Robert Trujillo Was Totally Hungover When He Auditioned for Metallica

I love Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, but I’m way, way behind on episodes right now. Frankly, it’s hard to find time to listen to two interviews, 90-120 minutes in length, per week, as great as those interviews may consistently be.

So I still haven’t gotten to the November 19 bassist-themed episode, which features both Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and one Mr. Robert Trujillo of Metallica, Ozzy, and Suicidal Tendencies fame. Luckily, Classic Rock has listened to the interview, and got around to transcribing this fun little section for us:

“I wake up at 9am and see Lars on the treadmill. It’s like he doesn’t know me any more. He’s already sobered up. I’ve got this crazy headache so he’s like, ‘Lets go to the studio.’

“This was when they were going through therapy, and had a life coach called Phil Towle. Here I am with a pounding headache, James is now sober, and the last thing he wants anywhere near his band is a drunk Mexican.

“So I’m sitting at the table completely hungover and thinking, ‘Lars did this to me’ – because he was checking me out to see if I could handle it. This was a test.”

“I played Battery and everyone thought it was pretty slamming, but other than that I was brain-dead. People were asking me questions and I was giving stupid answers.”

Obviously, it speaks to Trujillo’s skills that he was still able to nail the audition despite being in such bad shape. Still, it’s hard to imagine that all the other bassists who auditioned for the band aren’t reading this and pulling their hair out. First they had to endure the insult of Lars saying none of them had the skill to join the band in Some Kind of Monster, and now they learn they lost the gig to “a drunk Mexican.” Oy.

You can listen to the episode below, or download it here.

https://youtu.be/UtAIqewgLig