Bass Musician Magazine - SPECIAL August 2013 Latin Issue | Page 51

adjunct to fame and fortune and

lines conveyed a tight sense of

a little talent, luck and fortitude

foundation and there was plenty

(possibly style and looks?) will

of hard work to steer his Slap/

spread for miles. I remember

Pop grooves in such a precise

the explosion of Funk & Rap

way. Trujillo has put in his time;

Rock during the 90’s, thinking

also with the likes of Ozzy and

that a majority of those bands

now Metallica where he has

were very talented and a lot of

adjusted the thumb to nimble

the musicianship was panned by

fingers and swift sixteenth note

critics. 311’s P-nut is still highly

assaults. And like 311, whatever

regarded for his evolving groove-

your opinion of Metallica is, they

induced playing style and is an

are as happy with Trujillo at the

exceptional glue to an eclectic

low end as Muir was when he

mix that relies heavily on Rap,

was a part of Infectious!

Funk and Reggae. Regardless of

You need to rewind a few years

your opinion of 311 as a whole,

to see who influenced Trujillo

there is a lot of talent elsewhere

and P-nut and their funk-groove

in the group and it starts with

style. The opening measures of

P-nut.

“Bonin’ in the Boneyard” and the

A lot of bassists will remember

entire bridge section (funky bass

the first two Infectious Groove’s

indeed!) will give you the ultimate

records as being a landmark

Norwood Fisher/Fishbone primer.

of Funk and Metal, with a large

Although Fishbone were more

influence from singer Mike Muir’s

of a catalyst for a style that

obvious skate punk affections

would eventually explode ($$) a

and maybe… a dab of tongue-in-

decade later, they are still time

cheek misogyny! Robert Trujillo’s

tested and you will appreciate

AUG 2013 / BASSMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM