monica, California, on October 23, 1964. He is of Mexican and Native American descent. He grew up in Culver City, California, where his father was a teacher at Culver City High School. Trujillo gained an interest in music during his childhood; his mother was a huge fan of soul music, particularly musicians like Marvin Gaye, James Brown, and Sly and the Family Stone. Trujillo stated that "Jaco was my hero growing up", and that the iconic jazz b*ist changed his view of what the instrument could play: "Hearing him was like hearing Eddie Van Halen doing "Eruption" for the first time: You thought, 'What instrument is that?' I loved jazz fusion and branched out from there. But Jaco had an edge that far exceeded his jazz persona. He was funk, he was rock, he was soul. And his whole at*ude was punk." He began playing in "a lot of backyard party bands", playing music by Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Rush, and Led Zeppelin. He went to jazz school when he was 19 with the intention of becoming a studio musician, but he maintained his p*ion for rock and metal.

Career

Trujillo performing in the O2 Arena in London, 2008

Trujillo gained prominence when he replaced Bob Heathcote as the b*ist for California crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies. Initially billed as "Stymee" on the 1989 album Controlled by Hatred/Feel Like *...Déjà Vu, Trujillo remained in the band until the mid-1990s. Concurrent to his work with Suicidal Tendencies, Trujillo was a member of the band's side project, Infectious Grooves, along with vocalist Mike Muir.

Trujillo was a member of Ozzy Osbourne's band for a number of years starting in the late 1990s. In contrast to his earlier jazz and funk inspired playing, Osbourne's band was more straightforward to hard rock and metal. Trujillo co-wrote several songs on the Down to Earth album. He was the subject of controversy for re-recording Bob Daisley's b* tracks for reissued versions of Osbourne's first two solo albums Blizzard of Ozz (1980) and Diary of a Madman (1981) after Daisley claimed that he was not paid proper royalties. During this time, Trujillo formed an experimental supergroup, M* Mental, with then Dub War singer Benji Webbe, whose "ragga-punk-metal" outfit had just disbanded. The band released one studio album in *an and one live album of their performance in Tokyo before disbanding. Zakk Wylde, a personal friend and bandmate from the Ozzy days, recruited him to play with Black Label Society for a few shows.

Trujillo joined Metallica on February 24, 2003, two years after Jason Newsted resigned. He had previously met and befriended his future bandmates when Suicidal Tendencies supported Metallica during the Nowhere Else to Roam tour in 1993, and again during the * Hits the Sheds Tour one year later. Trujillo received one million dollars from the band as an advance for joining Metallica. His audition and hiring as well as his million dollar payment offer appeared in the do*entary film Metallica: Some Kind of Monster. As the current b*ist for Metallica, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside all current members of the band, as well as previous b*ists Jason Newsted and Cliff Burton.

Personal life

Trujillo is married and has a son and a daughter. Trujillo's wife, Chloé, has created a pyrography design of the Aztec calendar on one of his b*es.

Other projects

In 2012, Trujillo produced a do*entary about jazz b*ist Jaco Pastorius *led Jaco, directed by Stephen Kijak and Paul Marchand. The film was named Official Film of Record Store Day 2014 and was released in November 2014.

Technique

Trujillo in 2009

Trujillo is primarily a finger-style player, but sometimes plays with a pick. Trujillo's predecessor in Metallica, Jason Newsted, was predominantly a pick-style player, while Cliff Burton, Newsted's predecessor and b*ist on Metallica's first three albums, played finger-style exclusively. Trujillo is known for playing "m*ive chords" and "chord-based harmonics" on the b*.

Trujillo uses the slap b* technique, seen mostly in his work with Suicidal Tendencies and Infectious Grooves. At many of the shows during Metallica's 2004 Madly in Anger with the World Tour, Trujillo would often play an extended b* solo (dubbed "Jungle Essence" on recordings), which made extensive use of slap b* and other techniques and effects.

For recording purposes, Trujillo uses his own code for writing down b* arrangements. Inspired by an article by Pino Palladino, he developed this during the recording sessions for Jerry Cantrell's Degradation Trip, which, according to Trujillo, had him working from "little hoodrat demos" with nearly inaudible b*.

Equipment

B* guitars

With Metallica, Trujillo has primarily been playing Warwick Streamer b* guitars, both 5- and 4-strings. His signature model Streamer b* was released in March 2010. He often plays Fernandes Gravity 5-string b*es, particularly a model with a silver finish, blue flame decals, and EMG pickups. In addition to his signature Warwick b*es, Zon Guitars produce a signature b* model, the Sonus RT. Prior to Metallica, he was most often seen playing Tobias, ESP and MusicMan b*es (all 5-strings), as well as a Fender Precision B* with Black Label Society and Ozzy Osbourne. Trujillo has been seen in concert playing a Yamaha TRB5-P2 5-string b*, a customized green Rickenbacker 4001/4003 4-string b* modified with EMG pickups, various Nash P-B* Copy guitars, and both a cl*ic Fender Precision B* and Fender Jazz B*. Trujillo is the custodian of Jaco Pastorius' legendary "B* Of Doom" (the sunburst fretless 1962 Jazz B* used by Pastorius on most of his recordings and live appearances). He has performed onstage with Metallica with the instrument.

