Q&A: Metallica's Robert Trujillo : Rolling Stone

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I ended up playing "Battery," a song I kind of knew. I played "Sad But True," "Whiplash," "For Whom the Bell Tolls." Funny thing is, it's a two-day audition. And the first day was just hanging around, a fly-on-the-wall thing. They don't tell you what they're gonna be doing. They don't tell you a film crew is going to be there, and they're making a documentary [2004's Some Kind of Monster]. They don't tell you until 20 minutes before — "You're OK with that, right?" It's funny. Prior to that, I was always trying to hide from the cameras Ozzy had following him around for his TV show. This was obviously going to be different.

You joined at a tumultuous time.
It was intense. I had to learn the catalog of music, 22 years of music. And I had to learn the St. Anger album. "We've never played this material as a band, but you've gotta learn it. And your first gig is going to be at San Quentin State Penitentiary." [Metallica filmed a video for St. Anger there.] It was almost like I lived at the studio then. The guys would leave at 11 PM, and I would be there until two or three in the morning, just trying to do the best I could.

It's like you're caught inside a massive set of waves. You get thrown, you're down under, and you come back up again and get thrown around some more. Now I feel I've come out and seen the light of Metallica. I feel more comfortable with the catalog. But I also feel more comfortable with the guys. We've grown together, connecting on tours past, knowing how each personality clicks. You gotta know how to balance each person, because they're so different.

You also joined the band at a time when the maturity thing hit.
We absolutely cherish our kids. But the fact that we all have them — it's definitely created an additional bond. It's not just Metallica — it's our families. And we also have Metallica.

Isn't there an irony in that Metallica now books tours around the first day of school, then goes out and sings "Seek and Destroy?"
It's pretty funny. But that's our reality now.