Metallica’s Takeover Weekend Lets OTTTO Bassist Tye Trujillo Do What He Loves: 'Playing Dirty Clubs'

In a world inundated with unimaginative, cash-grab arena tours, the concert industry is long overdue for a shakeup. Thankfully, Metallica recognizes this, which is why the band has curated a string of “Takeover Weekend” road shows to coincide with its gargantuan twofer tour, which makes a stop at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium this Friday and Sunday. Friday's bill includes a show with Pantera and Mammoth WVH, and Sunday's brings Five Finger Death Punch and Ice Nine Kills.

That Saturday, of course, is reserved for the “Takeover Weekend” events for Dallas, which include Fugitive at South Side Ballroom and a showcase at Three Links offering a who’s-who of Metallica’s progeny: OTTTO (with bassist Tye Trujillo, son of Metallica bassist Rob Trujillo) and Bastardane (with drummer Castor Hetfield, son of Metallica guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield).

“For this tour, we planned it out [thinking] it would be more convenient to play a club in the same area,” says Tye Trujillo over the phone, as OTTTO takes a day off in New York before a show scheduled at Manhattan’s Gramercy Theatre the following night. Other shows on this run include other intimate spaces, including the legendary West Hollywood, California, venue The Viper Room.

The club environment, Trujillo says, is far more conducive to his growth as an artist than a traditional opening slot on an arena tour.

“I think [with] the state of where each band is right now, the clubs are just the perfect option,” he says.
Now 18 and fresh out of high school, Trujillo is devoting his time to his artistic endeavors: OTTTO and his other band, Feed the Beast.

And these endeavors come with quite an enviable and impressive CV, especially for someone his age. At 12, he was asked to join Korn on a 2017 tour, a brief tenure that earned him acclaim from fans and critics alike. Four years later, a 16-year-old Trujillo became the bassist for hardcore punk legends Suicidal Tendencies, a position that was occupied by his father from 1989 to 1995. Trujillo still holds that position to this day.

“I look up to those guys musically,” Trujillo says of Suicidal’s members. “I can learn a bunch of things from them. On the road, I’ll learn some things from [lead guitarist] Dean [Pleasants], learn some things from [rhythm guitarist and former Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist] Ben [Weinman], learn some things from [vocalist] Mike [Muir], from everybody. It’s great to play with a bunch of great musicians that have way more experience than me and learn from them.”

Not at all detached from the rich legacy of the Los Angeles crossover thrash band (which, in addition to launching Trujillo’s father’s career, launched those of Thundercat and Thundercat’s brother, Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer Ronald Bruner, Jr.), Trujillo adds, “I’m truly honored to be a part of it.”

Naturally, Trujillo is also proud of the fruits of his collaborative efforts with fellow OTTTO bandmates Bryan Noah Ferretti and Patrick “Triko” Chavez. The most recent product to come from the group is Life Is a Game, an LP released in March. The album derives from the template of Bay Area thrash metal one would ordinarily expect, but leans more into the grooviness one would hear from Helmet, Primus and a sister act of Suicidal’s that includes Trujillo’s dad, the aptly named Infectious Grooves.

“We started recording [Life Is a Game] right before the pandemic hit, so we kind of got left with the pandemic to finish up the whole record, which took a good while, but we were able to take our time and really focus on getting our songs out then, which really helped,” Trujillo says. “No shows [were] going on, so we had all this extra time to get creative.”

But now that the effects of lockdown are a distant memory, Trujillo says he and his bandmates are ready to break out the results of this time-consuming labor in the same club environment where his musical mentors all cut their teeth. Plus, as he puts it with a succinct elegance, “Playing dirty clubs is awesome.”