Tye Trujillo - Suicidal Tendencies / OTTTO 'Really Excited To Release This Piece Of Work'

Whoever has been in charge of organising Tye Trujillo’s itinerary over the last couple of years has had their work cut out for them.

Tye has been touring heavily as bass player for Suicidal Tendencies, with stints that have included extensive runs as the support for Metallica in both the United States and Australia. He’s also been busy making new music with both ST and his other band OTTTO, the latter of which have just released their song ‘Sweaty Pool’ with Nick Oliveri (Mondo Generator, ex-QOTSA), with the release of their EP of the same name coming out on December 5th. On top of that, he recently travelled with his family to Birmingham back in July for the Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath farewell extravaganza Back to the Beginning.

‍Wall of Sound caught up with the legend backstage at the Metallica show in Sydney to discuss what’s become a hectic and very impressive couple of years. 

For instance, this is his third trip down under in a two year period, his second with Suicidal Tendencies, but with the Metallica support and their own headlining run going on at the same time, this has been a very different tour to the last one back in 2023.

‍“Of course, it's been great. I mean, every time I come here, I always have a great time. I take in the whole Australian experience. I just try to explore everywhere and just love taking in the energy from the crowd too. So it's been incredible, man.”

Ahead of tonights performance at the 70-80,000 Accor Stadium, just last night, ST performed a headline show in the much smaller yet still very impressive Roundhouse venue and I heard it was a doozy.

‍“Oh, it was incredible. I mean, the energy just from the headline shows, just the club perspective. I mean, everybody just goes wild.”

Part of the excitement is the news that ST are in the process of producing a new album. With an ST lineup of this calibre, I wonder what that experience has been like for Tye.

‍“It's been cool. There's been some stuff in the works. We've been trying to get some tunes together and stuff, so I'm really excited that we'll be releasing some more new material soon.”

Their latest single ‘Adrenaline Addict’ has been out for a few months now. I imagine it has gone over a treat at the shows.

‍“Oh man, the reactions have been incredible. Everybody just breaks loose and it's just amazing.”

On the subject of new music, Tye’s other band OTTTO are set to release their new EP Sweaty Pool on December 5th, and have just released a song of the same name with a stone cold legend.

‍“Sweaty Pool is like this EP released the single with Nick Olivieri (Mondo Generator, ex-QOTSA), just like one of my favourite bass players and singers in the world of music and rock and roll. I’m just really excited to release this piece of work that we all put together and just get some stuff out there for the people to hear, man. So hopefully we come down here and play soon too, man.”

A joint Australian run between OTTTO and Mondo Generator would be a hell of a tour. This tour though, for the Trujillo clan, has been something of a working holiday. With Tye in Suicidal Tendencies, his father Rob in Metalllica and his mother Chloe embarking on her first Aussie tour with her band BLVD OF EYES throughout the month of November, this whole trip sounds like it could be the ultimate holiday, unless the logistics of being parts of overlapping tours gets in the way. 

“I think it's a part of it. I mean, I think tour is a whole mindset in general where you kind of have to save your energy for the show. I try to cram in a bunch of fun stuff to do out here because this is a great country and beautiful country, so I balance it out. But yeah, it's great that everybody, we're all on tour out here. My sister (Lullah, drummer in BLVD OF EYES) is actually, she's playing in her own bands at home, so she's at home staying, which I think you guys should check out. She's in a band called JAGG and Employee of the Month, some great rock bands locally. So she's doing that. But my mom, she's on the road out here, which is really awesome.”

With all the talk of family this month, with the Metallica, ST and Trujillo families all down under, another family that is close to them all is the Osbourne's. Ozzy was a hero and icon to so many of us, but to the Trujillo’s he was family. Any keen eyed punter watching the Back to the Beginning farewell celebrations back in July would have seen Tye side stage for a great number of performances that day, including an epic showing from an inch perfect Tool.

“Man, that day was just incredible. I could not keep my eyes off the stage. Just such a fun time. And yeah, standing side stage with Tool, just, I mean, Justin's bass tone is already one of my favourite bass tones in rock and roll in general. So being able to just take it in and watch it and then be able to see Sabbath just hit the stage and Geezer just rip. It was just a day that I'll always remember and keep close to me. It was just so special.

An unreal opportunity for any music fan, but for a working musician, that Tool performance will go down as a masterclass. For Tye, it wasn’t just another show to watch, but an opportunity to further his skill set as a bass player. Watching him observe Justin Chancellor didn’t look so much as a fan experience, but more of a student studying the work of the masters.

“Yeah, I mean, Justin's a good friend. I've talked to him about bass tone and he's given me his pedal, which is great, which I have on my rig. He's just an incredible dude, man. And it's funny because him and I are neighbours. We live in the same area.”

Geezer Butler is a hell of a name to drop in an interview, but growing up in those circles, knowing Black Sabbath as a young man and being able to learn from the masters directly, it’s gotta be something else. 

“It's definitely something. One of his (songs) NIB, which OTTTO, we did a cover for it and we filmed it as a tribute for Ozzy. So it's one thing, learning his bass lines was just so influential for me. Just being able to talk to him and just kinda get a good idea of how he began his journey. You just see it in his playing. It's incredible.”

Now that the Suicidal Tendencies tour is over, the waiting game begins again. With any luck it won’t be too long before Tye makes his way down here again. He’s been here twice with ST, and made a surprise appearance at the Infectious Grooves show last year. I reckon that OTTTO tour with Mondo Generator is a done deal. Whatever it turns out to be, I’m pumped. In the meantime, we’ve got the Sweaty Pool EP incoming and the inevitable release of new ST music to look forward to. Hell, he might even pop up at the BLVD OF EYES shows this week. Hook In.

Interview by Duane James @duanejamestattoo