Despite being with the group for more than 20 years, Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo has only co-written a handful of songs during his tenure. To be fair, though, there weren’t many songwriting credits for the band’s previous bassists (Cliff Burton, Jason Newsted) either. The bulk of the band’s ideas and songwriting generally comes from singer/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich.
In an interview with the “One Life One Chance” podcast, Trujillo explained why he doesn’t go out of his way to stick his ideas into Metallica’s songwriting process. “I’m joining Metallica, and these guys write amazing songs, and I’m just not going to suddenly insert myself into it,” Trujillo said. “I like to keep people happy and comfortable. My role is always to support what’s needed for the team. I’m writing a song with the guys, I’m contributing that way.”
He also described how the band comes up with new material saying that’s usually a collaborative process. “I mean, we’re always contributing,” he explained. “Whether you see the name on the song or not, I’m in the room every time we’re working on music: I’m there, with Lars and James. There are times when I’m like, ‘I’ve got some cool ideas,’ and James is always receptive. If you listen to the middle section of ‘You Must Burn!’ on the new record that’s James and I jamming in the tuning room, and then it becomes a part of this particular song.”
He continued: “As long as the river flows the right way, that’s the most important thing. Also how you cater to the personalities. It’s like, you’re going to live with these people; it’s like a family. It’s a brotherhood. You gotta respect that, and respect people. And when you’re in each other’s space, you gotta respect each other. You gotta help lift people, and all that kind of stuff plays into it.”
Trujillo has received songwriting credits for “Manunkind,” “Screaming Suicide,” “Sleepwalk My Life Away” and “You Must Burn.” He’s also credited as a composer on every song from 2008’s “Death Magnetic.”
Listen to Trujillo’s full interview below.
