Metallica Bassist Almost Played Two Other Instruments Instead

He’s one of the most respected bass players in music, but in a recent conversation Metallica‘s Robert Trujillo revealed he actually considered two other musical instruments before finding his groove on bass.

Trujillo and Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett were reflecting on their respective musical starts with Blackened Whiskey master distiller and blender Rob Dietrich, who himself had a background working in the music industry.

What Robert Trujillo Almost Played Instead of Bass

“I started out playing bass because I discovered at a certain point in time that, I guess you could say the groove was centric to that instrument. Right away, discovering the low end as well, I realized that was the instrument for me,” Trujillo told Dietrich.

He then added, “Originally I wanted to be a drummer, then I wanted to be a keyboard player because I used to enjoy the music of Emerson, Lake and Palmer and the prog bands, but then I realized it’s the funky bass that I like.”

That certainly would have been a different way to go, but given Trujillo’s consistent enthusiasm and passion for the bass, we’re glad it turned out this way.

How Robert Trujillo Developed His Bass Playing Style

Once again, Trujillo had prior interests before he picked up the bass, and that in some way shaped the way he played.

“My father who played flamenco guitar, he played with this technique which was fingers, so I naturally played the acoustic guitar the same way. So then when I discovered bass, I immediately took that technique to the instruments. So it was a natural fit because I was already playing a bit of flamenco at the time,” explained Trujillo.

“It also gravitated because my dad had a friend who had a bass that was a hollow body, but you could hear it without an amp, and I didn’t have an amp at that time,” he added.

READ MORE: Robert Trujillo Names His Five Favorite Funk Grooves

Robert Trujillo Finds His Passion

Once Trujillo picked up the bass, the musician says it started to consume him. He recalls making bike trips as a young kid balancing his amp and his bass case just for those moments of playing with others and the art of creating music.

“Something about music and it creativity draws you to those extremes, where all you can think about is writing that song and experiencing those moments when you’re jamming and creating. It’s art, basically,” says Trujillo.

Luckily for us, Trujillo found his way to his chosen instrument, going on to become one of the top bass players in heavy music. Trujillo will be putting his bass craft on display with Metallica starting up again on May 24 in Munich, Germany. Additional Metallica dates for Europe and the U.S. are currently on sale.

Metallica’s Robert Trujillo + Kirk Hammett Reflect on Their Musical Starts With Blackened Whiskey’s Rob Dietrich on The Blending Sessions