Metallica’s Robert Trujillo Reflects on Spending Time With Geddy Lee: ‘I Was Trying to Stay Grounded’

Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo shared his experience of hаnging out with Geddy Lee during the Rush bassist’s new project, expressing his awe at casually spending time with one of his musical heroes.

Robert Trujillo, known for his diverse musical talent and extensive career, including stints with Suicidаl Tendencies, Ozzy Osbourne, and over 20 years in Metallica, discussed the memorable experience in a recent interview with WRIF’s Meltdown. Trujillo, with influences ranging from Motown icons to Jaco Pastorius and Geddy Lee, participated in the docuseries “Geddy Lee Asks: Are Bass Players Human Too?” alongside Krist Novoselic of Nirvana, Les Claypool of Primus, and Melissa Auf Der Maur of The Smashing Pumpkins.

Recalling the time spent with Geddy Lee, Trujillo mentioned the enjoyable two-day hangout:

“It was a lot of fun. I got to hang with Geddy for two days solid… I’d met him before, but we were hаnging out for 10 to 12 hours through the weekend. And we just kind of threw it all into two days. We had two beautiful days down in SoCal. And it’s basically a lifestyle hang. He wants to know, or wаnted to know, what’s it like in the world, in the life of Robert Trujillo outside of bass?”

Trujillo shared that the experience included exploring Venice Beach, delving into the history of Robert’s neighborhood, meeting locals, and attending a gig where Trujillo’s son Tye performed. He expressed the surreal nature of Geddy Lee joining a local gathering, emphasizing its very localized and neighborhood-centric vibe.

Reflecting on Rush’s profound influence on him during his youth, Trujillo acknowledged:

“I played in backyard party bands at age 16, and we played [Rush’s] ‘La Villa Strangiato,’ we played ‘YYZ,’ we played all those classic songs. The harder, the better back then. And we probably butchered them, but we would play these backyard parties and play Rush songs in the same way that we also played Ozzy songs and we played Black Sabbath songs and Van Halen and all these different bands.”

Trujillo shared the challenge of staying grounded while hаnging out with one of his heroes:

“So you can imagine hаnging out with one of your heroes and just trying to stay grounded. At the end of the day, everybody’s a human being, and you always wanna treat people with respect and, again, stay grounded. But at the same time, you’re going, ‘Dаmn, that’s Geddy Lee.'”