The scene: A private ballroom in the Four Seaons hotel, ground zero for the rich and famous in Austin for SXSW. The scenario: A cheesy group photo in front of a Guitar Hero logo-laden backdrop with all four members, who are snuck in through the kitchen, followed by interviews in private rooms with individual members. The letdown: I got the “new guy,” bassist Rob Trujillo.

Trujillo proved to be a good and mostly frank talker, though. Asked if there was any of the band’s well-documented personal friction during the making of “Death Magnetic,” he said, “A little here and there, but it revolved more around the passion of the music.” About the album’s much-lambested radio-oriented sonic mix (”too loud”), he said, “People listening on a stereo can adjust it to how they want. People listening on a computer, yeah, they might have problems.”

One good thing about Rob is he’s the one member who’s performed at SXSW before (with Jerry Cantrell and another time “with a friend”). He said with a laugh, “In some ways, I wish I could go see some of the new bands here instead of doing our thing.” He realized his current band’s appeance this year — by far the biggest act ever to play SXSW in sales numbers — might distract from the other bands’ exposure. But, he added, “Us being here might create more excitement for” the festival.

The fact that Metallica kept 30-some journalists waiting around for a precious hour did not support his statement. No doubt, thousands will also wait in line an hour or two trying to see them perform tonight at Stubb’s. But I’ll still be one of them.

Post-script: After leaving Rob, I rode the elevator with a shades-wearing, mumbly Perez Hilton, who proved to be quite a drip and seems to be turning into one of the people he brilliantly lampoons. After several attmepts to strike up a conversation, he curtly informed me he had just gotten up from a nap. He wouldn’t even tell me who’s playing his party tomorrow night. “It’s all online now,” he harumphed. I’d already heard PJ Harvey was the headliner, but who cares now?

This entry was posted on Friday, March 20th, 2009 at 4:34 pm and is filed under Main, SXSW. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.