Metallica’s Robert Trujillo has reflected on advice Ozzy Osbourne gave him, saying the rocker encouraged him to always “play louder”.
In an interview with Revolver, Trujillo fondly remembered his time playing for Ozzy Osbourne before he joined Suicidal Tendancies and spoke about the encouragement Ozzy gave him.
“Well, I was fortunate to be able to work with Ozzy for many years, and, you know, Zakk [Wylde] and I played together in the Nineties in Ozzy’s band,” he told the publication. “I was always really inspired by the bass playing of Bob Daisley and the rhythm section. [Daisley played on and co-wrote Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman and continued to work with Ozzy until the early Nineties.]”
In the same interview, Trujillo divulged that Osbourne would always encourage him to play louder – a sentiment that his Metallica bandmate James Hetfield didn’t necessarily agree with.
“Yeah. [Laughs] James loves bass. He just doesn’t want to hear the bass when he’s trying to sing and have that kind of taking over his sonic bubble, you know. But yeah, so I was already in heaven [with Ozzy], because here is this singer saying, ‘Play louder … I want to hear more.'”
Trujillo added, “Ozzy used to tell me, ‘Rob, you know, I’m your best friend, man. I’m your best friend because I love the bass. I don’t want you to turn it down. I want you to turn it up!’ You know, singers never say that. I mean, the only other singer that’s ever said that to me was Lady Gaga when we jammed with her with Metallica — and James [Hetfield] kinda looked over and was like, What?”
Trujillo will celebrate his 20th anniversary as the bassist of Metallica next month. Ozzy Osbourne’s new album Patient Number 9 dropped today and features guest appearances from Eric Clapton, Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, and Tony Iommi. Session work from the late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins also features.
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