For amplification, he uses Ampeg amplifiers and cabinets. In 2010, Trujillo collaborated with Jim Dunlop to create his new Icon signature b* strings – these strings are taper-core stainless steel, with a non-tapered B string in gauges 45–130 (5-string).

Effects

Trujillo's pedal board consists of an Electro Harmonix Q-Tron, a Tech 21 SansAmp B* Driver DI, a Tech 21 XXL, an MXR m-135 SmartGate, a Morley Mark Tremonti wah pedal, and a Boss OC-2 Octave Pedal; all powered by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power.

Discography

Trujillo in 2013Jerry Cantrell

• Degradation Trip (2002)
• Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2 (2002)

Black Label Society

• 1919 Eternal (2002)

Infectious Grooves

• The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move...It's the Infectious Grooves (1991)
• Encino Man Soundtrack (1992)
• Sarsippius' Ark (1993)
• Groove Family Cyco (1994)
• Mas Borracho (1999)
• Year of the Cycos (2008)
• Funk It Up – Live in France 1995 (2010)
• Mad Mad Muir Musical Tour (2011)

Suicidal Tendencies

• Lights...Camera...Revolution! (1990)
• The Art of Rebellion (1992)
• Still Cyco After All These Years (1993)
• Suicidal for Life (1994)

Glenn Tipton

• Baptizm of Fire (1997)

M* Mental?

• How To Write Love Songs (1999)
• Live in Tokyo (2001)

Ozzy Osbourne

• Down to Earth (2001)
• Blizzard of Ozz (reissue) (2002)
• Diary of a Madman (reissue) (2002)
• Live at Budokan (2002)

MetallicaMain article: Metallica discography

• Death Magnetic (2008)
• Lulu (with Lou Reed) (2011)
• Beyond Magnetic (EP) (2011)
• Hardwired... to Self-Destruct (2016)
• S&M2 (2020)

Various artists

• "The Blackest Box – The Ultimate Metallica Tribute" (2002)
• "A Song for Chi" (2009)
• A.N.I.M.A.L. – "Poder Latino" (guest in song track 6)
• Farmikos – "Farmikos" (2015)

Videography

• Lights...Camera...Suicidal 1990 Suicidal Tendencies VHS home video
• Live at Budokan live album with accompanying live DVD
• Boozed, Broozed, and Broken-Boned live DVD from Detroit, Michigan
• St. Anger live bonus DVD – 2003
• Metallica: Some Kind of Monster Metallica do*entary
• The Videos 1989–2004 video compilation DVD
• Français Pour Une Nuit live DVD from the concert in Nîmes, France
• Orgullo, Pasión, y Gloria: Tres Noches en la Ciudad de México live DVD from the concerts in Mexico City
• The Big Four live DVD from Sofia, Bulgaria
• Metallica Through the Never 2013 movie
• Jaco (2014) producer

Video game appearances

Trujillo appears in Guitar Hero: Metallica.

He is a playable character in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD when the Pro Skater 3 HD Revert Pack downloadable content is installed.

References

External links

• Robert Trujillo at IMDb

Promotional singles

• "Fade to Black"
• "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
• "...And Justice for All"
• "Don't Tread on Me"
• "Ain't My *"
• "Bleeding Me"
• "Better than You"
• "My Apocalypse"
• "Cyanide"
• "The Judas Kiss"

Other songs

• "Seek & Destroy"
• "Am I Evil?"
• "Breadfan"
• "The God That Failed"
• "Astronomy"
• "Tuesday's Gone"
• "Last Caress/Green Hell"
• "Stone Cold Crazy"
• "So What?"
• "Overkill"
• "The Unforgiven III"

Video albums

• Cliff 'Em All
• 2 of One
• A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica
• Cunning Stunts
• S&M
• The Videos 1989–2004
• Français Pour une Nuit
• Orgullo, Pasión, y Gloria: Tres Noches en la Ciudad de México
• The Big Four: Live from Sofia, Bulgaria
• Quebec Magnetic
• Metallica: Through the Never
• S&M2

Tours

• Damage, Inc. Tour
• Damaged Justice
• Wherever We May Roam Tour
• Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour
• Nowhere Else to Roam Tour
• * Hits the Sheds Tour
• M2K Mini Tour
• Summer Sanitarium Tour
• Madly in Anger with the World Tour
• Sick of the Studio '07
• World Magnetic Tour
• 2012 European Black Album Tour
• Metallica By Request Tour
• Lords of Summer Tour
• WorldWired Tour
• 2021–2022 Tour

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